- Location
- Royston, Hertfordshire
- Main postcode district
- SG8
- Nearby (straight line)
- Letchworth Garden City (10 miles), Biggleswade (11 miles) and Cambridge (12 miles)
- Survey and quote
- Free, with a fixed written quote
A loading house is an insulated steel structure built against the outside wall of a building, containing a dock leveller and usually a shelter or seal at its front. The building door closes at the wall line, while trailers dock against the house. Loading houses suit buildings whose floor is at dock height but which have no room inside for a leveller pit.
Is this right for your site in Royston?
Where a yard in Royston is narrow, an angled loading house lets trailers approach on a diagonal and can sometimes fit more bays along one wall. For older buildings in Royston with a raised floor and little internal space by the wall, an external house can provide a modern hydraulic dock without major alterations.
Any loading house proposed in Royston needs its planning and building control position checked, which we look at during the site survey before quoting.
We keep the process simple for sites in Royston. A free survey tells us what the dock needs; a fixed written quote tells you what it will cost and what is included. We then organise the installation, with specialist engineers under our management and a programme agreed around your shifts. Night and weekend work is available by arrangement. Before we leave, the new equipment is tested, demonstrated and handed over with its documentation.
When is a loading house better than an internal dock?
A loading house is usually the better option when the building floor is already at dock height but there is no practical way to form a leveller pit inside. It moves the whole dock outside the wall, leaving the internal floor clear.
- No room inside: racking, production lines or mezzanines sit right up to the wall.
- Difficult slab: the floor slab carries services or is unsuited to breaking out for a pit.
- Thermal control: the building door closes at the wall line, so the leveller sits outside the heated or chilled space when no trailer is docked.
- Security: the building can be closed at the wall line while the house itself stays open to the yard.
- Narrow yards: an angled house lets trailers approach on a diagonal and can fit more bays along one wall.
Where the building floor is at yard level, a loading house alone will not solve the height difference, and a recessed approach or lift table is usually needed instead.
What is a loading house made of?
A loading house is a steel frame clad in insulated composite panels, with a dock leveller built into its floor and a shelter or seal across its front. It is made to suit your building, trailers and yard rather than bought off the shelf.
- Frame: galvanised or painted steel, supported on legs or a sub-frame that sits on concrete foundations.
- Walls and roof: insulated composite panels, usually colour-matched to the building cladding, with guttering to carry rainwater away.
- Floor and leveller: a steel deck with a hydraulic swing-lip or telescopic-lip leveller set into it.
- Front: a retractable or inflatable shelter or a foam seal, with bumpers below to take trailer impact.
- Building door: an insulated sectional door in the original wall opening, closing the building when no trailer is docked.
- Extras: internal lighting, dock lights and traffic lights as required.
The insulated envelope reduces the heat or chill lost around the trailer compared with an open dock.
The same published guide range applies across England; access, out-of-hours working and site conditions are confirmed at the free survey.
What do we check at the survey?
- Power supply at each bay, including three-phase availability
- How often each door cycles during a typical shift
- Wind exposure at the dock, which affects door and shelter choice
- Headroom above the opening and which track type will suit it
- Asbestos register and any other site hazard information
- Clear opening width and height for each door
Options to discuss
Straight loading house
Set square to the building wall, the simplest layout where the yard has room for trailers to reverse straight in. Usually the most economical arrangement for one or more bays.
Angled loading house
Set at an angle to the wall so trailers approach on a diagonal, useful on narrow yards and sometimes allowing more bays to fit along a single elevation.
Planning, building control and safety law in England
Workplace safety in England is regulated by HSE. For a loading bay in Royston, that means doors meeting regulation 18 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, equipment maintained under PUWER and suitable safeguards against vehicles driving away too early. We check what applies at survey and design the bay accordingly.
Questions about loading houses in Royston
Is VAT included in your guide prices for loading houses?
No. Our customers are businesses, so guide prices exclude VAT, which is added at the standard rate. The same guide range applies in Hertfordshire as everywhere else: for loading houses, it is £14,500 to £32,000 per house, excluding VAT. It covers supply and fit for a typical installation. Your fixed written quote after the free survey shows the net price, the VAT and exactly what is included.
Can you work outside our normal operating hours in Royston?
Yes, by arrangement. Evening, night and weekend working can be planned so the installation causes as little disruption as possible to your loading schedule. Out-of-hours work can affect the price, so mention it at the survey and we will include it in the written quote. The agreed times are confirmed in the programme before the job starts.
Do you remove and dispose of the old equipment?
Yes, where it is part of the scope. When we replace doors, levellers, shelters or seals at a site in Royston, removal and disposal of the old equipment can be included and is itemised in the quote, so it is clear what is covered. If anything should be kept, such as a frame or motor that is still serviceable, we agree that at survey.
How long does a loading house take to install?
The programme depends mainly on foundation works and manufacturing lead times, and we set it out in writing with the quote. On site, foundations must cure before the frame goes up, and the rest of the work follows in sequence. We agree dates with you so other bays can keep working.
What door is used with a loading house?
The building wall behind a loading house usually has an insulated sectional door, which closes the building at the wall line when no trailer is docked. An existing door can sometimes be kept if it is in good condition. In England, replacement doors need to meet the Approved Document L limiting U-value for large doors.
Loading houses near Royston
Close neighbours of Royston with their own pages here: Letchworth Garden City (10 miles), Biggleswade (11 miles) and Cambridge (12 miles). Choose one to see coverage details for that town.
Other loading bay services in Royston
Full guide to loading houses · Everything we do in Royston
Whether it is a new bay or a fault on an existing one, call us or request a quote for your site in Royston.