medieval Europe

The need for a warehouse implies having quantities of goods that are too large to be stored in a domestic warehouse. But as tax legislation attests, some medieval merchants throughout Europe used to store goods in their large domestic warehouses, often on the ground floor or in basements.[6][7] An example is the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the important German merchant quarters in Venice, which combined housing, warehouse, market and accommodation for travelers.[8]​.

From the Middle Ages onwards, dedicated warehouses were built around ports and other commercial centers to facilitate large-scale trade. The warehouses of the commercial port of Bryggen in Bergen, Norway (now a World Heritage Site), display characteristic European gabled timber forms dating from the late Middle Ages, although what remains today was largely rebuilt in the same traditional style following major fires in 1702 and 1955.

Industrial revolution

During the mid-century industrial revolution, the function of warehouses evolved and specialized. The mass production of goods initiated by the industrial revolution of the centuries and spurred the development of larger and more specialized warehouses, usually located near transportation hubs on canals, railways and ports. Task specialization is characteristic of the factory system, which developed in British textile factories and potteries in the mid-century. Factory processes accelerated work and unskilled labor, bringing new gains to capital investment.

Warehouses also fulfill a variety of commercial functions beyond simple storage, exemplified by the Manchester cotton warehouses and Australian wool stores: receiving, storing and shipping goods; displaying goods to commercial buyers; packaging, checking and labeling orders and dispatching them.

The utilitarian architecture of warehouses responded quickly to emerging technologies. Before and during the 19th century, the basic European warehouse was constructed of load-bearing masonry walls or heavy timber framing with suitable exterior cladding. Inside, heavy wooden posts supported wooden beams and joists for the upper levels, which were rarely more than four or five stories high.

A gable roof was conventional, with a door in the gable facing the street, railway tracks or harbor for a crane to lift goods through the window doors on each floor below. Convenient access for road transport was incorporated through very large doors on the ground floor. If not in a separate building, offices and exhibition spaces were located on the ground floor or first floor.

Technological innovations at the beginning of the century changed the shape of the warehouses and the work carried out inside them: cast iron columns and later molded steel posts; sawtooth roofs"); and steam power. All (except steel) were quickly adopted and were in common use by mid-century.

Strong, slender cast-iron columns began to replace masonry piers or wooden posts to carry levels above the ground floor. As modern steel framing developed at the turn of the century, its strength and construction capacity enabled the construction of the first skyscrapers. Steel beams replaced wooden beams, increasing the span of the internal bays in the warehouse.

The sawtooth roof") brought natural light to the top floor of the warehouse. It transformed the shape of the warehouse, from the traditional pointed hip or gable to an essentially flat roof form that was often hidden behind a parapet. Warehouse buildings now became strongly horizontal. On the interior of the top floor, the vertical glazed panel of each sawtooth allowed natural lighting on the displayed goods, which improved buyer inspection.

Hoists and cranes powered by steam power expanded the ability of manual labor to lift and move heavy goods.

20th century

Two new sources of energy, hydraulics and electricity, reshaped warehouse design and practice at the turn of the century and into the 20th century.

Public water power networks were built in many large industrial cities around the world in the 1870s and 1880s, exemplified by Manchester. They were very effective at powering cranes and elevators, whose application in warehouses served taller buildings and allowed new work efficiencies.

Public electric power grids emerged in the 1890s. They were at first used primarily for lighting and later to electrify elevators, making taller, more efficient warehouses possible. It took several decades for electrical power to become widely distributed in cities in the Western world.

The technologies of the century made storage increasingly efficient. Electricity became widely available and transformed lighting, security, lifting, and transportation beginning in the 19th century. The internal combustion engine, developed at the turn of the century, was installed in mass-produced vehicles beginning in the 1910s. It not only reshaped transportation methods, but enabled many applications such as a compact, portable power plant, wherever small engines were needed.

The forklift was invented at the beginning of the century and came into use long after World War II. Forklifts transformed the possibilities of multi-level pallet racking of goods into taller, single-level, steel-framed buildings for greater storage density. The forklift, and its load attached to a uniform pallet, enabled the emergence of logistics approaches to warehousing at the turn of the century.

