07-09-2024, 01:22 PM
(07-09-2024, 11:54 AM)tomh009 Wrote:(07-09-2024, 11:26 AM)bravado Wrote: I think it would be quite hard to retrofit existing locations… modern warehouses are truly the simplest steel boxes you can build.
Quite true. But because they are so simple, it would not be difficult to add concrete columns and/or supporting walls (to support the upper walls) without massively disrupting the basic warehouse steel/concrete box. Essentially the ground-floor warehouse would be as is, you don't use any of it for supporting the upper floors, instead building the supports either just outside the existing walls or in the interior of the existing warehouse.
Honestly these structures are designed to be throw away. The cheapest thing to do would be to demolish the existing building and build something new in it's place. The lower cost of engineering a new structure would easily pay for the cost of demolition. The biggest loss would be the time the store is not operating, but I'm unconvinced you could keep a store operating while constructing a building through the existing building anyway.