Cold room design, refrigeration costs and the RFQ process in London
Constrained urban sites, planning noise conditions and the UK's high electricity prices dominate London cold room economics.
Cold room design in London
London cold room projects are usually retrofits into existing industrial units rather than clean new builds, and that changes the design conversation. Available height, floor loading, column grids and the position of the incoming electrical supply constrain the layout before any thermal calculation happens. Survey these first: a design basis that assumes 10 m clear height in a unit with 6.5 m to the haunch produces a plant selection that cannot be built.
Multi-temperature layouts are the norm — a chilled pick face, a frozen chamber and an ambient dock, often in one envelope. Each set point needs its own vapour barrier discipline and its own door strategy; the interface between a +2 °C room and a −22 °C room is where most condensation and ice problems originate. Design ambients of 28–30 °C are mild, so infiltration and internal loads (lighting, forklifts, pickers) tend to dominate the load calculation more than transmission does.
Two regulatory constraints shape equipment selection. UK F-Gas phase-down makes high-GWP HFCs a poor long-term choice, pushing designs toward CO₂ transcritical, low-charge ammonia or HFO blends. And local planning conditions almost always impose a night-time noise limit at the site boundary, which drives condenser selection, fan speed control and acoustic screening. Both belong in the design basis, because retrofitting an acoustic solution after installation is expensive and sometimes impossible.
Refrigeration costs in London
London capital cost carries an urban premium on nearly every line: restricted delivery windows, out-of-hours working, craneage in tight yards, and higher labour rates. Budget 15–25 % above a comparable UK regional project for the same technical scope. Retrofit projects add survey, asbestos and structural strengthening risk that a greenfield build does not carry.
Energy is the decisive lifetime cost. With UK industrial electricity among the more expensive in Europe, a 300 kW plant running poorly can cost more in avoidable energy over five years than the entire control system upgrade that would have fixed it. Specify heat recovery, floating head pressure, EC fans and demand defrost, and require every bidder to state annual kWh at your duty profile. Where the site has roof area, ask suppliers to state whether the plant can accept solar self-consumption without control conflicts.
| Cost line | Indicative range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Insulated envelope (panels, doors, floor) | GBP 170–330 / m² | Retrofit into an existing unit sits at the top of the band. |
| Refrigeration plant, installed | GBP 850–1,700 / kW duty | CO₂ transcritical above HFO packages; acoustic treatment adds cost. |
| Electrical, controls and monitoring | 15–22 % of plant cost | Urban supply upgrades and DNO works are commonly excluded. |
| Racking and internal fit-out | GBP 85–190 / pallet position | Height-constrained units reduce pallet density and raise cost per position. |
Indicative planning benchmarks only — not a quotation. Actual pricing depends on scope, site conditions, refrigerant choice and supplier capacity, and must be confirmed by qualified suppliers.
The cold storage RFQ process in London
In London the exclusions register is the most valuable page of the RFQ. Site access hours, out-of-hours labour, craneage, builders' work, fire strategy amendments, acoustic screening and DNO liaison are the items that appear in one quote and not another. Name each one and require every bidder to mark it included or excluded — no blank cells.
Ask for the same return pack from everyone: duty in kW at your design conditions, refrigerant and charge, annual kWh, noise level at the boundary in dB(A) at the relevant hours, F-Gas compliance statement, programme, and three UK reference projects. Compare on a single sheet. A supplier who cannot state boundary noise has not designed for your planning condition.
London RFQ checklist — name these explicitly
- Boundary noise limit in dB(A) and who is responsible for meeting the planning condition
- Electrical supply capacity and any DNO upgrade — included or excluded
- Out-of-hours working, access restrictions and craneage
- F-Gas compliance and refrigerant phase-down suitability statement
- Structural survey and any strengthening for plant or racking loads