Alpine Buildings’ clear span designs offer impressive solutions to maximise available space
Maybe it’s something in the Matamata soil, but Brook Nettleton’s Alpine Buildings just keep growing. And in one of his many Alpine Buildings implement sheds, you can even still see the framework of one wall of the original buildings on this site (an old dairy farm), a bit like an ancient old tree surrounded by verdant saplings.
“We’ve certainly expanded since the business started and Alpine Buildings work very well with the modular approach we’ve taken to making sure we have the right space to cover that expansion,” says Brook as he guides me around the busy yard of his company, Bluegrass Contracting.
The rural contracting firm is certainly dynamic, with all manner of disciplines covered by its 20 full-time staff (expanding up to 50 during peak season). Grass silage, maize, lucerne, cultivation, harvesting, farm races, muck spreading, transport, and cartage are the headline activities Bluegrass Contracting undertakes in the Matamata region.
As to be expected with such a wide portfolio of services, Bluegrass Contracting needs plenty of machinery – expensive, high-value machinery that needs to be kept protected and well maintained and serviced, and that’s where the large Alpine Buildings sheds come in.
Maximising the space
Clear span is the name of the game as far as Brook is concerned, with a mix of enclosed and open-sided Alpine sheds catering to machine storage, mechanical workshop facilities, a comprehensive parts store, and even a good old-fashioned smoko room.
“Getting as much gear out of the elements is the key. Every machine is a big investment for us, so we want to make sure it’s looked after. That includes when it’s not out in the field being used for what we’ve purchased it for,” he says.
“The Alpine sheds we have let us maximise the floor space so we can get more machinery under cover.”
Identifying the large shed nearest to his office, Brook explains how Alpine Buildings made it easy to rejig an existing design to get the best out of the shed.
“That shed was originally designed with six-metre bays, but we managed to push the poles out in order to give ourselves 12-metre bays instead. It literally allows us to fit double the amount of gear in it now, inside the same footprint,” he says of the three-double bay shed housing an impressive line-up of Claas, Case, JCB, and other contracting equipment.
Even without the adjustment to Brook’s plans, Alpine Buildings’ signature clear-span design maximises available floor space, allowing for a large degree of layout flexibility.
Future-proofing
Over on the other side of the Bluegrass Contracting yard sits the business’ largest Alpine Shed, which has been added onto
as needed. Featuring dedicated engineering and mechanical workshop facilities, Brook worked with the Alpine Buildings team to ensure the smoko room facilities and a sizeable parts store were part of the mix for the last addition to the structure.
Efficient in design, Brook says the integral strength of the Alpine Buildings sheds has also been something that has impressed and, over time, he has learned to trust.
“We’re in a high wind zone here, so it’s hard to go past the pole shed design for solidness. You don’t get creaks and rattles in strong wind. Everything feels totally nailed down and built to last.”
Strong for generations
Alpine Buildings utilise both strong materials and sound methods of construction when designing their buildings. As ably demonstrated in the Bluegrass Contracting yard, the sheds built by the South Canterbury-headquartered company are designed to be added to and modified over time as needs change, as opposed to simply replaced. They’re built for the long run.
Posts and portals interlock together to create a solid structure. While Brook has lined the bays of his closed-in sheds, there’s plenty of bracing evident along the walls of the open-sided building.
Above, rafters are constructed from hot-dip galvanised steel for maximum longevity. This box section structural steel comes with pre-welded J cleats, the purlins sit in these cleats, and are bolted in place between the rafters, leading to a bird-free roof space.
This signature Alpine rafter design eliminates nooks where birds might nest, giving Brook peace of mind for the protection of the paintwork and overall condition of the machine fleet.
Efficiently delivered
As much as Alpine Buildings sheds deliver for clients once they’re constructed, the company’s reputation for the way all the components of every shed are delivered to the site is another part of the build process Brook has been impressed with.
“There’s nothing left to chance – every bolt, every post, everything is accounted for. They’re kitset sheds at the end of the day, so putting them together has to be smooth sailing, too. We actually got two local guys, Robbie and Travis, to construct one of the sheds, and they were so impressed with how Alpine delivered everything and how it was all packaged and labelled. They’ve ended up doing a whole bunch of Alpine builds all around the place for other clients.”
One more to go
Even with the Bluegrass Contracting yard working well and at maximum capacity for now, Brook says he has plans for yet another Alpine Buildings shed eventually.
“We’ve got 140 hectares at Hinuera, so we’ll definitely be needing a dry stock shed there at some point,” he says.
“Naturally, we’ll talk to Alpine about that, too. They just take the ‘stuffing around’ aspect out of the build process.
“We’ve had a great run with Alpine Buildings for over 10 years now. Their buildings are totally suited to what we need them for, and nothing’s an issue if we want to tweak a design or change anything. And, of course, we totally trust the local guys they have assembling the sheds, too. You can’t fault the operation – from start to finish, it’s excellent.”
Photos by Peter Young