Inside the rebuilt Pop Cave at Kenfig Hill Superstore, one of two new walk-in coldrooms

Kenfig Hill · Full store rebuild · Case study

Back, and
bigger.

A serious electrical fire gutted Kenfig Hill Superstore. Craven Cooling came back to rebuild the entire refrigeration package from the ground up — and had the store trading again in two months.

0Months to reopen

0Condensing units installed

0Walk-in cold caves built

The job

Our team had installed the original refrigeration at Kenfig Hill Superstore around a year earlier. Then a serious fault in the incoming mains electrics — nothing to do with the refrigeration — set off a fire that left the store needing a major rebuild.

Craven Cooling was brought back to manage the complete refrigeration side of the rebuild: assess what had been lost, design a new layout, and get one of the largest stores of its kind in Wales trading again.

Fire damage to the spirits shelving and ceiling inside the store before the rebuild — **This was not a normal refurbishment.** The store had already been fully fitted out before the fire — much of that work had to be assessed, stripped out and rebuilt from scratch.

The challenge

This wasn’t one trade working alone. Electricians, builders, shopfitters, flooring and ceiling teams and our own engineers all needed the same spaces, in the right order, on a programme the customer needed to move as fast as possible.

Narrow, busy roads

Kenfig Hill’s roads left little room for delivery vehicles. Remote cabinets, freezer cases and coldroom panels had to be brought in on a careful schedule so the surrounding streets never blocked up.

Every trade, one site

A delay from any one contractor could hold up the whole rebuild. Our stages had to slot around builders, electricians and shopfitters working the same store at the same time.

A big refrigeration package

Seven condensing units, two walk-in caves and a mix of chilled, frozen, heated and specialist display equipment — all needing to be built, connected and commissioned to schedule.

Before / after

The store had already been completely fitted out before the fire tore through it. Drag the line to see the same store, rebuilt.

Before: the fire-damaged interior of Kenfig Hill Superstore, ceiling and shelving burnt out

After: the rebuilt store interior, aisles stocked and trading again

Before · fire damage After · reopened

Gutted to trading again in 0 months

Considering the extent of the damage, the size of the building and the amount of work needed from every contractor on site, reopening the doors that quickly was a major achievement for everyone involved.

The new refrigeration cube built as a central island feature inside Kenfig Hill Superstore

Central feature

The refrigeration cube

Rather than simply replace what had been lost, the rebuild became a chance to improve the store’s whole layout. A refrigeration cube was designed and built as a central island — an eye-catching feature that divides the customer journey into clear sections, without relying only on cabinets around the walls.

Meat and food-to-go doors on the refrigeration cube, with eggs and milk on the end — Meat, food to go and dairy — the cube working on every face.

The kit

One of the largest refrigeration packages Craven Cooling has delivered — chilled, frozen, heated and specialist display, built around two walk-in caves and a purpose-made external condensing frame.

KD condensing units ×5Mounted on a purpose-built external frame

J&E Hall condensing units ×2Mounted alongside, on the same frame

Walk-in beer cave ×1Chilled drinks storage and display

Walk-in soft-drinks cave ×1The Pop Cave — chilled soft drinks

Arneg Astana five-door freezers ×2Glass-door frozen display

Arneg Panama 2.5m & 1.25mChilled retail display

Arneg Osaka 1.25m & 3.75m ×2Chilled retail display

Fruit and vegetable shelving kitOpen produce merchandising

Spaceman T29 soft-serve machineIce-cream, food-to-go counter

Tefcold UF400VG display freezerFront-of-store display

Cossiga heated displayFood-to-go counter

Cossiga chilled displayFood-to-go counter

A full aisle of glass-door Arneg freezers under Frozen signage — The frozen run — glass-door Arneg cabinets down the full aisle.

The frozen aisle viewed from the opposite end, Pop Cave entrance to the side — Frozen, from the other end — full glass-door coverage.

The Beer Cave entrance with open glass doors under Beer Cave signage — The Beer Cave door — walk in and shop straight from the cold.

Inside the Beer Cave, evaporator fans on the ceiling above shelves of canned and bottled beer — Inside the Beer Cave — evaporator fans overhead, stock stacked to the ceiling.

A deeper view down the Beer Cave aisle, boxed beer stacked on shelving — Deep enough to walk and shop — the Beer Cave’s full run.

Five KD and two J&E Hall condensing units mounted on the purpose-built external frame — The purpose-built external frame carrying the KD and J&E Hall condensing units.

The Cossiga heated and chilled food-to-go counter display — The Cossiga heated and chilled counter, ready to serve.

The spirits and till counter area of the rebuilt store — Spirits and the till point, fitted out and stocked.

Glass-door Food To Go chilled cabinet run beside the tills — Food To Go — chilled grab-and-go by the till.

The open fruit and vegetable shelving unit, fully merchandised — The fruit and veg shelving kit, fully merchandised.

The Meal Deal aisle stocked with snacks and drinks — Meal Deal aisle, stocked and signed.

The Pop Cave entrance doors open onto the soft drinks walk-in — The Pop Cave door — soft drinks, walk-in.

Inside the Pop Cave, ceiling fans above shelving of soft and energy drinks — Inside the Pop Cave — soft and energy drinks under the fans.

A wide shot down the store's aisles from the front entrance — The view from the front door — the full rebuild, in one shot.

The exterior Premier-branded shopfront of Kenfig Hill Superstore — Kenfig Hill Superstore, open again — the shopfront on Pisgah Street.

The Tefcold display freezer positioned near the front counter — The Tefcold display freezer, up front by the till.

Rather than simply replace what had been lost, the project became an opportunity to build an even stronger finished store.

Kenfig Hill Superstore · Pisgah Street, Kenfig Hill, Bridgend

Job and photography: Kyle Craven, Craven Cooling

Rebuild, refit, reopen.

Fire damage, insurance rebuilds, full store fit-outs — we manage the whole refrigeration package, coordinated around every other trade on site. One call covers design, supply, installation and commissioning.

Call 01792 732702 See the equipment

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The job