When a serious power-outage threatened the Data Centre of one of the UK’s major travel companies, PPS Power’s engineers were the first ones called. An ‘almighty bang’ was heard as one of the two back-up generators at the site failed when switching back to mains power. The site has two
Shay Casey, Sales Manager at Sika-Trocal, argued that the roofing industry has undergone massive changes over the past decade, with technology behind its growth. Now the industry can carry out BIM modelling, digital presentation and even refurbishment surveys using a drone or virtual programmes. Technical advancement has led to a
The 2 Guildford Business Park is an energy efficient 85,000 sq ft new-build will make an ideal corporate headquarters. It contains on-site amenities, including bicycle storage and showers for those wishing to take the ‘green option’ for the short trip from Guildford Station to the Business Park. The tranquil, rural
Marley Eternit was chosen to build the huts on Alton Towers Resort’s latest attraction – Wicker Man. Wicker Man is the UK’s first new wooden roller coaster to be built in over 20 years and the first to combine fire and wood. Costing over £16 million to build, it offers
Cleanroom and laboratory design and construction specialist, Boulting Environmental Services (BES) has completed a £13 million project for global pharmaceutical business and world leader in the treatment of opioid addiction, Indivior. The new research and development (R&D) facility will be used to test and develop a non-addictive substitute for methadone,
Alan Wilson, the Head of Membership and Communications at SELECT, the campaigning body trade for Scotland’s electrical sector, delivered a presentation at the end of March to the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group for Construction. This was the latest initiative in SELECT and the SEC Group’s long-running campaign to improve
Castle Building Services Organisation (Castle), one of the UK’s leading privately-owned building services design and installation contractors, has announced a recent contract win for its North East office on a new £9.8 million state-of-the-art healthcare facility in York. Working on behalf of principal contractor, Kier Construction, Castle has been
R G Carter has been selected by the University of East Anglia to deliver its new £30m teaching building. The construction company recently began work on the four-storey building which will be open to students at its Norwich campus in September 2019. Paul Hamilton, Senior Project Manager at R G
SimScale, the world’s first provider of cloud-based engineering simulation solutions, has announced an upcoming webinar to teach HVAC system designers and mechanical engineers how to predict and improve thermal comfort, energy efficiency and performance of their designs. The webinar will be presented on March 27, 2018 at 5:00 PM CET
Pod Point has completed the installation of 67 electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints for Skanska UK, one of the country’s leading contractors, at its Hertfordshire head office. The installation is believed to be one of the largest to date in Europe. The company, which employs 6,000 people in the UK, worked
When a serious power-outage threatened the Data Centre of one of the UK’s major travel companies, PPS Power’s engineers were the first ones called. An ‘almighty bang’ was heard as one of the two back-up generators at the site failed when switching back to mains power. The site has two generators that are synced together to provide power to the whole building in cases when mains power is unavailable PPS Power’s engineers arrived on-site at 9pm and discovered that the generator day tank had run out of fuel. Due to the fact that the fuel transfer system is electrically driven, the automatic fuel transfer between bulk tank and day tank was not possible with any mains power available. Moreover, the on-site uninterruptible power supply (UPS), which would provide emergency power during input power source or mains power failures, had only five per cent of autonomy time, equating to just five minutes of available power supply. “When we are called out to work like this we do what is necessary for the client. I wouldn’t describe it as a Mission Impossible but there was obviously a race against the clock and some challenges to restore power and reinstate the fuel transfer system and the generators. As the UPS would only supply power for five minutes, it meant that engineers had to work safely but at speed to beat the clock,” said Ian Townson, Technical Manager for PPS Power. With data at risk, PPS Power engineers arranged a temporary supply from the UPS in order to connect to the fuel transfer system, managing to transfer enough fuel to allow the main generator to be brought back up and running. It also supplied the building’s power needs and then manually transferred fuel during the night to ensure a reliable power supply. Because the source of the original generator’s fault had not yet been identified, during the course of the essential repair work, the data centre was powered by only the back-up generators. PPS Power’s engineers carried out repairs to the fuel transfer system, discovering a defective flow switch, and electrical components. PPS Power’s work ensured that no data was lost as a result of the initial power outage, with engineers working through the night to deliver an outstanding service, and that this major travel company can now be confident that their critical systems will operate as expected.
