Structural Design
Engineering for the loads industry puts on structures
Industrial buildings carry more than commercial or residential structures. Crane rails, forklift traffic, heavy storage racking, dynamic machinery loads, and wide clear spans — each of these demands engineering that goes beyond standard residential or even commercial-grade design. Getting it wrong means downtime, damage, and expensive remediation.
IA Engineering specialises in structural design for warehouses, factories, industrial sheds, and heavy infrastructure across Sydney and NSW. Our team works directly with builders, fabricators, and industrial developers to deliver portal frame buildings, elevated platforms, crane-capable structures, and mezzanine floors that perform day after day under real-world industrial loads.
Every industrial project we take on is designed to Australian Standards — AS 4100 for steel, AS 3600 for concrete, AS 1418 for crane structures, and AS/NZS 1170 for structural loading. Our documentation is fabrication-ready, council-ready, and builder-ready.
Industrial structures engineered to span further and carry more
From single-span agricultural sheds to multi-bay warehouses with crane provisions and mezzanine loading, we design industrial structures that handle real-world industrial demands.
- Portal frames & warehouses
- Industrial sheds & factories
- Mezzanines & elevated platforms
- Crane & heavy equipment support
Multi-span industrial portal frame warehouse — engineered for 60m+ clear spans with crane provisions and mezzanine loading.
Industrial structures we engineer
Industrial structural engineering covers a wide range of building types and uses. Our team has experience across the full spectrum of industrial builds — from single-span agricultural sheds to multi-storey factories with crane rails and heavy-duty mezzanines. Below are the main categories we design.
Portal Frame Warehouses
Portal frames are the structural backbone of most large-span industrial buildings. We design welded and bolted portal frame warehouses to achieve clear spans up to 60m+, optimised for steel weight, fabrication cost, and compliance with AS 4100. Our portal frame designs include knee braces, eave struts, purlins, and girts specified for the building envelope.
Industrial Sheds & Factories
Industrial sheds and factories come with unique structural demands — heavy floor slabs, machinery pits, process equipment supports, and defined traffic routes for forklifts and internal transport. We design the full structural package: steel frame, concrete slab on grade, columns and footings, and equipment pads, coordinated with services and process layouts.
Mezzanines & Elevated Platforms
Mezzanines unlock the vertical space in warehouses and factories, increasing usable floor area without extending the building footprint. We design steel mezzanine structures for storage, offices, and production use, including stair access, safety barriers, and load-rated flooring. Each mezzanine is designed to the specified live load and integrated structurally with the existing building frame.
Crane & Heavy Equipment Structures
Overhead cranes, monorails, jib cranes, and heavy process equipment impose dynamic and fatigue loads that standard structural design does not account for. We design crane runway beams, runway columns, and end stops to AS 1418, accounting for wheel loads, dynamic impact factors, and fatigue categories. Equipment plinths and vibration isolation mounts are also designed as part of our structural package.
"Industrial structures take hard use for a long time. The engineering has to be right the first time — retrofitting a warehouse after handover is never cheap."
IA Engineering Design Team
60m+
Clear spans
AS 4100
Steel structures
100+
Industrial projects
What industrial structural engineering involves
Industrial structural engineering is more than sizing beams and columns. It requires a clear understanding of the industrial process, the loads it generates, and how those loads travel through the structure to the ground. Here is what our design process typically addresses.
Load Analysis — Dead, Live, Crane & Wind
Industrial buildings carry dead loads (self-weight of structure, cladding, and services), live loads (people, stored goods, and forklifts), crane loads (vertical wheel loads and dynamic impact), and wind loads (particularly high on large-footprint low-rise buildings). We assess all load combinations to AS/NZS 1170 and design for the governing case at each element.
Portal Frame Efficiency
The portal frame is inherently efficient for large-span industrial buildings because it eliminates internal columns and allows the roof and wall structure to share the lateral load. We design portal frames using plastic analysis where appropriate, minimising steel weight while achieving the required span, eave height, and load capacity. Tapered members are specified where they reduce material significantly.
Connection Design & Detailing
In industrial steel structures, connections are critical. Ridge connections, knee connections, column bases, and crane runway beam connections all carry high loads with little redundancy. We design and detail all connections to AS 4100, producing fabrication-ready drawings that a steel fabricator can work directly from — reducing RFIs and delays on site.
Footing Systems for Heavy Point Loads
Industrial columns, crane runway columns, and equipment plinths transfer large concentrated loads to the ground. We design footing systems in coordination with geotechnical reports — using pad footings, combined footings, or raft slabs depending on soil conditions. For crane structures, we also check overturning and sliding at the base plate level.
Standards & Compliance
All IA Engineering industrial structural designs are prepared in accordance with current Australian Standards and the National Construction Code. Our engineers are registered in NSW and sign off on all structural documentation.
How we work with you
We work closely with industrial developers, builders, and design-and-construct contractors from the earliest stages of a project. Early structural input on span, eave height, crane capacity, and floor loads can significantly reduce overall construction cost — particularly on portal frame buildings where small changes to geometry can have a large impact on steel weight.
Our deliverables include structural calculations, fabrication drawings for the steel frame, slab and footing drawings for the concrete package, and council-ready documentation for development approval or construction certificate. We also provide site inspections during construction and issue compliance certificates on completion.
We understand that industrial projects run on tight schedules. Our team is responsive, our documentation is clear, and our drawings are coordinated — so your builder and fabricator can get on with the job.
Industrial Strength Engineering