Laurens, SC–A M King has finished design and construction of a greenfield facility for TrueCore, a manufacturer of Insulated Metal Panels for use in facility construction and renovation of cold storage, food processing, as well as, dry industrial and manufacturing projects. The building sits on a 14-acre site in Hunter Industrial Park, located directly on I-385 and strategically located to effectively serve the Eastern half of the US.
TrueCore is a new company, formed by industry veterans in the sectors of insulated metal panel production, sales and contract installation. This is the group’s first manufacturing facility and will serve as corporate headquarters. TrueCore’s panels will be produced using the latest manufacturing technologies with state-of-the-art continuous-line equipment.
“I think our ownership group is not only experienced, but more importantly diverse,” said Sara Truhlar, a Principal at TrueCore. “The individual contexts and experiences each of us brings to this leadership team provides exponential value to our customers.”
A M King provided TrueCore with full property consulting services, consisting of complete site selection services within a three-state area, all purchase negotiations with the property sellers, and negotiating and receiving a comprehensive economic incentives package from the State of South Carolina and the Laurens County Development Corporation.
The TrueCore facility consists of 115,122 square feet of structural steel frame, concrete tilt-wall panels, and a reinforced concrete floor slab. Also included is 11,000 square feet of Class A corporate office space and an additional 82,000 square feet of exterior space for product laydown and handling. The building is custom designed to accommodate 1,000 lineal feet of continuous production line. The facility also includes areas with 85-foot expanded bay spacing, recessed equipment pits, an overhead bridge crane and equipment rooms dedicated to chemical mixing and storage.
The finished product will impact building systems in ways that were not initially apparent but had to be considered during design and construction of the facility.
“When you’re storing IMP as a commodity rather than a building product, it is considered Class A plastic,” says Carl Morse, Senior Project Manager. “That affected how we approached fire protection. To provide fire protection systems that allowed for future growth and sufficient product storage, we had to balance overall building height, material classification, maximum storage height limitation and available water capacity.”
TrueCore specified and procured specialized equipment from Italy as well as the US. A M King adjusted its site logistics plan to accommodate and store more than 50 shipping containers onsite prior to equipment installation. One of the containers was transformed into an QA/QC office with new flooring, windows, sliding doors, drywall, electrical components and light gray paint. The container serial number was left exposed as a symbol of its origin. A M King handled all equipment rigging, installation and utility connections. Production is expected to begin next month.
The project incurred no lost time accidents during the 12-months of construction and more than 70,000-work hours.
TrueCore is a Laurens, SC.-based manufacturer of insulated metal panels produced using the latest manufacturing technologies with state-of-the-art, continuous-line equipment.
