The Client

Aldo Group Inc. is a privately held company that specializes in the creation of high quality fashion footwear, leather goods and accessories.

Britton Electric’s Mandate

Aldo built two new large buildings: a warehouse and distribution centre in one facility and an office complex in the other. Britton Electric provided the turn-key electrical design and construction solution.

To provide the electrical requirements for the warehouse and distribution centre, Britton Electric installed the main incoming power distributions, including a 6,000 amp switch board, as well as the entire electrical infrastructure for the equipment and machinery. Additionally, Britton Electric was responsible for all the lighting, emergency lighting and fire alarm systems, plus the conduits and wiring for the security systems.

In the office complex, Britton Electric wired the entire building and was responsible for the complete electrical system. Among the work carried out was the installation of a 4,000 amp power distribution, all the lighting, the fire alarm system, as well as the conduits and wiring for the security system.

The Scope of Work

WAREHOUSE AND DISTRIBUTION CENTRE

• 825,000 square foot facility consisting of a 500,000 square foot ground floor and a 325,000 square foot mezzanine

Aldo implemented a complete change to its merchandising methods and installed a state-of-the-art distribution system that is unique in Canada. The automated system greatly improves the processes used to stock all their stores. Beginning with the placement of the order through to the delivery of the product, each store is replenished one to two times a week.

The centre is very large and is made up of 4 levels with multiple platforms, each separated by open metal walkways.

A major component of the distribution system is a 13 kilometre-long conveyor that moves at 7 kilometres per hour and runs throughout much of the facility, weaving in between the various levels.

While the conveyor is central to building and its functionality, it was installed last. Therefore, Britton Electric had to carefully plan out each element of the job beforehand, while taking into account the multi-dimensional aspects of the centre.

WAREHOUSE AND DISTRIBUTION CENTRE

In addition to the main 6,000 amp switch board, Britton Electric installed all the necessary secondary electrical distribution systems, delivering power to multiple areas. The job included the conveyor connections, the feeders to the conveyor control panels as well as the wiring of the control panels.

The lighting, plus its control, of this large multi-level facility required an in-depth understanding of the new distribution system with the actual work done in advance of the conveyor installation.

In total, Britton Electric needed to bring great efficiency to the design of the entire project with multi-faceted coordination of all the components.

OFFICE COMPLEX

• Three floor, 240,000 square foot building
• Consists of offices, showrooms, boardrooms, conference and work areas, training areas, lounges, exercise room and cafeteria

The Aldo offices are designed to reflect their target market – youthful, busy and vibrant. A great deal of effort went into each design element calling for many fine points of detail work.

The complex houses the many different banners under which the entire Aldo Group markets its products. The facility is used by its hundreds of employees for marketing, merchandising as well as training purposes.

The Challenges

WAREHOUSE

As this was the first distribution system of its kind installed and used in Canada, there were many changes made to the plans during the design phase. It was difficult to establish all the details in advance. Many of the design decisions were complicated by unknown factors and the implementation was continually modified as the project evolved.

This highly sophisticated system involved a change of physical equipment as well as a major change for Aldo personnel in their day-to-day operations.

As new challenges presented themselves, the team from Britton Electric had to not only constantly re-design their plans and drawings, they had to re-schedule their work. This called for flexibility and innovation. Notwithstanding all of these factors, crucial deadlines had to be met.

OFFICE COMPLEX

The building’s main atrium reaches 40 feet at its highest point. The large main area is lit with indirect lighting and custom Italian fixtures are used throughout the entire facility. These fixtures were complicated to install and required very precise and meticulous measurements. An additional challenge arose when these fixtures were delivered late by the supplier.

What Britton’s people brought to the table

• Innovative and professional approach to unique projects
• Ability to work in a collaborative effort with the client
• Flexibility and openness that accommodated changes to project priorities
• Delivery of cost-effective solutions
• Performance of work with exacting and meticulous attention to detail
• Critical deadlines met under challenging conditions