Industrial architecture rarely gets as much attention as the work happening in historic downtown storefronts or mountain residential retreats. But for the businesses that depend on well-designed production, storage, and distribution space, the architecture matters — in operational efficiency, in regulatory compliance, in energy costs, and in the ability to grow without tearing out what was just built.
This page covers what industrial and warehouse architecture involves in Asheville and Western North Carolina, what makes the WNC market distinct from larger industrial corridors, and how a local commercial architect in Asheville adds value on projects that general contractors and design-build firms sometimes suggest don’t need one.
Western North Carolina is not a mega-industrial market. The I-26 corridor between Charleston and Ridgeville, South Carolina holds approximately 26 million square feet of industrial space and attracted millions of additional square feet of new Class A distribution construction in recent years, driven by port access and interstate highway proximity. The Asheville MSA operates at a fundamentally different scale.
What WNC does have is sustained demand for light industrial, flex space, and food-and-beverage manufacturing — driven in part by the regional craft beverage economy, in part by regional suppliers serving Asheville’s hospitality sector, and in part by small-to-midsize manufacturers who value WNC’s quality of life for attracting and retaining skilled trades. Buncombe County’s 2043 Comprehensive Plan explicitly supports continued industrial development, and areas along the I-26 corridor between Asheville and Hendersonville, including Appleland Business Park and the Old County Home Road area, continue to see demand from light industrial tenants.
Form & Function’s industrial project portfolio includes Hi-Tech Integrated Systems and STF Precision — both projects that required navigating WNC’s steep terrain, NCBC occupancy analysis for manufacturing uses, and the kind of site-specific constraints that don’t appear in a standard industrial spec sheet.
Industrial buildings in North Carolina are classified under the 2024 NC State Building Code (based on the 2021 IBC) according to use:
The occupancy classification drives allowable area and height, construction type, fire protection requirements, egress design, and sprinkler system selection. Getting this analysis right at the beginning of a project prevents the expensive discovery of non-compliant conditions during permit review.
Mixed-use industrial facilities — a common format in WNC where a business has both manufacturing/warehouse space and an associated office component — are analyzed under IBC Section 508, which governs how different occupancy groups can coexist in a single building. The office component (Group B) and the warehouse or manufacturing area (Group S or F) can be treated as non-separated occupancies with appropriate fire protection, or separated occupancies with rated construction between them.
Modern distribution and warehouse buildings have specific spatial requirements that drive the structural system. Clear heights — the unobstructed vertical dimension from finished floor to the lowest hanging obstruction — range from 24 to 36 feet for mid-range distribution facilities, and 40 feet or higher for high-cube distribution serving e-commerce or regional logistics. Column-free bay spacing of 50 by 50 feet or 60 by 60 feet is standard for modern warehouses; older buildings and some flex-industrial configurations use 32 by 32 foot bays, which limit rack configuration options.
Loading dock design follows a rule of thumb of one dock door per 5,000 to 10,000 square feet of warehouse area, with truck court depths of 130 feet minimum to allow for full semi-trailer maneuvering. Grade-level doors for van or box truck delivery may supplement or replace dock doors depending on the tenant’s operations.
Floor slab design for warehouses carrying forklift traffic requires reinforced concrete slabs 6 to 8 inches thick, with flatness and levelness specifications (FF and FL values) sufficient for the equipment being operated. High-reach forklifts used in rack-storage configurations require higher FF values than standard forklifts, and the slab specification should be established based on the tenant’s operational requirements, not defaulted to a generic minimum.
Warehouse and distribution facilities almost universally require NFPA 13 automatic sprinkler systems. For high-piled storage — rack storage exceeding 12 feet in height — Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR) sprinkler systems are the standard approach, providing suppression capability at the ceiling level without requiring in-rack sprinklers on every storage level. For rack storage configurations and commodity classifications that exceed ESFR design parameters, in-rack sprinklers may still be required.
Fire separation between occupancy groups — office and warehouse, production and storage — must be addressed in the construction documents with rated assemblies designed to the specific requirements of IBC Section 508 for the chosen separation approach.
Most pure warehouse and storage facilities are unconditioned or minimally conditioned — heated in winter to prevent pipe freezing and cooled in summer only at office areas. Manufacturing facilities have more varied HVAC requirements depending on the process: temperature-sensitive manufacturing, food production, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and electronics fabrication all require conditioned environments with specific humidity and cleanliness parameters.
