Sancroft refurbishment project gets underway

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Britplas has been awarded a contract to complete the design and installation of the glazing package at Sancroft London – a refurbishment of an existing building creating best-in-class office space with hotel style facilities in Paternoster Square.

The project, for McLaughlin & Harvey, includes the refurbishment of existing curtain wall screens and coping as well as the installation of a heavy duty 10m wide bifolding door system to the terrace area on level 7. Britplas will also be installing frameless revolving doors, secret fix rainscreen panels and acoustic louvers.

The project is currently on site and is due for completion in Q2 next year.

Douglas Bennett House to use Safevent Access windows

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Britplas has been appointed to supply and install its patented Safevent windows at Douglas Bennett House – a new, purpose-built mental health facility for longstanding client South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) at Denmark Hill in London.

Spread over nearly 10,000m², the new facility is being built by Integrated Health Projects (IHP), the VINCI Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine joint venture, and will house acute adult inpatient services including four specialist wards and a psychiatric intensive care unit.

The building will use over 200 Safevent Access windows with Multask® handles, some of which are vertically sliding. Britplas are due to complete their installation phase later this year with the whole project due for completion in 2022.

Britplas wins façade package at Tower House, Bristol

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Britplas has been awarded a contract to complete the façade package to Tower House in Bristol – a refurbishment of a 14 storey tower providing contemporary office space at 10 Fairfax Street for Midas Construction.

The project comprises the design and installation of curtain walling, structural glazing, doors, windows and secret fix rainscreen panels. Britplas is due to complete the works in October this year with the building due for occupation from Q1 2022.

This is Britplas’ second project for Midas Construction in Bristol, having previously completed facade works at the Unity Street student accommodation project.

Image: Darling Associates

Britplas Fortress 80 Fencing at Sowenna CAMHS Unit

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Britplas Fortress 80 Fencing has been fitted to the outdoor area at the new Sowenna CAMHS Inpatient Unit in Bodmin.

 

Britplas were contacted in the middle of 2020 by Karyn Roberts, Business Support Officer at Sowenna. The unit, which opened in 2019, had been fitted with a wooden slatted external boundary fence which was already proving problematic, with patients able to climb the fence quite easily.

From internet research, Karyn had identified Britplas’ Fortress 80 Fencing as a possible suitable replacement product. Its anti-climb and anti-ligature properties were obviously a necessity but Karyn was also drawn to the option to print artwork onto the fence’s cloaking which she felt would significantly improve the outdoor recreation area as well as providing an opportunity to involve young people and give them a say on what the new fence would look like.

Anti-ligature Fortress 80 Fencing is widely used for securing mental health unit buildings, recreational and outdoor areas, providing total security and safety for patients and staff.

Supported on substantial posts and fixed with anti-tamper fixings, Fortress Fencing is ultra-strong, exceptionally secure and can be built up to heights of 5.2 metres.

Having settled on the Fortress 80 product, Karyn provided current inpatients with a choice of four different scenes for the new fence. The winning design featured a stretch of rocky coastline, a fitting reminder of the nearby Cornish coast. Karyn chose a bright RAF blue for the fence posts, in a nod to her RAF background, which further brightens the finished effect and reduces its impact.

The fence was installed in Q4 2020, with Britplas adopting Covid-secure working practices to carry out the project during the UK’s second period of lockdown.

“We are absolutely delighted with the finished Fortress 80 Fencing” explains Karyn. “Not only has it solved the fundamental problems with the old fence but it’s actually helped to create a much more pleasant environment for our service users.

“Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with visitors and patients regularly telling us how much better it looks, but we are also seeing a direct behavioural impact with markedly increased usage of the recreation area.

“We are all aware of the therapeutic impact of the natural environment and this fencing is a great way to bring the beauty of the outdoors into our facility whilst also, crucially, successfully solving a potential absconsion problem and minimising the ligature risk.

“Patients enjoyed being able to have a say on the choice of artwork and even something as simple as being able to specify a bright colour for the fence posts helps to transform the overall impact from something drab and negative and reminiscent of confinement to something positive and cheerful.

“From our first enquiry, Britplas have been great to deal with. The installation was smooth and well-managed and installers were well versed in the protocols and procedures necessary for working in live environments.”

Graham Garside, Sowenna Unit Manager, commented “the improved security of the recreation area means that we no longer need to closely observe the patients when they are outside and they can express themselves safely.

