This project involves the creation of 66 flats over seven floors with the ground floor being used as retail/office space.
Project overview
JBS Mechanical provide a range of plumbing, heating, mechanical and renewable energy services to residential and commercial clients across the UK having set up business in 2012. Based in Gloucestershire, they undertake projects of all sizes, and were approached by one their key clients to come in and undertake a commercial project in Birmingham city centre.
The project, based in Queensgate, is one of several live projects JBS Mechanical is doing for this client who specialises in converting former office buildings into residential apartments.This project involves the creation of 66 flats over seven floors with the ground floor being used as retail/office space.
Because all the floors can be different due to their former use and their new design the installation team at JBS Mechanical decided to specify Polypipe Building Services Terrain Q products rather than traditional cast to speed up installation time and ensure any design changes could easily be made as the project progressed.
Simon Rowe, Head of Major Works at JBS Mechanical said: "We have carried out several projects for this customer where office blocks are being converted into residential flats from 60 flats to 280, depending on the building size.
“In this building there are differing layouts to deal with, as there is retail on the ground floor then floors one to six there are 10 flats, then there are six flats on the seventh floor and there are plans to put an eighth floor on top.
“We’ve used Terrain products before from Polypipe Building Services and we know they’re good products, so while we have done jobs in cast because this project wasn’t a new build it’s far easier to deal with any issues with difference in slab heights and thicknesses.”
A quietly effective and efficient solution
In total 36 Terrain Q stacks were used across this build. The use of the multi-layer noise-reducing Terrain Q drainage system product is an ideal choice in high-rise apartments.
It contains mineral-reinforced plastic with an anti-fouling additive which keeps the bore clear of deposits and helps to reduce noise levels within the system.
As a complete system it is also includes pipe brackets and connectors with rubber bases to further absorb and disperse noise vibrations minimising the passage of structure borne sound.
Why work with Polypipe Building Services
Simon went on to explain: "As a company we have done jobs with traditional cast iron systems, but they are a lot more labour-intensive. It's cost saving and far easier to install saving on installation costs too.
“We used to use a different supplier for these kinds of projects, but the team at Polypipe Building Services have worked with us to help make their products very competitive and we like the product more too. Our engineers say it’s a good product to work with when they’re installing it. It doesn’t move around which gives our installers confidence.”
Because JBS Mechanical often work to tight deadlines with several live projects like this, they often face tight timescales and have found the fact that Polypipe Building Services can deliver straight to site invaluable.
Simon explains: “We tend to get on site quite early as soon as they rip out the offices. We bulk order products from Polypipe Building Services so we can install quite quickly as we can’t afford to wait for a distributor to deliver.”
“The size of our initial bulk orders are large. Polypipe Building Services can deliver straight to site which is preferable for us and speeds things along."