Shay Casey, Sales Manager at Sika-Trocal, argued that the roofing industry has undergone massive changes over the past decade, with technology behind its growth. Now the industry can carry out BIM modelling, digital presentation and even refurbishment surveys using a drone or virtual programmes. Technical advancement has led to a marketplace brimming with new products and systems, with greater choice and increased competition. The introduction of a wide range of new membranes has seen contractors adapt specifications to ensure the most cost-effective installation; an option not available to architects or clients who no longer have the power to uphold the original specification. Due to the rise of extended payment terms and retentions which have proven a huge burden to buyers and suppliers, roofing contractors must be more financially aware. In addition, firms have also had to adapt to new ways of self-marketing such as social media. A large LinkedIn or Twitter presence can spread positive word of a contractor’s service offering in a matter of seconds. Other factors that brought change into the roofing industry include the environmental concerns that led to the introduction of green and cool roofs, solar panels and further developments in roof lighting. The Green Guide has led to vast improvements in recycling, manufacturing footprint and roofing performance in terms of thermal values and sustainability. A hi-tech revelation is virtual reality, available for those with a taste for risk-averse exhilaration. In the coming future, it is likely that virtual reality will also prove useful to the roofing sector, allowing stakeholders involved in a project to visualise how it will look when completed. This will help minimise misunderstandings between parties which can lead to frustrating, costly delays for the client. The roofing industry will doubtless face many challenges over the coming decade, and as practices and systems change, members will be required to adjust accordingly. With the support of trade associations such as SPRA and NFRC, the future should hold no fear for those involved in the roofing sector.
The 2 Guildford Business Park is an energy efficient 85,000 sq ft new-build will make an ideal corporate headquarters. It contains on-site amenities, including bicycle storage and showers for those wishing to take the ‘green option’ for the short trip from Guildford Station to the Business Park. The tranquil, rural views from the terrace will conceal the excellent access to motorways and rail communications. The lightning within the offices and core areas will be controlled by the Lightning Controls Ltd. Network with daylight dimming and motion detectors. The area controllers will regulate the localised network zones in half floor sectors, on a floor to floor basis or across the whole building, depending on how the facility will be leased. In addition, the double-height atrium will incorporate scene set plates for easy to use local lightning flexibility. Lighting Controls Limited manufactures state of the art control equipment for commercial and high-end domestic lighting and ancillary systems. Their designers and engineers have many decades of combined experience in the field of lighting control, and these British-designed, British-manufactured products reflect this experience and the company’s commitment to reliability and ease of installation and use.
Marley Eternit was chosen to build the huts on Alton Towers Resort’s latest attraction – Wicker Man. Wicker Man is the UK’s first new wooden roller coaster to be built in over 20 years and the first to combine fire and wood. Costing over £16 million to build, it offers riders a truly immersive experience, with a fiery twist. As part of the story, which is set in the world of the Beornen, a fictional community living in the woods, a few huts were placed around the wooden track. In order to continue the woodland theme, the company supplied 327 bundles of its Blue Label Western Red Cedar Shakes, which were used to create over 800 m2 of roofing for the roller coaster. “The task of building a rollercoaster which combines fire and wood required careful planning in order to bring our vision to life. However, for us, it’s not just about creating the ride itself but also its surroundings to deliver a truly immersive experience to our guests,” said Neil Walker from Merlin Entertainment, who also project managed the construction. The choice for Marley Eternit’s Shakes was due to their robust finish and the reassurance provided by the accreditation to the Certi-Grade quality assurance label as certified by the Cedar Shingle and Shake Bureau (CSSB). Moreover, the shakes also require low maintenance and blend into the wider surroundings very well. Another one of the benefits of using the Western Red Cedar Shakes is that it has one of the lowest carbon footprints, representing a new carbon sink upon delivery. This means that more carbon is stored in the shake than is emitted during its harvest, manufacture and transportation combined. “It was crucial the new huts were designed sensitively to blend into the wider design of the Wicker Man ride, complementing the overall aesthetic Merlin was keen to achieve. In commercial projects such as this, the lightweight nature of our Shakes together with their ease of installation, play an important role in ensuring they were able to meet the deadline,” commented Daniel Redfern from Marley Eternit.