“I am overjoyed with the look of the fence, it is better than I had imagined it would be and during the installation, Britplas worked closely with us to ensure that the impact of the area being closed caused minimal disruption to our patients.”

New façade contract at Wirral Waters

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Britplas is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract to complete the façade package to No. 1 Tower Road South, a new commercial development at Wirral Waters, Liverpool, which will create 25,000 sq ft of office space over 4 storeys.

Working for main contractor GMI Construction, Britplas are due to start on site in May, with completion due in autumn 2021. The building was designed by Glenn Howells Architects and features a striking facade comprising curtain wall with feature cladding panels. 

Safevent windows selected for Springfield University Hospital

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Britplas is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a £1m+ contract to supply Safevent windows to the new state of the art mental health centre being built at Springfield University Hospital in Tooting.

Commissioned by South West London & St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) and with build now underway by main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine, the £150m development will include eight new inpatient wards and is set to open in 2022.

SWLSTG has selected aluminium Safevent windows featuring Multask handles for the new buildings, which have been carefully designed with input from clinicians and service users to provide the most supportive environment and innovative facilities for the delivery of mental health care.

Image: C.F. Møller Architects  

Britplas appointed to new IDRM build at Oxford University

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Britplas is pleased to announce that they have been awarded a contract to complete the design, manufacture and installation of the building envelope to the new Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine (IDRM) at Oxford University Old Road Campus.

Working with main contractor McLaughlin & Harvey, the project is expected to start on site in October this year with a completion date next spring.

Designed by SRA Architects, the 6,000 sq m, 3-storey building will include laboratory and write-up spaces for each of three research themes, cardiology, neurology and immunology, with shared meeting / seminar rooms and specialist / ancillary labs for the purpose of life sciences research.

The building envelope is to comprise rock wool-based composite panels finished in naturally weathered Corten Steel, glass rainscreen and Schueco curtain walling, triple glazed to attain a required U value of 0.9. The building will also feature glass brise soleil. All components are being designed to meet Passivhaus standard with an air tightness of 1.0.

Britplas pre-construction manager Ben Woodward commented: “We are delighted to be working with new client McLaughlin & Harvey on such a prestigious scheme and returning to Oxford where we have a great track record of similar projects over the past few years.”

Image: SRA Architects

Safevent windows chosen for St Ann’s Hospital

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Blossom Court, the new mental health inpatient building at St Ann’s Hospital in Haringey, has now opened. The new ward features some of the largest Safevent windows ever installed at some 2.1m high.

Read our case study here.

 

Britplas to construct building envelope at new Moxy Manchester hotel

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hotel facade contractor

Britplas has been appointed to deliver the external facade package to a new hotel in Manchester city centre by main contractor Gilbert-Ash.

The project will see a former hat factory (Invicta House) in Manchester’s Spinningfields district, transformed into a stylish new 145 bedroom hotel under the Moxy brand, part of the Marriott International portfolio.

Britplas will be installing the full building envelope including Kawneer curtain walling, SFS and weathered-effect aluminium rainscreen, some of which is perforated to resemble the punch cards of a Jacquard loom as an echo to the site’s textile history. The scheme will retain and preserve the building’s listed Victorian facade.

The project is due to start in Q4 this year, with completion in May 2021 and the hotel has a planned opening date of late next year.

Safevent Access windows supplied for specialist Covid-19 Assessment Ward

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Britplas has completed the manufacture and installation of a set of externally sliding Safevent Access windows to a new Covid Assessment Ward for mental health patients at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant.

Mark Blake, Senior Projects Officer at Cwm Taf University Health Board, described his latest experience of working with the Britplas team:

As a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB (CTUHB) were required to provide a Covid Assessment Ward to assess and care for higher risk mental health patients with Covid19 symptoms. To ensure there were enough beds in place to cover potential early demand the conversion of an existing office space into a compliant mental health unit had to be started immediately with a targeted 4 week turnaround.

From the outset new specialist windows were identified as having a typical 8 to 10 week lead-in – too long in keeping with the 4 week turnaround. To that end I contacted Britplas to ask if, as a Covid project, the lead-in could be reduced. The answer was not only yes but within the 4 week turnaround!

Within days all measurements had been taken and the windows were being manufactured. Installation of the Britplas windows took part after three weeks of the project starting and was completed to a very high standard within 6 days as per the agreed programme.

I worked closely with Britplas on several mental health projects going back over 12 years and have always known them to be thoroughly professional from initial project discussion through to the final product installation.