Industrial HVAC systems face unique challenges that standard commercial systems don’t: high internal heat gains from equipment, processes, and lighting; large volumes of outside air required by process ventilation; and in food and beverage manufacturing, specific humidity control to prevent condensation on equipment and packaging. The mechanical engineer’s early engagement in an industrial project — not as a late-phase add-on to an already-completed architectural design — is one of the most important factors in a project coming in on budget.
Asheville’s terrain is the defining constraint for industrial site selection in Buncombe County. The UDO’s steep slope provisions require multi-phase geotechnical certifications for sites with grades above 35% or elevations above 2,500 feet. These certifications — which include soil borings, stability analysis, and engineered grading plans — add time and cost to site development that flat-terrain markets don’t see. More importantly, sites that fail geotechnical evaluation after a purchase contract is signed are expensive mistakes.
A commercial architect in WNC who has evaluated industrial sites in Buncombe and Henderson counties before can identify steep slope triggers during site selection, before any money changes hands. That due diligence is one of the most concrete services an architect provides on an industrial project — and it’s often where the value of local knowledge is clearest.
Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024 reset expectations for commercial and industrial development in WNC’s flood-prone areas. Mechanical and electrical equipment on affected commercial sites is now typically required to be positioned 2–3 feet above the 100-year floodplain — a “freeboard” requirement that changes utility routing, electrical room placement, and the cost basis for sites near the French Broad River, Swannanoa River, and their tributaries.
For industrial facilities in particular, generator placement, electrical switchgear, compressor rooms, and process utility connections all need to be evaluated against the new freeboard requirements. Sites that were considered straightforward before Helene may now require elevated mechanical mezzanines or utility room relocation to comply with updated standards. An architect who knows the post-Helene regulatory environment can evaluate this before a site is selected, not after the design is complete.
Industrial sites generate significant impervious surface area — buildings, parking aprons, truck courts, and drive aisles — that must be managed under Asheville’s stormwater regulations and NC DENR requirements. Detention or retention facilities, bioretention areas, and permeable paving are common stormwater management strategies on WNC industrial sites. Post-Helene stormwater standards have tightened across Buncombe County, and the civil engineer’s stormwater analysis should be initiated as early as the schematic design phase to avoid design rework when the stormwater math doesn’t work with the initial site layout.
Industrial buildings are not exempt from the energy efficiency conversation. In fact, they’re often the best candidates for meaningful energy performance improvements relative to their baseline because their large, simple roof planes and high energy consumption make the economics of investment straightforward.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ only net-zero energy warehouse — the NIEHS North Warehouse and Distribution Center on the NIH campus, designed by SSOE Group — achieved LEED Platinum certification and projected savings of approximately 157,000 kWh per year, or roughly $12,381 annually (SSOE Group project documentation). The 25,000-square-foot facility achieved net-zero energy through a combination of high-performance building envelope, LED high-bay lighting with daylight harvesting controls, and on-site photovoltaic generation — the same strategies that are available to any industrial project with the right design intent from the beginning.
Warehouse and distribution roofs are among the most economically attractive locations for commercial solar in the built environment. Large, flat, unobstructed roof surfaces with minimal competition from HVAC equipment and no shading from adjacent structures can accommodate grid-scale PV arrays sized to offset a significant percentage of the building’s energy consumption. A 250,000-square-foot warehouse roof can realistically accommodate a 1.2-megawatt PV system — enough to meaningfully offset operations energy. For WNC industrial clients considering solar, designing the roof structure to accommodate PV loading from the beginning is substantially cheaper than retrofitting a structural upgrade later.
Industrial lighting is a significant energy end-use in warehouse and manufacturing buildings. LED high-bay luminaires with occupancy sensors and daylight harvesting controls — which dim artificial lighting when sufficient daylight is available from skylights or clerestory windows — can reduce lighting energy use by 50–70% compared to older metal halide systems. Daylight contribution to 2–3% of floor area through well-positioned skylights is a practical target for most industrial buildings, improving both energy performance and worker environment.
The thermal envelope of an industrial building — roof insulation, wall insulation, and air barrier continuity — has the highest return on investment of any energy improvement because its benefits compound over the life of the building. High-performance insulated metal panel wall systems (R-20+) and high-R roof assemblies (R-30+), combined with a continuous air barrier, form the foundation of low-energy industrial design. These choices are made at the construction documents phase and cannot be cost-effectively upgraded after construction.
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure for commercial truck fleets is an emerging requirement for distribution facilities serving major retail and e-commerce clients. Conduit stub-outs and electrical capacity reservations for future EV charging — installed during initial construction at minimal incremental cost — are increasingly appearing in tenant improvement standards for distribution facilities. Designing for this future without fully committing to the charging hardware today is a standard future-proofing strategy.