Cleanroom and laboratory design and construction specialist, Boulting Environmental Services (BES) has completed a £13 million project for global pharmaceutical business and world leader in the treatment of opioid addiction, Indivior. The new research and development (R&D) facility will be used to test and develop a non-addictive substitute for methadone, to improve patient experience on a global scale. Boulting Environmental Services was appointed by Indivior to carry out a complete turnkey package as principal designer and principal contractor. With a scope of work encompassing full design service, shell construction, internal fit out and commissioning, the project was ideally suited to BES’ multi-disciplined design and construction teams. “Indivior selected Boulting Environmental Services following a competitive tender process, in which BES came out on top in terms of cost-effectiveness and delivery time,” commented Paul O’Reilly, facilities director at Indivior. “The design and build process was extremely collaborative, with BES listening to our primary objectives and creating a facility that was both technically fit-for-purpose and one that gave Indivior welcoming office space and recreational areas for staff.” Before the site was built, Indivior used rented laboratory space to carry out its R&D activity, which drastically impacted the time that could be dedicated to the process as the space was not always available. The new two-storey facility will provide 5,040 square metres of sophisticated accommodation, including ISO7 and ISO8 product development cleanrooms and specialist cGMP laboratories. Supporting areas include highly specified offices, meeting rooms and a restaurant. The site is also equipped with a 100-space car park, service yards, and over 450 cubic metres of attenuation storage tanks to aid surface water drainage. BES’ early involvement in this crucial development phase ensured that the fundamental accommodation requirements were fully translated into the detailed design and the construction. A key element of this process was consultation with the regulatory authorities, including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Home Office. Both were consulted early in this phase, ensuring that a fully compliant scheme formed the basis for the ongoing detailed design. “Due to poor ground conditions, BES’ designers developed a solution that incorporated a ventilated, suspended, pre-cast plank and beam ground floor construction supported by pile foundations,” explained Dale Owen, architectural technologist at BES. “Our design for the sub-structure is based on a braced portal frame solution. The multi-disciplined design team also carried out all necessary Building Energy Model calculations to certify that the building envelope and associated services met the required emission rates to comply with Part L2 of the Building Regulations.” “There were extremely strict insurance guidelines that BES had to adhere to. Only approved products could be used in the construction of the building, which meant a lot of planning in partnership with the client’s insurance company. BES had regular teleconferences with both the client and the insurance provider to help guarantee that the final build met all regulations and specifications. “BES sees each project that it works on as a collaborative one,” continued Owen. “We operated using a brief set by the client, but had regular progress meetings to discuss any changes or suggestions for the final design. We also engaged with the building’s end-users, by holding a series of workshops, to guarantee that the result was suitable for purpose.” Revit modelling software was used in all elements of the design, from the superstructure to the internal fit out, including coordination of all mechanical and electrical services. The visualisations are used in addition to technical drawings, to help ensure that the designer and the client understand all aspects of the final build. The software package also allows all parties to collaboratively and easily make changes at any stage of the design process. Additionally, 3D images and walk-throughs aided the space planning process, providing users with realistic representations of the facility. These were used to determine space requirements in process areas, as well as maintenance access to the plant and services. Using Revit also helped BES’ construction team when working on the substructure. Following on from the successful completion of this, work started on erecting the 180 tonnes of steel portal frame and the column casings. With a total area of 5,040 metres squared over two floors, the ground floor slab design used suspended cast concrete planks with a structural screed top. The first floor comprised of a traditional hollow rib deck with a pumped concrete slab and screed top. While the cladding works were under way, the installation of 4,200 metres squared of curtain walling had begun alongside a profile roof panel, with all new structure conforming to Indivior’s insurance company’s standards. Due to the nature of the facility, a full inspection from the Home Office was required after construction. The auditor not only gave the building approval, but referred to it as state-of-the-art — a testament to the quality of work that Boulting Environmental Services carried out on the site. “BES completed the project three months ahead of schedule, within budget and to the highest quality,” commented Giles Singleton, project manager at Boulting Environmental Services. “This was the result of our lean programming framework and our ability to overlap different phases of the project to eliminate wasted time. At no point were our engineers waiting for one task to be completed before they could move on to the next. The entire process was efficient and streamlined with the customer’s requirements in mind at all times. “Since the new facility opened, Indivior has appointed around 20 new members of staff, including health and safety personnel, new additions to the facilities management team, maintenance and catering. The prestigious facility will act as Indivior’s UK centre for research and development, allowing the company to continue pioneering life-transforming treatments, while maintaining its position as world leader in its field,” finished Singleton.
