Archives, Storage- & Compact shelving

Archive and warehouse shelving in steel and wood, new and used

Fixed shelving, racking or mobile shelving?

Shelf storage divides, roughly, into three.

Fixed shelving stands still and is the usual choice: archive shelving, warehouse shelving, stockroom shelving. An aisle between every run, and whatever is needed often stays within reach.

Racking is built for loads that will not sit on a shelf - pallets, long goods, tyres, clothes on hangers. See further down.

Mobile shelving runs on rails and closes up, so only one aisle needs to be open at a time. That gives roughly twice the storage in the same floor area, and it is the right answer when a room is full and cannot be extended. We have gathered that under mobile and compact shelving.

Work out your shelving in a minute - new or used

The hard part of a component system is knowing which parts, and how many. A run is end frames, shelves and bracing, and the count depends on how wide the wall is, how high the ceiling is and what is going on the shelves.

We have built a configurator for each of our two shelving systems. Both ask for the space you have and do the arithmetic themselves. You get back how many bays will fit, the actual dimensions of the run, how much space is left above it, and a complete parts list with article numbers, quantities and current prices that can go straight into the basket.

The S1 configurator - new steel shelving. You enter shelf depth, maximum width and height, the number of shelves and the clear height between them. Two settings are worth knowing. Heavy load switches to a stronger build when the shelves have to carry more. Equal bays makes every bay the same width, which looks better along an open wall but costs a few centimetres of usable space.

The Lundia configurator - used pine shelving. The same idea, fitted to the used range. You give it the width of the wall, the shelf depth and how many shelves you want, and it mixes shelf lengths to fill the wall as far as it will go rather than leaving half a metre unused. The shelves sit in holes spaced five centimetres apart, so clear height is chosen in five-centimetre steps. End frames are 218 cm tall and depths are 27, 30 and 40 cm.

One thing to know about the used range: shelves are sold in packs of six. That is deliberate - carriage on a single shelf is out of all proportion to its price. The configurator allows for it and shows how many packs you need.

One thing to think through before you start: binders, archive boxes and cartons all want different clear heights, and getting that wrong is the most common reason a run holds less than expected.

Try them before you call - it takes a minute and you see the price straight away.

Used Lundqvist shelving, always in stock

A used shelf does exactly the same job as a new one. An archive usually sits in a room no customer ever sees, and there function counts for more than appearance.

We have a continuous supply of used Lundqvist shelving in clear-lacquered pine - complete runs, separate end frames, shelves in packs of six, and bracing. Stock is replenished, so what runs out comes back.

Runs come in heights of 218 and 248 cm with six or seven shelves, and one run holds just under six shelf metres. Depths are 27, 30 and 40 cm - 27 and 30 are enough for binders and archive boxes, 40 when something is deeper.

It is also the better choice environmentally. A shelf given a second life does not have to be manufactured again.

The used range can be worked out on the spot too: see the range and build your own Lundia shelving.

Racking for what will not sit on a shelf

Pallet racking takes pallets and heavy goods on beams, at whatever height the trucks reach. Built from frames, beams and bays, with impact protection where it is needed.

Cantilever racking holds long goods - tube, timber, profiles - on open arms, so length is not limited by the width of a bay.

Tyre racking is made so tyres sit properly and can be taken out without the rest coming down.

Garment racking hangs clothes on a rail instead of folding them onto a shelf.

Archive or warehouse: the same shelving, a different job

We are asked this often, and the answer is simpler than it looks: it is the same system. The difference is in how it is used, and therefore in which dimensions matter.

In an archive, shelf metres are what count. Depth is shallow because a binder is shallow, and you want many levels going up. The measurements follow the spine of the binder.

In a warehouse, load capacity and access are what count. Deeper shelves, fewer levels, and room to get at them with a trolley or a truck. The measurements follow the goods and the aisle.

The same frames and the same shelves, configured differently.

Worth thinking through before you order

Measure the ceiling, not just the wall. Ventilation, light fittings and sprinkler heads often sit lower than the ceiling and decide how tall a run can be.

Allow for the aisle. A run placed so tightly that the back of the shelf cannot be reached is, in practice, half a run.

The Outer Height and Outer Width filters help when the space is fixed to the millimetre.