 
| | The Recall Storage Facility is designed to contain six million A3 cardboard archive boxes, storage of which depends on the barcode to keep track of their location. So when Lacoste + Stevenson Architects began designing the Recall Storage Facility, the symbolic resonance of barcoding – signifying identification and individualisation, which forms a sound basis for any design principle – was too perfect to overlook.
The drive to identify this shed was largely in response to the humdrum greyness of the streetscape. The polycarbonate façade breaks down the impenetrable steel edifaces in the area, allowing for an interplay of natural light and privacy. At night, these areas are lit internally and glow in the darker surrounding areas.
The barcode-like roofing and wall cladding are a standard Lysaght sheet product. Roof sheeting widths were counted to ensure that the barcode pattern was to scale, and that it did not use any excess sheets of black or white along the length of the building. The streetscape was also taken into account by use of smaller volumes along the street frontage with the main storage volume partially cut into the slope across the site. The building is bound to the east by a large building in close proximity, to the north by landscaping and a building set some distance away, and to the west, room has been left for the expansion of a third pod.
Although the project sought to be higher than permitted under the planning regulations, a proposal based on sound design principles, convinced the authorities that the idea had merit. Industry standard costs were met, demonstrating that the value of innovative design can be met without any extra costs. The wall cladding, bracing and framing were all standard products, allowing for some scope to play with the materiality and colour of the facades, such as the use of translucent polycarbonate. The building conforms to the conventional use of Colorbond sheeting above a precast concrete dado line, yet, with no extra cost, the facility gained a highly recognisable identity through the more adventurous use of polycarbonate facade. An 'off the shelf' item, the polycarbonate sheets relied on a standard connector frame piece fixed to the girts and steel members that allowed sheets to be erected quickly. There is a smooth and seamless transition among the diversity of materials used. The flashing details, for example, at the corners of the warehouse do not appear bulky or clumsy, rather enhancing its clear and crisp lines. The building both exudes and performs functionality with a discernible operational programme: trucks enter the secure, polycarbonate-clad transport area to deliver A3 boxes that are unloaded into the adjacent staging area for delivery to the resource centre for coding, and final transfer to the warehouse by a semi-automated racking system.
Due to the height of the warehouse, tall, slender columns, up to 28 metres high, had to be engineered to take massive wind loading on the building's 28m high x 140m long western façade. Along the southern façade, inverted 'Y' columns take the loads from the roof of the warehouse, distributing it along the staging level – 10m higher than the warehouse ground level. They also allow for access to the racking system, permitting staff to walk through them.
The Recall Storage Facility's architectural vocabulary surpasses mere aestheticism, it is truly a feat in staging a dialogue between landscape, purpose and architectural form. And this is due to the ingenious adoption of barcoding as the symbolic and palpable thematic.
A barcode is a branding, yet the building leaves room for interpretation; a barcode is individualised, but with a collective and cumulative outlook; and a barcode is an identity, that both links this facility to, and distinguishes it from, the smoky charcoal sea of any warehouse precinct. + Top. The design takes the streetscape into account by using smaler volumes along the street frontage Second.The final stage of the building's operational pprogramme: the transfer of A3 boxes to the warehouse by a semi-automated racking system Third. Special attention was paid to ensuring that the flashing details at the corners ofwarehouse would not end up bulky and clumsy, and would allow the pattern to be crisp and clear Fourth. Armstrong Rh99 ceiling tiles on Rondo white exposed ceiling grid Fifth. All cladding structures were standard, allowing the materials for the facade to be a little more adventurous such as the use of polycarbonate, which, graphically, gives scale to the large facade while also branding it. Bottom. Given the height of the facility, one major benefit of the fabrication and erection of the building was that it remained within standard practice of warehouse construction. Photographer: Brett Boardman |
