Walmart Program

HFA has a long-standing history with Walmart, the Bentonville-based, multinational retail corporation which has over 10,000 retail supercenters in 24 countries. HFA partners with Walmart to provide architectural and engineering services for numerous remodels, new store, and special projects each year. Our services for these projects include architectural, mechanical, electrical, fire protection, refrigeration, and structural; and we provide these throughout all phases of design and construction. Examples of support include: Conducting existing site verification visits Providing exterior branding design packages Producing Construction Documents Managing document submittals for review and permit Managing and producing document revisions throughout pre-construction, bidding, and construction Conducting any state required construction observations upon project completion A large portion of the Walmart program focuses on General Remodel, including large-scale interior and exterior updates, expansions of the existing store footprint, implementations of prototypical design elements, and store-specific updates and design initiatives. Additionally, HFA was selected in 2021 as one of three architectural firms in Walmart’s Design Collective to manage and design projects to test one of their newest initiatives. Our architectural and engineering teams collaborated with other civil and structural firms, vendors, and consultants to develop design solutions for various prototypical and non-prototypical layout stores. Through clear communication, exceptional coordination, and design thinking, our team was able to help the client solidify design guidance and achieve their goal of beginning implementation in select stores.

The warehouse has 178 dock doors for shipping and receiving included 9 devoted to smaller delivery trucks. At the entrance side of the warehouse is an office, administration, training, conference, cafeteria and kitchen area of over 37,500 square feet. Ancillary buildings include truck maintenance, pallet and wrapping storage, fueling, truck scales, a separate hazardous storage enclosure. Due to the location, the facility will provide on-site utilities including storm sewer, sanitary sewer, fire protection water, domestic water, potable water with associated storage tanks and pump stations and an on-site electrical substation with a 10MW emergency plant capable of supporting the entire site in the event of a power outage.

HFA partnered with Walmart to design, construct, and launch automated Micro-Fulfillment Centers (MFCs) in existing U.S. stores. We utilized our architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and refrigeration disciplines, and coordinated with Walmart’s designated vendors for automation, refrigerated/freezer boxes, and both civil and structural engineers. We also facilitated life safety systems with each local jurisdictions’ fire marshals, providing valuable construction administration expertise.

Dairy facilities house one of the most highly regulated processes, requiring superbly sanitized working environment. The building design must be easy to clean in order to inhibit germ growth. The design must utilize cleanable materials with minimum flat surface areas. • 238,720 sf with 12,000 sf administrative office building and 11,500 sf Truck Maintenance Garage with fueling island • Six bay raw milk receiving 60 trucks daily processing 2 million gallons per week • 25,000 sf cooler storage with 69,600 cubic feet of Automatic Storage Retrieval System (ASRS) with 12 bays of distribution • Constructed of structural steel frame and metal bar joists; envelope and interior partitions of Insulated Metal Panels.

With the advent of warehouse automation systems, HFA has been able to assist the retailer revolutionize the way their warehouse operates to quickly access the product. HFA helps with the conversion of older legacy distribution centers into state-of-the-art systems that are able to store and retrieve the product using computer-based algorithms that minimize the time taken with limited human intervention. The expertise that HFA has developed, has help guide retailers through this conversion with little or no downtime through a phased approach.