THE FOCUS OF CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY MIGHT WELL HAVE REMAINED ON OTHER SECTORS, PARTICULARLY HOUSEBUILDING, IN RECENT YEARS, BUT THE PUBLIC SECTOR CONTINUES TO PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN DRIVING INNOVATION.
Geberit Mapress' no hot works benefits allowed the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), one of the world's leading research institutions, to stay operational while a new compressed air system was installed.
Installed to match the existing copper system in the LMB's £212 million purpose-built building, Geberit Mapress was chosen to provide a neater finish where pipework was exposed.
The LMB remained functional and occupied while the new compressed air system was being installed, so soldering could have posed a risk to building users.
Gary Smith, from GRS Mechanical, said: "We had to match an existing compressed air installation constructed from 22mm copper braised joints.
“Now a fully functioning building, it was hard to get a ‘hot works permit', so Geberit Mapress was the obvious choice. As ever with Geberit Mapress, the installation went smoothly and the customer is extremely happy with the end result."
Scientists at LMB are responsible for many pioneering techniques, working to advance the understanding of biological processes at a molecular level, in order to solve key problems in human health.
The laboratory is located in the hub of one of the largest and most internationally competitive concentrations of healthcare-related talent and enterprise in Europe.
In a separate project, Geberit Mapress‘ speed of installation has contributed to Northern Ireland's largest Level 2 Building Information Modelling (BIM) project, the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute, located on the Health Science Campus at Belfast City Hospital.
Completed in a record 17 months, building services were Installed by the Harvey Group whichwon ‘Best Installer Team‘ for its efforts in last year's Geberit awards.
Geberit Mapress Stainless Steel was used for the building's low temperature hot water and chilled water systems, the mist fire supression system and natural gas. Geberit Mapress Copper services drinking water, rainwater harvesting and high temperature drainage systems. Alongside Geberit Mapress copper, Geberit HDPE transports laboratory chemical water, safety cabinet and fume cupboard drainage.
HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) is resistant to high temperatures and aggressive media, such as chemicals - it can withstand around 95% of all commercially available alkalis, acids and chemicals - making it suitable for range of applications; including roof drainage systems and laboratories, as is demonstrated at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute.
Adding to the building's sustainable credentials, Polyethylene is environmentally friendly and completely recyclable, with no toxic emissions released during its processing, or in case of fire.
The Wellcome-Wolfson institute demonstrates how BIM can be used successfully to help a building meet its requirements; in this case, being fit for purpose, sustainable and completed in a short timeframe. Products such as Geberit Mapress fit well with BIM, helping building designers and contractors get piped building services installed quickly, with a ‘right first time' approach.
The Fitzwilliam Museum, founded in 1816, is the principal museum of the University of Cambridge and a leading centre for art historical research and conservation.
In addition to permanent galleries, the museum has two galleries for temporary exhibitions. As each exhibition requires a different display layout, the corresponding power supplies have to be regularly reconfigured.
Previously the museum’s in-house facilities team hard wired power cables to plug into floor sockets using extension leads, a costly and time-consuming process. Therefore the museum wanted a flexible power delivery system that also avoided trailing extension leads. Having identified the need for a plug and play, pre-wired underfloor distribution system to supply power, it was Marshall-Tufflex’s MT32 system that ticked all the boxes.
“We looked at a few different plug and play systems but none of them were flush enough to the wall for the display cabinets to be positioned,” said Darren Potter, Chief Technician of Facilities at the Fitzwilliam Museum.
“Although each exhibition can take up to two years in the planning with the relevant departments of the museum, when it comes to refurbishing the galleries time is of the essence with no room for error as the opening of pre-publicised exhibitions cannot be postponed.
“We also wanted a simple system in order to adjust the lids to correspond with the plug-in-lengths with ease. We have experienced one change of exhibition so far and ordered extra lengths for this purpose. It’s early days but we are happy with the result and in the longer term we hope to save money as well as time.”
The museum also required trunking that would not only be a good match to the light oak floor (the trunking sits on the floor at skirting level within the gallery) but would also meet Historic England approval as the building and its galleries are Grade 1 listed.
“Marshall-Tufflex’s Sterling Profile in Light Oak was the closest match. We also chose Sterling Profile 3 as it had square edges rather than bevelled ones, making it easier for us to fit the trunking flush into the skirting void behind the wall,” said Darren.
The completed installation complied with the strict specification requirements of the Fitzwilliam Museum and Historic England, providing a cost-effective solution for future layout changes.
Marshall-Tufflex’s MT32 power delivery system and Sterling Profile 3 in Light Oak were supplied by Newey & Eyre, Cambridge.
Wirral Methodist Housing Association (HA) completed works on a residential block of 24 flats over three storeys two years ago, but in more recent times the accommodation has been upgraded to cater specifically for less mobile residents.
Soon after moving into the apartments, electricians were regularly being called to site to relocate the existing fixed door entry handsets.
Maintec Ltd, a local access control installer, was tasked with trying to establish a more cost-effective and time efficient solution that was easy for the elderly residents to use.
On that basis, Steve Cranshaw, Managing Director of Maintec Ltd, specified Intratone’s Visio 3G door entry system. Each of the residents is given their own fob which allows them easy access; for visitors, the system calls the house phone via GSM, and if no-one answers it then rings a second designated number, normally a mobile phone. Residents simply have to press the hash key on their device to allow entry.
“There was a short learning curve while residents got used to the new system, and now everyone is much happier and feels far more secure and accessible,” Steve Cranshaw adds. “Intratone’s products are innovative and very economically priced so we are able to work on sites like this where the budget can be tighter.”
Anthony Plasse, UK Sales Manager for Intratone, says its products are flexible enough to suit a wide range of sites and applications: “Our access control and door entry systems are installed across Social Housing, Private Properties and HAs all over the UK and Europe, and prove popular for residents of all ages, but especially the elderly, because they are very easy to use.
“Installers and customers also like them because they are very easy to install and competitively priced.”
An ambitious pilot scheme designed to combine engineered and soft suds solutions to alleviate the risk of flooding from West London’s combined sewers has seen Polypipe’s Permavoid system used to create two unique shallow stormwater drainage systems that are sensitive to their environment. A third scheme will begin this autumn using Polypipe’s Permavoid system to complete the project.
The project, overseen by Thames Water in partnership with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, will see SuDS solutions retrofitted into a highly urbanised area, in order to potentially mitigate the risk of surface water flooding during periods of heavy rainfall across the Counters Creek catchment area.
One of London’s lost rivers, Counters Creek once flowed through the region before being culverted in the 19th century to form part of Joseph Bazalgette’s new sewer network, made necessary due to an increasing population in London. With further building work heavily urbanising the area featuring many properties with basement levels, the two local authorities and Thames Water have worked together to create the SuDS scheme sites which will be used to monitor performance.
In order to assess the varied approaches SuDS can offer, the project saw three scheme sites identified where a number of differing surface water management systems could be utilised in combination with their surroundings. The three ‘typical’ London streets selected met Thames Water’s criteria of being hydraulically discrete and having suitable monitoring points to measure the system’s effectiveness.
The SuDS pilot scheme retrofitted in the three streets of the two boroughs will limit, as far as possible, the volume and rate at which surface water enters the public sewer system. Monitoring performance in the three streets should provide evidence to show whether these systems provide a viable solution that could be applied across a wider area.
Polypipe’s Permavoid geocellular system was used to create part of an engineered stormwater solution for each of the selected locations: Mendora Road in Fulham, Melina Road in Shepherd’s Bush and Arundel Gardens in Kensington.
These three separate solutions have been developed with specific focus on their particular environment.
The two streets in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham have been constructed in collaboration with the borough council, their contractors FM Conway, SEL Environmental, consultant AECOM, and with the final designs reviewed by chosen consultant engineering firm ATKINS.
The retrofitted SuDS scheme at Arundel Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea will be built this autumn in collaboration with the council and their contractors.