A new factory on Queensland's Sunshine Coast incorporates innovation in its construction as well as in the way it packages the food it produces. The factory at Palmwoods is operated by one of Australia's most successful food processors and exporters.

The Botanical Food Company is best known for its Gourmet Garden range of herbs and spices which are packaged in tubes and sold in the fresh food departments of more than 14,000 supermarkets around the world.

Growing demand for Australia's most widely distributed, branded and processed food export led to construction of the plant which features a curved roof made from 4,500 square metres of LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® 0.48mm BMT concealed fix cladding.

The continuous sheets of roof cladding span 53.1 metres from eave to eave over a truss system in which the bottom chord is post tensioned to eliminate the need for support columns. BlueScope Lysaght rollformed the cladding on site, directly to the roof.

Ashley Smith of GHD headed a multi disciplinary team to deliver the project which was constructed by Evans Harch Pty Ltd. The post tensioned truss frame was fabricated and erected by Casa Engineering Pty Ltd to a design by column free space specialists S2.

GHD and S2 had previously collaborated on a similar structural and roof cladding solution for the much larger George Weston Foods, Tip Top bakery at Chullora in Sydney.

Gourmet Garden's patented process uses the antioxidant and anti microbial qualities of herbs and spices to allow them to be packaged fresh, rather than using cooking or drying procedures which diminish the flavour and the value of nutrients.

The short season for fresh herbs is overcome by a unique process to capture and store fresh chopped herbs and spices under refrigeration. This created a requirement for the new plant to include column free space for a 1,200 pallet freezer.

"The column free design solution is ideal for a food processing facility and there are practical and aesthetic advantages to having a roof which curves from eave to eave," Ashley Smith said.

"By using a concealed clip fix system such as LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® cladding you avoid any possibility of fixing screws working loose and letting in water which can cause hygiene issues."

"Mobile rollforming is part of this solution, because it allows you to use eave to eave lengths of cladding so that you avoid step joints and their maintenance issues. It is our preferred option."

The new Gourmet Garden plant is in a semi residential area where a conventional factory structure would not have been appropriate.

"We have been able to achieve a much more attractive curved roof which is also extremely practical," Ashley Smith said. "There are even noise reduction advantages."

BlueScope Lysaght's mobile rollforming service is designed to provide maximum flexibility over the widest possible range of site conditions and roof span requirements.

Its tilt capability enables the rig to deliver LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® sheeting to eave heights up to 13 metres.

This avoids double handling and cranage costs which are also reduced by the ability of the rig to be quickly moved from site point to site point on large projects as the work progresses.

Purpose designed for mobile operations, BlueScope Lysaght's unit is built on a structural cage to eliminate roller distortion and the need for time intensive adjustments. This means that product quality and tolerances are far superior to the results from a basic mobile rollformer without a structural cage.

The unit also includes a spreader bar extendable up to 72 metres, to simplify material handling issues on site if extra long roof sheets need to be lifted from the ground.

The Lysaght mobile unit is managed by key staff from BlueScope Lysaght's Design and Construction team, who are extremely experienced at working with site trades and have a comprehensive understanding of site management and safety requirements.