Rubb Fabric Building News

In Spring 2010 Rubb, Inc. will move into its expanded U.S. steel fabrication facility in Sanford, Maine.  This expansion will effectively triple the usable area for steel fabrication at the Rubb plant thereby significantly increasing production capacity.

This project utilizes a 110′ span Rubb BVE range structure engineered to code standards for the high 70 pound per square foot snow loads present in Maine.  This expansion includes significant improvements to Rubb’s 16 acre site with paved storage and handling areas increased to 4 acres.  The new facility is fully insulated and equipped with radiant in-floor heating and a state of the art air filtration system that will clean and recycle heated air, generating substantial energy savings.  The facility has an architectural masonry and glass front and is provided with offices and mechanical rooms, an employee breakroom, a training room, locker rooms and a 5,000 square foot mezzanine.

Company President David Nickerson commented that, “The cooperation of local and state officials and the excellent work of local subcontractors and Rubb’s own staff have resulted in a very successful project.  This facility will provide a better and more productive work environment for our employees and will enable us to better serve our customer requirements for the large span structures that form an important part of our growing business.”

Rubb Buildings’ proven ability for delivering customized Warehousing design solutions was the main reason they were chosen by EnerMech Ltd of Aberdeen.

EnerMech Ltd are a leading provider of Mechanical Equipment to the Energy Industry and needed to find the best possible option for a new Warehouse facility to “house” their expanding equipment range.

The two 15 metre x 40 metre NV’s, with 5 metre high side walls, provided the design flexibility, best secure storage and easy access to their specialist range of equipment. These were the key factors why Rubb Buildings were chosen for this new project and demonstrates the flexibility of design that has always been a hallmark of Rubb Group’s client service.

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The two NV buildings pictured above were sold to Bergen Interkommunale Renholdsverk AS (BiR AS) in Bergen Norway, Norway’s second largest handler of waste and refuse. BiR AS is responsible for handling refuse for 319,000 households in nine councils. BiR is also a large supplier of waste solutions to the commercial sector in Norway.

One NV is 25m (82ft) wide x 27m (8.58ft) long x 4m (13ft) side wall. It has two Crawford 6m (20ft) wide x 7m (23ft) high roller doors in one gable. In addition the building has one personnel door.

The other NV is 15m (49.2ft) wide x 15m (49.2ft) long with 4m (13ft) side wall. This is erected on a 4m (13ft) concrete retaining wall. These structures are located at the BiR Blomsterdalen site on the outskirts of Bergen and are to be used for a brand new refuse sorting site near Bergen.

The structure pictured above is a 24.5m (80ft) wide x 32m (105ft) BVI building recently completed for Ballymena Borough Council in Northern Ireland. The Council will be using the building as a Waste Recycle/Transfer Station.

Industrial storage is a familiar and common use of Rubb buildings, with flexibility and interior climate and working conditions being favored features by our clients. These reasons and more are why Nexans AS, a worldwide leader in the electrical cable industry, chose a Rubb building for an electrical cable storage site on an island on the west coast of Norway.

The building in use by Nexans AS is a Rubb NV-type (Norwegian version) that is 24m x 42m x 4m. The building is completely secure, while being easily accessible by loading/lift equipment and personnel as required.

The recent relocation of a Rubb building in New England is a statement to our structure’s convenient and easy relocation with minimal loss.

Boccard USA, a Houston, Texas-based firm that specializes in pip fabrication, was looking for a building for pipe welding and assembly for a Londonderry, New Hampshire worksite. This lead to their purchase of a used 39.4′ (12m) x 40′ (12m) THA shelter from us.

The building, 7 years young, had been in use at the Rubb factory in Sanford, Maine as a storage shelter. Rubb technicians disassembled the structure, cleaned and repacked the fabric membrane and reassembled the shelter on site in a matter of two weeks!

The Boccard building is just a recent example of the many times that Rubb shelters and buildings have been relocated after many years of service with minimal downtime, material loss, or expense.

The large working space, plentiful natural light and portability of Rubb buildings makes them a frequent favorite of major construction companies. In this application just outside of Bergen, Norway, Rubb NV buildings are used to store equipment at both ends of a tunnel under construction. These shelters protect equipment used to drill and blast through granite rock.

