Dairy & Food Production
Hygienic zone planning, process integration and facility design for dairy and food production, both new builds and expansions.
Thommesen Architecture designs dairy and food-production facilities with defined hygienic zones, production flow, personnel routes, storage functions and technical systems. The work covers new builds, masterplans and extensions to plants in operation.
Nearly fifty years of dairies for TINE, Norway’s national dairy group, built the foundation. The disciplines are hygienic zoning, wash-down construction and staged expansion without halting production. The rest of the food portfolio, seafood included, rests on that foundation. TINE Verdal shows the principle in practice, developed step by step since the 1980s with production running through every construction stage.
What we deliver
Complete architectural service covering opportunity study, design and work documentation. Process hall layout, hygienic zone planning, CIP integration, cooling and dry storage, laboratory facilities, technical buildings, offices and land planning. We coordinate directly with process equipment suppliers and food safety consultants to solve integration in the projecting phase.
Why it matters
Food production facilities must satisfy strict and constantly changing regulatory requirements while operating with high flow. Extension of existing plants, known as brownfield work, requires the maintenance of production during construction. We have two decades of experience designing extensions that keep existing lines running while new capacity is being built, tested and started in parallel.
Documented experience
Several facilities for TINE, Norway’s national dairy group, including new builds and phased expansions of active plants. Recent buildings range from 3,578 to 21,000 square metres. The projects cover initial opportunity studies, work ladders and construction management.
Standards & compliance
Dairy facilities are planned to EU dairy regulation and food-safety requirements, with strict hygiene zones, CIP-cleanable surfaces and an unbroken cold chain. Zones and cleaning routes are drawn in early, so production can certify without later intervention.
