The Phoenix Park Industrial Estate Park stands as a flagship project of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the People’s Republic of China’s Belt and Road initiative. In 2018, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, making Trinidad and Tobago the first Caribbean country to officially sign on to this initiative. Notably, the project’s multi-disciplinary design team that was instrumental in the project’s success, comprised of a fully local team of dedicated Architects, Engineers and Planners.
The project entailed the development of a state of the art and modern industrial estate on a 133-acre greenfield site. The 5G networked facility offers factory shells (“warehouses”) and land lots catered to manufacturing and logistics businesses, perfectly positioned for global consumer market access, due to its strategic location near an international containerized port, well served by global shipping lines.
The Park included the construction of five Factory Shells (four 4-bay and one 3-bay shell). The five warehouse structures with a total floor area of approximately 25,000 sq.m. were strategically designed with the flexibility to accommodate a single tenant or multiple tenants per warehouse based on the nature of the proposed operations and the specific requirements of future tenants. Each of the 4 bay shells provide approximately 5,300 sq.m of space while the 3 bay shell offers about 3,000 sq.m. The 4 bay factory shells were also designed to accommodate 12 containers while the 3 bay shells can accommodate 9 containers allowing for a total of 57 containers at any time.
WSP provided Architecture and Engineering Design Consultancy Services which included the development of the lotification plan, main infrastructure for the site (road network, drainage network, electricity, water, sewer, WWTP, telecommunications and natural gas), perimeter fencing and security kiosks, design of five (5) factory shells (four 4-bay and one 3-bay factory shell) and obtention of Statutory Approvals. The construction phase was a substantial undertaking, and the project experienced some delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, weather conditions and squatter challenges. However, the project was successfully completed with the official opening taking place in January 2024. Today, the Phoenix Park Industrial Estate stands poised to become a hub of economic activity, innovation, diversification and employment opportunities for Trinidad and Tobago.
In keeping with the overall goal of creating a successful industrial park for the non-energy sector, the Warehouse Structures incorporated some of the following key design considerations: