Not every building needs to be insulated and heated. If you're sheltering equipment from rain, snow, and UV, storing seasonal vehicles, or warehousing agricultural products that don't need climate control, a cold storage building gives you maximum covered square footage at the lowest cost per square foot. It's a roof, walls, doors, and a slab — nothing you don't need, nothing wasted.
Shell Kits — What's Included
Our shell kits include everything you need for a fully enclosed, weather-tight building: engineered trusses, wall framing, 28-gauge metal cladding for roof and walls, a complete trim package, overhead door(s), a walk-in door, and stamped engineered drawings. What's not included is insulation, vapour barrier, and interior liner — because you don't need them for cold storage, and leaving them out saves you real money.
If you change your mind later and want to insulate the building, it's straightforward to add insulation after the fact. The framing is the same whether it's a shell kit or a complete kit — the structure is built to the same standard either way.
Concrete Considerations
Even for cold storage, the slab matters. Equipment is heavy, and a slab that cracks or heaves is a problem whether the building is heated or not. We pour cold storage slabs with the same rebar reinforcement and frost wall depth as heated buildings. The only difference is we may skip the vapour barrier if there's no insulation and no moisture concern.
When Cold Storage Makes Sense
Seasonal farm equipment that sits idle for months. Boats and RVs you only use in summer. Lumber, steel, and building materials that need to stay dry but not warm. Hay and straw storage. Overflow vehicle parking. If you don't need to work inside the building in winter, cold storage is the smart, cost-effective choice.
Recommended Frame Types
Post frame is the most popular choice for cold storage — lower cost, fast erection, and great clear span. Steel frame is ideal for larger cold storage buildings where you need maximum clear span without interior posts. Both go up quickly and are designed for this exact use case.