CleanSpace, an integrated design-build firm focused on controlled-environment facilities, has launched ColdSpace — a dedicated division targeting the design and construction of cold storage and temperature-controlled facilities for food and beverage operators, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and industrial users.
The division extends CleanSpace's established single-source delivery model into the cold chain sector, bundling building construction, refrigeration, racking systems, automation, controls, and software under one contract. The structure gives operators a single accountable partner across all the interdependent systems that determine whether a cold facility performs to spec — eliminating the coordination gaps that typically arise when general contractors, refrigeration subcontractors, and automation vendors work under separate agreements.
What ColdSpace Covers
The scope spans the full range of cold storage typologies: refrigerated processing spaces, walk-in coolers, high-cube freezer warehouses, and complex multi-temperature facilities. For foodservice operators and food manufacturers evaluating new commissary kitchens, distribution hubs, or large-scale cold prep buildouts, the integrated model is particularly relevant — refrigeration and cold-chain storage design decisions made in isolation from racking, material flow, and building envelope choices frequently generate costly rework late in a project.
By pulling refrigeration engineering, storage layout, and building requirements into a unified scope from day one, ColdSpace positions itself to surface conflicts earlier and give owners tighter control over schedule and capital expenditure. That front-loaded coordination approach aligns with how foodservice equipment consultants and design-build specialists increasingly advise operators to structure large cold facility projects, particularly as refrigerant regulatory changes and energy performance requirements add technical complexity to refrigeration system selection.
Leadership and Market Entry
To build out its commercial presence, ColdSpace has hired Michael O'Neill as Director of Sales, National, and Michelle Grojean as Director of Marketing. The two hires signal an intent to establish dedicated customer relationships rather than rely on CleanSpace's existing cleanroom and controlled-environment client base, which skews toward pharmaceutical and life sciences.
The food and beverage segment represents a distinct opportunity: demand for purpose-built cold storage infrastructure has expanded alongside the growth of ghost kitchens, commissary operations, and last-mile cold-chain distribution. Operators scaling those facilities often face the same systems-integration challenges ColdSpace is targeting — a refrigeration contractor unfamiliar with automation requirements, or a general contractor managing racking vendors at arm's length, can introduce schedule risk and performance shortfalls that are expensive to remediate after construction closes.
For dealers and consultants specifying commercial refrigeration and storage buildouts, ColdSpace's integrated model introduces a design-build competitor that controls scope from concept through commissioning. CleanSpace's background in U.S. manufacturing, qualification, and ongoing facility support — capabilities it carries over into ColdSpace — suggests the division intends to compete on technical depth and lifecycle accountability rather than on price alone.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
