Amazon Flex Warehouse  

The Amazon Flex warehouse in Houston, Texas, serves as a base of operations for Amazon’s new, innovative driver-centric program. True to Amazon’s form, the design emphasized efficiency and expediency for customer delivery. The team from Michael Baker provided mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) and structural expertise to upgrade the existing structure to the rigorous DHO1 US Amazon Facility standards. DHO1s are last-mile facilities, which Amazon uses as part of its Flex program. (Drivers use their own cars to complete final deliveries).

Air-conditioning the massive space required close coordination between the mechanical and structural teams to ensure appropriate support was given for placement of 12, 20-ton rooftop air units (RTUs) for optimal cooling. The Michael Baker team was tasked to design for strengthened steel bar joists and girders supporting the RTUs – all relocating the existing high-volume low-speed (HVLS) fans throughout the space to maintain a constant 78° Fahrenheit. Furthermore, new insulation was incorporated into our design to meet International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) requirements for air-conditioned warehouses of this size. 

The electrical and plumbing scope involved providing power and gas supply to new equipment. A coordinated effort was made by all four highly specialized teams (mechanical, electrical, plumbing, structural) to present the client with fully integrated designs that aligned with Amazon standards. Our teams met this challenge even in the face of an expedited design schedule and while working during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak.