Hydraforce – Aston, Birmingham

Coles Grant & Jones were engaged by Buckingham Group on behalf of the client First Industrial to provide the design & installation of the combined Mechanical, Electrical & Public Health Building services for the new premises.

The new building has a gross internal area of 100,000 square feet which incorporates a large production area with associated goods in / out & dispatch areas. Also located within the production area is space for the engineering department & CNC machines. As part of the production process a quality laboratory & product application area have been provided together with a new canteen, locker areas & spacious WC facilities for the staff. A large office area (20,000 square feet) has been provided spread across three floors.

The new facility required a large electrical supply & we have provided & installed a new HV supply taken from the local distribution network. This new supply has been connected to a 2MVA HV/LV substation feeding the new bespoke main LV distribution switch panel. Due to the nature of the manufacturing process power factor correction equipment will be a requirement. Power distribution to the production area was provided via a network of 500A busbars to facilitate the future installation of the process equipment by the end user.

New gas & water supplies have been provided, taken from the existing infrastructure at the site boundary.

The manufacturing process produces a large amount of heat & during the summer months this heat build up will be discharged to the atmosphere via vertically mounted louvres working in conjunction with roof mounted extract fans. Even with the heat from the manufacturing process there will be a requirement to provide heating to the production area during the colder winter months & this is achieved in the form of a large gas fired unit heater working in tandem with a destratification unit ensuring even heat distribution throughout the production area.

The offices have been designed with an eye on flexibility & the small power requirements are served via underfloor busbars which will provide a variable & interchangeable layout of power outlets. Heating & cooling of the offices is provided by a VRV system (Variable Refrigerant Volume).

With the high volume of building services that have been installed there were many pinch points where services came together in areas of restricted access. Careful coordination of the mechanical & electrical installations has been essential to ensure that a neat & efficient infrastructure & plant installation has been provided. Coles Grant & Jones delivered a turnkey scenario for this project & all design work has been produced & developed in house. Our mechanical / electrical engineers & CAD operators have all worked closely together  on a day to day basis to achieve this.

The designs being produced by Coles Grant & Jones are on target to achieve the BREEAM rating of Very Good & compliance with the Approved Document Part L 2010 ~ Conservation of fuel & power in new buildings other than dwellings.

The use of energy efficient systems & equipment coupled with automatic controls all went towards achieving the criteria set out in these documents.

The contract period was extremely short & we had to apply all our resources to ensure that the project was delivered on time to the client who is now enjoying the new purpose built facility.