Alan Wilson, the Head of Membership and Communications at SELECT, the campaigning body trade for Scotland’s electrical sector, delivered a presentation at the end of March to the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group for Construction. This was the latest initiative in SELECT and the SEC Group’s long-running campaign to improve how the business community interacts with the public sector, which buys £10 billion of goods, works and services each year. “My presentation was made to a group of MSPs as well as interested parties from throughout the construction sector to give our organisations’ views on how procurement could be improved. I wanted to draw to the attention of our elected representatives a number of issues including the payment cycle, retentions, large packaging of contracts and lack of accountability,” explained Alan. Alan pointed out that Scottish SMEs are acknowledged as the backbone of the economy and that a smoothly-running procurement environment was a vitally important issue for them. On payment, he suggested the more stringent enforcement of Section 15 of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 as well as the extension of, and reduction of limits for, Project Bank Accounts. In addition, he also proposed placing all retentions into a trust-based deposit scheme and greater implementation of the Act’s provisions which allow public bodies to package contracts into smaller lots for which small firms can more realistically bid. On accountability, he supported the introduction of a yellow/red card scheme and the appointment of a Construction Regulator. “In the wake of the Carillion crisis, now is the time to act. People need to be accountable, and they need to pay on time. Retentions should not be used as bargaining chips and we should try to get away from the fixation of large scale contracts,” said Alan. The SEC Group represents around 3,000 firms in Scotland that employ more than 30,000 people and more than 5,000 apprentices, while SELECT has 1,250 member companies that have a collective turnover of around £1 billion and provide employment for 15,000 people. “Scotland’s legislators and its parliamentary committees have come some way on procurement and with some sensible additions to the current regulations which cover the operation of the Bill, we could have a procurement regime with which everyone could work and which will deliver for Scotland,” said Newell McGuiness, SELECT Managing Director.
Castle Building Services Organisation (Castle), one of the UK’s leading privately-owned building services design and installation contractors, has announced a recent contract win for its North East office on a new £9.8 million state-of-the-art healthcare facility in York. Working on behalf of principal contractor, Kier Construction, Castle has been appointed to provide a full range of mechanical, electrical and plumbing services on a new seven-suite endoscopy facility for York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust Foundation under the NHS P21Framework. The facility will also include recovery areas, interview-discharge rooms, offices and a plant room as well as ancillary spaces. The two-storey endoscopy facility is currently being constructed on top of an existing physio therapy unit and adjacent to the neuro sciences and renal departments. For that reason, it is a logistically challenging scheme to deliver. While working on the project, Castle will face several challenges, not least those associated with working on a live hospital site. To overcome this, the contractor will work closely with the Trust, its stakeholders and Kier Construction’s site team to ensure minimum disruption to patients, clinical staff and visitors. Further to the general building services, the unit requires specialised services to support its clinical function including uninterruptible power supplies and isolated power supplies as well as medical gas installations. Castle is currently working at pre-construction stage and will commence on site in July. The schedule of works is expected to last approximately 40 weeks, with the contractor expected to handover in the second quarter of 2019. Speaking about this latest contract win, Castle’s commercial director, Andrew Dawson said: “I’m delighted to announce the news of our appointment to such a prestigious scheme for York Hospital. Our previous experience of working in a clinical environment will stand us in good stead on this project. “We will be working closely with Kier’s team and other project partners to ensure we achieve all our key milestones on the project to bring it in on time and budget, ready to serve the people of York and the surrounding areas who need the vital services provided by the Endoscopy Unit.” With demand for endoscopy services set to rise on the back of the expansion of the NHS Bowel screening programme, the new unit will give York Hospital the extra capacity to meet that demand. It will also enhance the design of the department and provide patients with an improved experience when attending appointments. Kier Construction’s Senior Project Manager, Andrew Clarkson, added: “We’re looking forward to delivering this scheme and we’ll be working closely with the Trust to carry out these works whilst ensuring the hospital can continue to operate effectively on a daily basis. This will ensure that everyone involved is working towards the same goals to bring the scheme to a successful conclusion.” Patrick Crowley, Chief Executive, York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “This is the biggest capital investment for many years and will allow the Trust to provide clinical services to a growing number of patients needing endoscopy. “This is an exciting development for the Trust and it will transform our service into a centre of excellence for endoscopy, providing an enhanced high quality care to our patients.”
R G Carter has been selected by the University of East Anglia to deliver its new £30m teaching building. The construction company recently began work on the four-storey building which will be open to students at its Norwich campus in September 2019. Paul Hamilton, Senior Project Manager at R G Carter said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with the University of East Anglia on another great project. Working together, we are committed to delivering a brilliant new state-of-the-art building that will spur UEA staff and students ever closer to brilliant new discoveries.” The new development will provide a comprehensive range of lecture rooms and seminar rooms for students across all disciplines including science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. The top three floors will comprise teaching laboratories and the ground floor will house social and teaching space for more than 500 students. The building, currently named Building 60 until the official opening, is part of the university ’s 2030 vision which includes further investment on the campus. R G Carter completed the university ’s 500 room accommodation block, Barton and Hickling House, in 2017.
SimScale, the world’s first provider of cloud-based engineering simulation solutions, has announced an upcoming webinar to teach HVAC system designers and mechanical engineers how to predict and improve thermal comfort, energy efficiency and performance of their designs. The webinar will be presented on March 27, 2018 at 5:00 PM CET (11:00 AM ET). Diverse building codes and strict sustainability and energy efficiency requirements are driving the need for new innovative air conditioning strategies. Traditional design methods—such as hand calculations—involve many simplifications and assumptions, limiting the accuracy of the results. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, on the other hand, enable engineers to virtually analyze multiple HVAC system design configurations, visualizing the differences in flow velocity, density, and thermal impact, making it easier to accurately identify the best solutions. Nonetheless, until recently many engineering companies have been slow to adopt the technology, citing restrictions such as cost, unreliability, and inaccessibility. Although it can save weeks of design time and thousands of dollars in costs, engineering simulation has been expensive to use itself, requiring investments of over $40k in hardware and licenses of on-premises software. The emergence of easy-to-use cloud-based solutions have challenged the status-quo in recent years. Based in Germany, SimScale makes very complex simulations easily accessible via a standard web browser. With a free Community account, anyone in the world can set up and run multiple simulations, then post-process the results using a basic laptop or PC with an Internet connection. Today, more and more engineers are integrating cloud-based CFD into their design validation process which enables them to design comfortable environments at a reasonable cost. “We are moving forward from times when it was enough to calculate air volume in-out balance to ensure comfort in an office space,” said Dr. Pawel Sosnowski, Customer Success Engineer at SimScale. “With CAE tools provided by SimScale you can bring your ventilation design to the new era of engineering.” In this 30-minute webinar on March 27th, participants will learn how CFD simulation in the cloud can help air conditioning system designers ensure compliance with energy efficiency and thermal comfort standards, such as ASHRAE 90.2 and ASHRAE 55, and obtain a detailed overview of the air circulation within a building, essential for optimizing their designs. No prior simulation knowledge is required to participate, and SimScale provides free access to its CFD software via the Community account. Register here for this free webinar taking place on March 27th, at 11:00 AM ET / 5:00 PM CET. If you cannot participate in the live session, the organizers will be sending the recording to all registrants by email.
Pod Point has completed the installation of 67 electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints for Skanska UK, one of the country’s leading contractors, at its Hertfordshire head office. The installation is believed to be one of the largest to date in Europe. The company, which employs 6,000 people in the UK, worked with EV charging specialist Pod Point to install the 7kW chargepoints, along with the infrastructure for the solution to be scaled up to 243 chargepoints in the future. The chargepoints enable Skanska employees to charge their vehicles while they work, before returning to a fully powered battery at the end of the day. The installation is part of Skanska’s commitment to decarbonise its company fleet as fast as technology allows, and to have the lowest emissions fleet in the industry. The solution enables Skanska to control access to EV charging centrally, monitor usage and set custom electricity tariffs. Pod Point was selected following a competitive procurement process and the installation was completed within two weeks. Skanska’s Senior Project Manager Paul Jarvis said: “The installation of the EV chargepoints was a credit to all concerned. All site work was done efficiently, on time and to budget with minimal impact on a busy, occupied site.” Pod Point CEO Erik Fairbairn said: “This is the largest single site chargepoint installation that we’re aware of in the UK, but also a sign of a larger shift over the past six months, as more businesses wake up to the benefits of EVs. We’ve certainly seen a big increase in enquiries from companies wanting futureproof chargepoint installations that can be scaled up as their fleets make the switch to electric.” Along with zero carbon emissions, electric vehicles have lower maintenance costs than their petrol or diesel equivalents due to a smaller number of moving parts. There are also tax advantages, with no benefit in kind rates for charging company cars, while the BIK rate for purchases of new EVs will fall to 2 per cent in 2020/2021 compared to up to 20 per cent for petrol or diesel vehicles.