Form & Function follows the full six-phase AIA process on industrial projects, with adjustments for the specific decision sequence that industrial work requires.
The most important early-phase activities for industrial are site selection due diligence — reviewing the site for steep slope triggers, flood zone designations, utility availability, and zoning compliance before any design work begins — and programming, which establishes the operational requirements that drive every spatial decision: clear heights, bay spacing, loading dock count and configuration, office area allocation, and process utility requirements.
From programming, schematic design positions the building on the site to minimize grading, optimize stormwater management, align loading docks with truck access routes, and orient roof planes for solar access where PV is part of the program. Construction documents are produced in Revit with full MEP coordination — the most common source of costly field conflicts on industrial projects is inadequate coordination between architectural, structural, and mechanical systems in the documents before construction begins.
Contact Form & Function early in the site selection process on industrial projects. The value of the architectural engagement is highest before commitments are made, not after.
Yes, for most commercial industrial buildings. NC G.S. Chapter 83A requires that construction documents for commercial buildings be prepared by or under the responsible control of a licensed NC architect. Industrial buildings with occupancies classified as S-1, S-2, F-1, or F-2 under the NCBC are commercial buildings subject to this requirement. Design-build firms that offer to produce industrial construction documents without an architect of record are taking a risk with your permit — Asheville’s Building Safety division will not accept unstamped commercial construction documents.
Asheville’s UDO distinguishes between Light Industrial (LI) and Industrial (IND) zones. LI zones allow manufacturing, processing, and assembly uses with limited intensity — appropriate for the flex industrial and light manufacturing that characterizes most WNC industrial development. IND zones allow higher-intensity industrial uses with greater separation from residential areas. Both zones require Technical Review Committee (Level II) review for new construction and significant additions. Industrial development outside city limits in Buncombe County follows the county’s zoning ordinance, which is administered separately.
Sites with grades above 35% or elevations above 2,500 feet require multi-phase geotechnical certifications under Asheville’s UDO steep slope provisions. This means soil borings, stability analysis, and engineered grading plans at multiple stages of site development — not just a standard civil engineering grading plan. The certifications add time and cost to the permitting process and, in some cases, make a site that looks adequate for industrial development infeasible for the building footprint and truck court area required. Evaluating steep slope applicability before a site is under contract is one of the most valuable early-project services an architect provides.
Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR) is a sprinkler system design approach developed specifically for high-piled storage — rack storage configurations where combustible goods are stored above 12 feet. ESFR sprinklers respond faster and deliver more water than standard sprinklers, providing suppression capability at the ceiling level without requiring sprinklers on every rack level. NFPA 13 governs when ESFR is appropriate and when it must be supplemented with in-rack sprinklers, based on commodity classification and storage configuration. Your architect and fire protection engineer will determine the appropriate sprinkler design in the construction documents phase.
Yes. The design strategies are well established — high-performance building envelope, LED high-bay lighting with daylight harvesting, rooftop photovoltaics, and efficient HVAC for conditioned areas. The economics depend on energy costs, available solar incentives (federal Investment Tax Credit for commercial solar is available through the Inflation Reduction Act), utility rates, and the scale of the facility. In WNC, where Duke Energy and the electric cooperatives serve most industrial customers, solar economics are favorable for facilities with significant daytime electricity demand. The right time to design for solar is at the beginning of a project, not as a retrofit.
A design-build contractor controls both the design and the construction, which can be efficient but also means the entity responsible for the quality of the design has a financial interest in minimizing design cost. An architect provides independent professional judgment on what the building needs to perform — which may include requirements the contractor would prefer to value-engineer away. For industrial clients, the independent architectural scope most valuable is: occupancy and code analysis, site due diligence for WNC-specific constraints, coordination of structural and MEP systems in the documents before construction, and construction administration visits to verify the build matches the design. These are the activities where the architect’s independent professional responsibility to the client is most distinct from the contractor’s interest in cost control.
Form & Function Architecture works with industrial clients across Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina on light manufacturing, flex industrial, and food-and-beverage production facilities. The studio’s familiarity with WNC’s site constraints — steep slopes, post-Helene resilience requirements, Buncombe County zoning — combined with full-service architectural and engineering coordination, makes the engagement most valuable when it starts early.
Contact Form & Function at 828.575.2423 or info@ffarchitecture.com to discuss your industrial project and schedule a site visit.
