Industrial Asset Tenant Improvements

We provided Design Services for tenant improvements to this 507,638 square foot building with a design based on the proposed tenant’s requirements. Our services assisted our real estate services firm client with their building improvements made in service to the long term needs of the tenant of this fully-leased property. Schematic Design, Construction Documents, and Bidding/Construction Administration were provided in addition to mechanical, electrical, and fire protecting engineering.

A Re-Imagined Office for Lease

Providing potential tenants with a vision of what a façade renovation could look like, we created a 3D Rendering of a re-imagined exterior as well as conceptual leasing plans for an existing, vacant, 27,750 square foot masonry building, last renovated in 2000. Services provided included a site survey and analysis, design development, and our 3D Visualization services. Designs for this project were intended to compete with the surrounding properties in the corporate park that had upgraded facades.

3D Visualizations for Flex Building Concept Design

This project consisted of the schematic planning and design for the construction of a new 1-story 60,000 square-foot flex building with a mezzanine which is to be constructed as a shell only. We provided Schematic Planning and Design, including 3D Rendering Services. Our services also included the Project Manual for Design Development and budget estimate bidding and administration of the bidding on behalf of the owner.

Warehouse Adapted to Accommodate More Loading Docks

Suburban Management Company’s 143,092-square-foot warehouse spans 16 acres and is conveniently located less than 35 miles from the Philadelphia International Airport. The single-story facility started with only 4 loading docks, but with the new addition, now boasts twenty-four (24) loading docks, 8 drive-in bays, and a 31’ ceiling height.

Twenty (20) new Blue Giant overhead loading dock doors and dock levelers were designed and installed by our team, with modifications to the existing building structure and the underpinning of the existing footing as required. The scope of work also included adding concrete retaining walls with fall protection, and site modifications to lower the existing grade at the new dock positions to a height to allow warehouse equipment to access the trucks.

Our firm provided design documentation for the new 20 docks, detailing of site/interior modifications for a proposed tenant, architectural design, structural engineering services, and civil engineering design assistance. We were also on hand to answer any questions that building code officials and contractors may have had during the process.

The first step in the project was to conduct a field survey to verify existing conditions and update the schematic plan based on those field conditions. On one side of the warehouse, the design for eight (8) of the new loading docks would need to accommodate the existing steel structure behind the facade. The solution was to space the docks in this section further apart to avoid the need for expensive structural changes. A bulk pour foundation and concrete wall were constructed to encompass and underpin the existing building foundation.

Keeping water away from the loading docks is a design imperative. At this location, site and grading issues needed to be addressed to get the proper slope back to the loading docks, making certain that the correct angle for the trucks coming towards the building is maintained. With no sanitary or stormwater lines on one side of the building, the interior work included putting in a pump to get the sanitary lines over to the other side of the building.

Existing docks that were renovated received updated dock levelers, dock bumpers, and wheel locks. A lighting system that interfaces with the wheel locks tells drivers when they can pull in and out - green means go!

New Blue Giant Loading Docks Added to Warehouse in Pennsylvania

Ancora Mail Processing Facility

Muhlenberg Greene was hired to assist with the planning and design to create the company’s largest mail processing facility on the east coast. Work included major renovations to 55,000 square feet of leased space, once occupied by a major battery producer. Approximately 11,000 square feet were designed to contain Ancora’s regional corporate headquarters for the east coast, with the remaining 44,000 square feet for production.

The project included “phased construction” which allowed for the occupation of the production area while construction on the corporate office and employee common areas continued. One design feature of this project was the creation of an area for the supervisors located between their existing production floor area and the new production floor area. This area now serves as a central command post/teaming area.

Vertis Warehouse and Shipping Dock Addition

Due to growth, a large United States producer of advertising inserts needed to expand their warehouse space. Muhlenberg Greene Architects provided planning and design services for a 48,000 square foot high-bay storage warehouse addition to the company’s existing plant. The project included the construction of new truck docks, mezzanine office space, the design of a new circulation pattern for their existing parking lots, additional trailer storage areas, and air conditioning of the existing plant area.

Press Hall and Mail Room Addition to the Reading Eagle Company

Reading Eagle Company planning and design for the expansion of an existing building to house a new state-of-the-art press. The project required the demolition of several existing structures and the new construction of a 77,000-square-foot addition. The expansion included a new mail room and ancillary spaces for the control room, maintenance shops, mechanical/electrical equipment, three truck docks, and four shipping docks.  

A basement level was constructed for ink storage, paper deliveries, and the reel room for the new press. The ground floor provides space for the mail room and houses the inserter and palletizer equipment as well as the main floor of the press hall. The 2nd floor consists of a mezzanine level for the press hall and provides space for the control room, computer-to-plate room, and electrical equipment for the press operation.

The 3rd floor was designed for mechanical equipment surrounding the press hall. The press hall was an open space extending 56 feet above the ground floor level to house a new press. A critical aspect of the planning and management of the construction process for this project was the requirement to maintain the daily operation of printing and shipping the newspaper.

Brown Printing Company Additions and Renovations

Brown Printing Company is part of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world’s major international media companies. Production at the East Greenville Division consists of a wide variety of high-quality catalogs plus monthly and weekly periodicals including such well-known titles as Time and Sports Illustrated. The plant operates around the clock, seven days a week, to meet its very demanding production schedules.

Muhlenberg Greene began its association with Brown Printing Company in 1982 with the design of an addition to the original 55,000-square-foot facility. Other additions and renovations have occurred almost continuously since that time for this dynamic company so that today the facility contains some 400,000 square feet of production, warehousing, and administrative spaces.