Always a functional building, at the turn of the century warehouses began to adapt to standardization, mechanization, technological innovation and changes in supply chain methods. Here in the 20th century, we are witnessing the next big development in storage: automation.

medieval Europe

The need for a warehouse implies having quantities of goods that are too large to be stored in a domestic warehouse. But as tax legislation attests, some medieval merchants throughout Europe used to store goods in their large domestic warehouses, often on the ground floor or in basements.[6][7] An example is the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the important German merchant quarters in Venice, which combined housing, warehouse, market and accommodation for travelers.[8]​.

From the Middle Ages onwards, dedicated warehouses were built around ports and other commercial centers to facilitate large-scale trade. The warehouses of the commercial port of Bryggen in Bergen, Norway (now a World Heritage Site), display characteristic European gabled timber forms dating from the late Middle Ages, although what remains today was largely rebuilt in the same traditional style following major fires in 1702 and 1955.

Industrial revolution

During the mid-century industrial revolution, the function of warehouses evolved and specialized. The mass production of goods initiated by the industrial revolution of the centuries and spurred the development of larger and more specialized warehouses, usually located near transportation hubs on canals, railways and ports. Task specialization is characteristic of the factory system, which developed in British textile factories and potteries in the mid-century. Factory processes accelerated work and unskilled labor, bringing new gains to capital investment.

Warehouses also fulfill a variety of commercial functions beyond simple storage, exemplified by the Manchester cotton warehouses and Australian wool stores: receiving, storing and shipping goods; displaying goods to commercial buyers; packaging, checking and labeling orders and dispatching them.

The utilitarian architecture of warehouses responded quickly to emerging technologies. Before and during the 19th century, the basic European warehouse was constructed of load-bearing masonry walls or heavy timber framing with suitable exterior cladding. Inside, heavy wooden posts supported wooden beams and joists for the upper levels, which were rarely more than four or five stories high.

A gable roof was conventional, with a door in the gable facing the street, railway tracks or harbor for a crane to lift goods through the window doors on each floor below. Convenient access for road transport was incorporated through very large doors on the ground floor. If not in a separate building, offices and exhibition spaces were located on the ground floor or first floor.

Technological innovations at the beginning of the century changed the shape of the warehouses and the work carried out inside them: cast iron columns and later molded steel posts; sawtooth roofs"); and steam power. All (except steel) were quickly adopted and were in common use by mid-century.

Strong, slender cast-iron columns began to replace masonry piers or wooden posts to carry levels above the ground floor. As modern steel framing developed at the turn of the century, its strength and construction capacity enabled the construction of the first skyscrapers. Steel beams replaced wooden beams, increasing the span of the internal bays in the warehouse.

The sawtooth roof") brought natural light to the top floor of the warehouse. It transformed the shape of the warehouse, from the traditional pointed hip or gable to an essentially flat roof form that was often hidden behind a parapet. Warehouse buildings now became strongly horizontal. On the interior of the top floor, the vertical glazed panel of each sawtooth allowed natural lighting on the displayed goods, which improved buyer inspection.

Hoists and cranes powered by steam power expanded the ability of manual labor to lift and move heavy goods.

20th century

Two new sources of energy, hydraulics and electricity, reshaped warehouse design and practice at the turn of the century and into the 20th century.

Public water power networks were built in many large industrial cities around the world in the 1870s and 1880s, exemplified by Manchester. They were very effective at powering cranes and elevators, whose application in warehouses served taller buildings and allowed new work efficiencies.

Public electric power grids emerged in the 1890s. They were at first used primarily for lighting and later to electrify elevators, making taller, more efficient warehouses possible. It took several decades for electrical power to become widely distributed in cities in the Western world.

The technologies of the century made storage increasingly efficient. Electricity became widely available and transformed lighting, security, lifting, and transportation beginning in the 19th century. The internal combustion engine, developed at the turn of the century, was installed in mass-produced vehicles beginning in the 1910s. It not only reshaped transportation methods, but enabled many applications such as a compact, portable power plant, wherever small engines were needed.

The forklift was invented at the beginning of the century and came into use long after World War II. Forklifts transformed the possibilities of multi-level pallet racking of goods into taller, single-level, steel-framed buildings for greater storage density. The forklift, and its load attached to a uniform pallet, enabled the emergence of logistics approaches to warehousing at the turn of the century.

Always a functional building, at the turn of the century warehouses began to adapt to standardization, mechanization, technological innovation and changes in supply chain methods. Here in the 20th century, we are witnessing the next big development in storage: automation.