Four NV buildings are used on this site — one is 20m x 21m and has two large steel doors in one gable end. Another is specially designed so two attached 20ft ISO containers open up to the back of the building. This is used a ’safe storage space’ and is ideal as workers can access it from the inside of the building. These NVs will be moved on to another major construction project when this road / tunnel is complete.

A recent article in The Powder and Bulk Channel weighed the environmental and economic considerations to take into consideration when choosing between the options of moving bulk materials. While trucking tonnage offers the most flexibility and a low cost of entry compared to barge or rail movement, its hidden costs are high, especially in regards to the environmental impact per ton of bulk material moved.

Whatever the decision regarding bulk materials handling, our bulk storage buildings can accommodate your needs. As a flexible alternative to vertical silos or traditionally dark industrial buildings, our structures provide an airy, translucent roof that supplies rich natural lighting. Our buildings are weathertight, rugged, and customizable to accommodate nearly any site imaginable.

When preparing your materials for transport, the customization options of Rubb structures are endless. Rubb buildings typically have a large front door to accommodate lifts and other trucks, and are a familiar site at ports worldwide. In the case of Amtrak, a building was even assembled over railways to allow trains to enter and exit the service facility.

Whether your company relies on road, barge, or rail, our buildings will fit your site and offer you unmatched value and performance in a storage building.

The fact that Rubb buildings are easily relocatable sometimes leads to confusion about whether our structures are intended for temporary or permanent use. Especially considering the poor longevity of other fabric-covered buildings on the market, some buyers express concerns about the long-term viability of membrane-clad structures. Unlike competing structures, however, Rubb structure are well-suited for long term use for any number of purposes.

A case in point is the Rubb structure pictured to the right. This SH15 type Rubb Hall has been by used Bergen Yards Halsnøy AS, a Norway-based shipbuilder, for over thirty years. Located on the west coast of Norway, the structure has been subjected to no shortage of harsh weather in its tenure. This 15m wide, 44m long, and 3m side wall structure uses a 3.1m high x 3.8m wide door for easy access by personnel and lift equipment. The building contains racking and has been used as for general storage since its construction in the early 1970s.

The post-fabrication hot-dipped galvanized steel frame is in excellent condition, and even more impressive is that it uses the original fabric covering. This extraordinary life-span is accounted for by our commitment to only the highest quality PVC-coated, flame retardant, high tenacity polyester, with a rip-stop structure weave to prevent tears. We use only the highest quality fabrics and topcoats, and apply various coatings to the finished product based on the expected usage of the structure and budget of the project. Our uncompromising commitment to quality is exemplified by structures like the one mentioned above and a New York, USA structure used by Peck & Hale, also in use since the early 1970s.

Whatever the application of your building — from storage, to aircraft maintenance, to remediation buildings — a Rubb building is a valuable long-term investment.

When businesses close, the inevitable result — at least with conventional construction — is an empty building. Some amount of vacant property is an expected and critical part of the real estate market, but when buyers are scarce the prospect of relocating a business location can be an enormous financial burden. On the other hand, as we noted in the story of the United Airlines Hangar in Boston, a multi-purpose and relocatable building developed by Rubb can be a huge asset when a particular building application is no longer desired at a given site.

A story about revitalization of vacant retail buildings in southeast Texas reminded us of the key differences both between the industrial and commercial building markets, and between our buildings and more conventional structures. In this story, a small town faces the challenge of what to do with the empty structures, as well as contend with the lack of tax revenue generated by vacant buildings. The solution, provided by a combination of tax incentives and creative new businesses, is to repurpose the buildings for other uses.

Where one small town succeeds, other cities struggle to fill the empty space. And while commercial buildings face their own challenges, the situation is often even more tricky with industrial buildings, where costs for repurposing are high and cost competitive with new construction — a situation that fuels yet more building inventory.

From the building owner’s perspective, ownership of a Rubb building is a lasting value no matter the current real estate market. Rubb buildings can last forever in one location, or be moved multiple times in their life. They can be assembled in the most extreme environments on earth or in busy port terminals in active cities. If a leased property sells, or if financial reasons make relocating a facility desirable, a Rubb building can be moved with a fraction of the typical cost of selling an existing property and repurposing or building anew.