FACILITY OF THE YEAR

2019 SSAA

ANNUAL AWARDS

FOR EXCELLENCE WINNER

2019 FACILITY OF THE YEAR More than 500 units

FORT KNOX SELF STORAGE

COBURG VICTORIA

On July 30th, 2018, the Fort Knox Self Storage family opened the doors to the newest addition in their portfolio, a fabulous purpose-built storage facility situated on Sydney Road, Coburg North, Melbourne. It is the 10th self storage location added to their growing family and their first facility servicing the northern suburbs of Melbourne. With its grand stature, this eye-catching state of the art self storage centre it is, without a doubt, a worthy winner of the prestigious SSAA Facility of the Year Award.

Fort Knox Coburg North site is conveniently situated on Sydney Road close to both the Western Ring Road & City Link. The site is merely 13 minutes from Essendon Airport and just 15 minutes from Tullamarine airport, providing easy access for travellers. Currently, they have only opened stage 1, and future developments will see the site having over 1050 units available, by the end of 2020.

To ensure customers receive the best value for money, Fort Knox Coburg has over 20 different sizes of spaces on offer. Because of this, customers don’t pay for any excess storage space that they do not need. The facility itself boasts a large boardroom for commercial clients to utilise free of charge, a lovely waiting room with complimentary tea coffee and refreshments for all customers, removalists and visitors alike.

Fort Knox Self Storage Coburg prides itself on cleanliness and a pristine storage environment. The team at the site complete a full walk around audit daily and make sure that the facility is in perfect condition. Hallways are swept, rubbish removed, and the extensive audit regime is completed and documented daily. During the construction of the building, a ‘concrete densifying agent’ was applied, so there is no concrete dust, and the floors remain entirely sealed for the life of the facility. This ensures and assures clients that their goods are in the same condition when they leave as what they were when they arrived.

When designing the Coburg North facility, the Fort Knox team worked closely with the engineers and designers to incorporate numerous innovations and measures to improve environmental strategies. They are committed to monitor efficiencies and look for opportunities that will enhance environmental performance. Their environmental policy is reviewed on an annual basis or as required. The Coburg facility has been built on the premise of reducing the carbon footprint, where possible. Thus ensuring it is a self storage facility of choice, especially for environmentally conscious customers. Some initiatives include:

l Movement sensors that control energy-efficient

LED lighting. l Lights turn off after 20 minutes of no movement. l Roof Solar System to be installed Q4 2019. l Rainwater tanks that water our gardens l Rain garden to catch rainwater at the front of the property. l 6sqm recycle bin for customers at no charge. l Selling of cardboard boxes that have used recycled products. l Paperless move-in process and no filing cabinets.

At Fort Knox Self Storage, they take security seriously!

They have designed a unique locking mechanism which provides additional security and peace of mind for clients which prevents bolt cutters being used to force entry as it completely encloses the shank of all padlocks on site. All the units at the Coburg facility are fitted with individual door alarms, which are activated/deactivated through Sentinel double pin entry/exit system to the site.

The facility itself has 29 high definition security cameras, back to base movement sensors on all external access doors and external/internal PIR sensors to detect movement outside and inside of the building. When accessing the premises, clients use their PIN to gain access through the main gate. They also need to use their PIN again to access inside the building. Access into the building is through 3 unique ‘Albany fast roller doors’ that open in under 2 seconds. Internally there are three large goods/ passenger lifts which were installed by Safetech. These have a huge 3m x 3m loading deck and, given their size, move clients between levels quickly. Opting to operate from 6.00 am – 9.00 pm enables the site to be fully secure overnight for 8 hours, which has been specifically designed to deter undesirables from being onsite overnight. Fort Knox believes that all self storage should have a period that they ‘lockdown’ overnight and facilities with 24-hour access may attract some customers, that aren’t ideal.

The site has been constructed in 6 sections, separated by fire-rated compartments, which in the event of a fire, seal each section. There’s a fire panel fitted with hard-wired smoke detectors which alert fire authorities on activation. In addition, there is a 10,000-litre rainwater tank to ensure there is plenty of water on hand for emergency services while minimising environmental impact.

The office is fitted with a duress alarm in the event the team have a personal threat which automatically calls the security monitoring company and Police. They have also implemented several security checks to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all team members if they are onsite alone.

Fort Knox Self Storage Coburg is a magnificent purposebuilt state of the art facility. Ensuring customers have a brilliant storage experience has been the driving force behind many aspects of the design and construction process. With A-grade security measures, paperless move-in system, ease of access and complimentary beverages, these all add up to ensure every customer is treated like gold. Kris, Connie and the team at Fort Knox Self Storage Coburg truly understand the overwhelming prospect that storing your precious items can evoke. Understanding this, they deliver exceptional customer service providing all customers with peace of mind knowing that they will take care of their personal belongings and value them as much as they do. Fort Knox Coburg offers the latest in global self storage advancements, making it a superb representation of the quality that the Fort Knox Self Storage Group offers and the high bar that is being raised by Australian storage facilities. l

Fort Knox believes that all self storage should have a period that they ‘lockdown’ overnight and facilities with 24-hour access may attract some customers, that aren’t ideal.