Food and Beverage Processing Plant Construction in Denver, Colorado

Hot water, caustic wash and forklift traffic all hit a food plant floor every shift, and the floor either holds or it becomes the plant's biggest recurring cost. Food and beverage buildings are specified around cleaning: sloped floors to drains, coved bases, sealed joints, nonporous wall surfaces and equipment set on curbed pads that can be hosed down. The building shell may look like any other industrial structure, but the interior is a sanitary system.

Metro Denver already makes food and drink at scale. Elyria-Swansea contains a Nestle Purina PetCare plant, and it is bounded by the South Platte River on the west, Adams County on the north and a major railroad crossing running southwest to northeast. In Golden, Molson Coors broke ground in October 2020 on a multi-hundred-million-dollar overhaul of its brewery, adding fermenting, aging and filtration capacity on a schedule running into 2024. Those projects show the pattern here: established plants expand in place, on constrained sites with rail, utilities and neighbors.

We build and expand food and beverage plants, with a team that handles drainage, floors and process utilities as parts of one design. Our cold storage experience matters because most plants need chilled and frozen space on the same campus.

Floors, drains and the hygienic envelope

The floor is the first consideration. We design slabs with continuous slope to trench or point drains, high-strength concrete with a hardened surface and a chemical-resistant topping or coating where the process demands it. Joints are saw cut and sealed with materials rated for the temperature and cleaning agents, because an open joint is a place for bacteria to live. The industrial concrete floors team we coordinate handles finishing and curing so the surface can accept the coating.

Walls and ceilings need the same attention. Insulated metal panels with a smooth, cleanable face are common in production rooms, and ceiling systems must be cleanable and free of ledges that collect dust. Doors, windows and penetrations are sealed against pests, and air handling maintains pressure relationships between raw and finished product areas. We coordinate these details with the owner's food safety team, because the plant will be audited against them.

Process utilities, wastewater and the shell around them

A food plant is a utility plant that happens to have a building around it. Potable water, hot water, steam, compressed air, refrigeration, electrical power and natural gas all feed the process, and wastewater leaves it in volume and with strength that municipal systems may need to be told about. We coordinate with the owner's process engineers on pipe routing, equipment pits and utility corridors, and with the utility on service sizes.

Wastewater deserves its own lead item. High-strength discharge may require pretreatment, equalization and a discharge permit, and the equipment takes space and time. We place the pretreatment area early in the layout, with site utilities sized for the process, because retrofitting it later means tearing up the floor. Receiving and shipping docks add refrigerated or ambient space, depending on product.

Food safety and construction safety together

Construction in a food plant must protect the product as well as the workers. We follow the owner's good manufacturing practice rules during work in or near production areas: controlling dust, keeping tools and materials out of product zones, using approved lubricants and sealing off work areas with negative air pressure and sticky mats. Our supervisors attend the owner's food safety training before work begins.

Traditional safety obligations also apply. Ammonia refrigeration, confined spaces, hot work and chemical storage all appear on food and beverage sites, and we handle them through written plans and permits. When we work in an operating facility, we separate construction access from product flows and use clear signage and barriers, so inspectors and operators see the boundaries without ambiguity.

Environmental history and local approval

North Denver's industrial areas carry history. Neighborhood activism in Globeville and Elyria-Swansea won a 1994 settlement with ASARCO that funded soil cleanup, a sign of legacy smelter contamination to check in due diligence near these industrial areas. A food plant that expands there should know the soil condition before footings are excavated, and an environmental review early in the project protects the owner's schedule and budget.

Codes and approvals vary by location. Golden was listed as enforcing the 2024 IBC, 2024 IRC and 2024 IFC since August 2025, while Denver adopted new building and fire codes on June 13, 2025 based on the 2024 International Building Code. We confirm the edition, the fire department's requirements for ammonia and combustible dust, and health department review of plans where applicable. Our Golden and north Denver experience helps us predict how each city will read the submittal.

Why food and beverage investments keep coming back

The Front Range supports food and beverage production with a large consumer base, strong distribution infrastructure and a workforce used to manufacturing. The Golden brewery has more than 800 employees, and the Purina plant is one of the established plants in the Elyria-Swansea industrial district, so suppliers, packaging firms and cold chain operators cluster nearby.

That cluster creates opportunities for smaller producers who want to co-locate: bakeries, beverage fillers, specialty food makers and co-packers. We build for them in flex buildings and purpose-built plants. Our work for the food and beverage sector includes shell and core, tenant improvements and plant expansions, and our cold storage and refrigerated clients are often the same operators as their neighbors in the processing buildings.

Services that complete a plant

A processing plant draws on many of our services. Stormwater and spill containment protect the site, dock aprons support the product flow, and a manufacturing plant design approach applies to the production floor. Equipment foundations, mezzanines for process platforms and yard lighting for night shifts are common additions.

Owners with a phased program value continuity. We can build the first production line, leave room and utilities for the second and tie in later without disrupting the operating line. That approach gives owners a plant that grows with its sales.

Share the process and the site

Send us your product, your sanitation requirements and your parcel, and we will return a scope that covers floors, drains, utilities and schedule. If you plan to expand in place, include the existing building drawings and we will assess the tie-in.

Common Questions

What flooring system should a food plant use?

It depends on the process. Wet areas with hot water and acids call for a chemical-resistant urethane or epoxy system over properly sloped concrete, while dry areas can use sealed concrete. We review the cleaning chemicals and temperatures with the owner and choose a system rated for them.

Can a plant keep running during an expansion?

Yes, with planning. We separate construction access, control dust, schedule tie-ins during planned shutdowns and protect food safety zones. The plant manager signs off on each phase before work starts.

What should we check on a site near the Platte River industrial areas?

Soil history, groundwater, flood status and rail easements. The Globeville and Elyria-Swansea areas have industrial history, including a 1994 settlement that funded soil cleanup, so environmental diligence is part of every site review we do there.

How is wastewater handled?

Many plants need pretreatment to bring discharge within the municipal limits, and the system requires its own permits and space. We bring the owner's environmental engineer into preconstruction so tanks, pumps and piping are in the drawings from the beginning.

Do you build co-packer or incubator space?

Yes, we build food-grade spaces with shared utilities, loading and cold storage that serve several small producers. The design emphasizes sanitary finishes and flexible utility connections.

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