The LocalHub building

The size of a LocalHub building will vary significantly according to the population density around it and the size of its catchment area. There is a minimum size for a LocalHub below which it is difficult to maintain the level of service and reliability that can be attained with larger ones. Being able to maintain service levels if one van breaks, a driver fails to turn up or a loading bay fails means that at least two or three of each of these is needed.

With a LocalHub every mile or two and ideally sited in the centre of a population area, it will be important to make good use of the available (and typically limited space). A multi-storey building is recommended - not just for efficient use of space but also for its lower surface-area to volume ratio (and hence cost per square foot for heating and/or air conditioning).

Ground Floor (= 1st Storey in U.S. terms)

The ground floor is almost entirely given over to the retail/public space and will look like a small shopping mall. Only a small section need be taken up by the drive-through lane where vans are loaded and unloaded and another bay where one or more shipping container-sized trailers are parked to be filled with recyclables.

First Floor (= 2nd Storey in U.S. terms)

This is the box sorting and routing floor at the “core” of the building. Containers of boxes are lifted up from and lowered onto the OmniVans and/or inter-hub trucks from hatches above the drive-through loading/unloading lane.

Individual boxes are passed down through SmartWaiter hatches to the retail areas where they can be filled by staff working e.g. in the coffee shop or restaurants. Where higher volumes of boxes are to be filled or emptied - such as for mail or newspaper delivery, these boxes are passed up to the floor(s) above.

Second Floor (=3rd Storey in U.S. terms)

Here, boxes are passed up to be filled with mail, newspapers and other goods. On this floor, whole walls may be filled with row upon row of boxes - for mail to be sorted into them for example. In other areas, boxes are streamed passed work stations on conveyor belts. Filling hundreds of boxes with breakfast goods is an example of this type of workflow where a screen shows what is to be placed in each box that is presented.

Higher Floors

Further floors may house additional filling or sorting operations or may simply provide storage space for boxes. These would include spare boxes needed in times of peak demand as well as boxes deliberately placed in short to medium-term storage where their owners have rapid access to them. Boxes placed in longer-term/slower-access storage would be moved offsite to larger, more cost effective warehousing.

Roof

Ideally, the roof will be equipped with solar panels that provide some of the power for the building and/or the batteries that need to be recharged to run the electric delivery vans and car-pool.

Basement

The basement may usefully be used to provide chilled and frozen storage areas.