"mains gas fittings"

The Tullamore Court Hotel is perfectly situated in the heart of Ireland’s picturesque countryside. The 4* accommodation offers its patrons leisure facilities, rooms, a 20-metre swimming pool, a bistro, a bar and a restaurant, which was in desperate need of renovation. The hotel’s main restaurant hadn’t been updated since the late 90s, so interior design practice Helen Casey Design Associates (HCDA) was called upon to bring the space into the 21st Century. HCDA chose Gingham, a predefined colour and pattern combination from the Amtico Designers’ Choice Collection.

Installed by WD Group for main contractors RG Carter, the curtain walling was an integral part of architects Stride Treglown’s vision for the landmark structure, which also features a flying roof. It features AluK’s SL52 flexible capped curtain walling system throughout, with an entrance door fabricated using the suited GT55TB door system. The diagonal design and irregular angles meant that AluK had to create a solution with multiple transom and mullion sections which was cost effective, while still being true to the aesthetic and meeting the static considerations and performance requirements laid out.

ADP Architecture’s landscape team specified Artform Urban’s High Performance Concrete (HPC) benches for a new plaza space outside the WMG building at the University of Warwick. WMG (formerly known as Warwick Manufacturing Group) is an academic department at the University.Artform Urban were contracted to supply and install these large units, each weighing up to 1500kg. Our technical involvement in the project simplified the supply and installation process for the main contractor including the experience we have of handling and installing heavy concrete units, saving time when the products arrived on site. 

The current Google HQ, with vast external floor space over several levels. The decking is a bespoke solid section 230 x 30mm composite, commissioned for this site. All fixings are hidden, giving a seamless look to the terraces, and clean lines. The main terrace areas are level and by using the DPH slope correction system, the wheelchair access ramps were easily achieved. A clever feature; the BM Unit travels over the decking, hiding the steel rails below. This enlarges the overall usable terrace space considerably, and gives uninterrupted views from the entire terrace.

Location: Cheltenham, GloucestershireProject Type: Automotive & RetailDevelopment Cost: £10mProduct: Complete Aluminium Eaves System2000m² Secret Fix Soffit PanelsOriel window surroundsFinish: Syntha Pulvin RAL 9016 Matt Traffic WhiteRAL 9005 Matt Jet BlackFire rating: A2 s1, d0 Non-combustible (Reaction to Fire EN BS 13501-1:2018)Client: Cotswold BMWArchitect: MDG ArchitectsMain Contractor: Revival Developers LtdSub Contractor: Cladceil Ltd

DYNAMIK work with architects at specification stage right through to completion. Henlow Academy, in Bedfordshire was led by PCMS Design to build a new four-court sports hall. Main contractor, Borras Construction, chose DYNAMIK to install the specialist low profile sprung sports floor finished in a solid sport linoleum. The client wanted a Sports Hall for multi-sport use including netball, badminton, basketball, hockey and five-a-side football and to hire the facility for public use. Solid sport linoleum, available in a range of colours, was chosen for this purpose as it is easy to clean and maintain.

The SSE Hydro is the biggest performance arena ever designed by Foster+Partners. One of the main points of access to the venue is across an elevated walkway. Infill panels for the balustrade were supplied by Lang+Fulton, made from Micro-34 architectural grating; the galvanized finish and rectilinear appearance complimenting the surrounding buildings. Continuity throughout the overall project was achieved with a Roma-3 grating fence and entrance gates to secure the northern perimeter of the site. In addition, a series of Roma-3 compounds were designed for the secure storage of Events Catering deliveries.

From the Tower of London to The Royal Palaces, Coopers is trusted to install fire and smoke curtains barriers for some of the world’s most iconic heritage buildings. With this knowledge, appointed architects Arrol & Snell assigned Coopers to develop a system that would help protect the cathedral’s Undercroft and Treasury from smoke migration in the event of a fire. The smoke barrier system had to allow visitors to exit the Undercroft and Treasury safely, whilst preventing smoke from entering the main body of the cathedral, but any system had to be sympathetic to its unique and ancient architecture.

Gateway 12 is multi-million pound industrial development on a c.16-acre site located three miles to the South West of Gloucester, adjacent to the A38 dual carriageway and just one mile form Junction 12 of the M5.For the main structure of the buildings Trisobuild® R32 was used for the roof and Trisobuild® C32 was installed vertically on the walls; Trisobuild® HR50 was used horizontally at the higher level for the soffits in Merlin Grey. The offices area wall elevations were constructed using Trimapanel® insulated panel system.

Clement Windows Group have replaced the original steel fenestration at the Old Marylebone Town Hall, recently leased by the London Business School from Westminster Council on a 35 year renewable contract. In order to increase teaching facilities by 70 percent, the building has undergone a major £60m refurbishment and Wates Construction were chosen as the Main Contractors to undertake the challenge of joining the two iconic buildings in an eclectic mix of the traditional and contemporary. The new building, designed by architects Sheppard Robson, is named the Sammy Ofer Centre in honour of the late Sammy Ofer KBE.

The Wave is a new inland-surfing lake, powered by 100% renewable electricity that provides the opportunity to surf all year round regardless of weather conditions or tides. The site’s entrance and car park suffered from boggy ground conditions following spells of wet weather and with approximately 2,750m2 of impermeable surfacing, there was limited potential for infiltration. The shuttle bus route between the main facilities and the car park is now surfaced with Truckcell 80 Permeable Paving blocks, filled with free draining angular gravel to allow rainwater to percolate down to the existing sub-soil.

A great example of where Silent Gliss products can be specified across many apartments in a single development. This large luxury apartment complex wanted to optimise the look of the building from the outside as well as the inside. All apartments installed Silent Gliss Wave on the main side of the building which gave an overall co-ordinated and stylish effect to onlookers. Combined with other motorised roller blinds, this project is a great example of how Silent Gliss can use it’s wide product range to meet the needs of any kind of shading requirement.

We worked with architects IMA to create an innovative new modular cycle centre for a central London office. The cycle centre includes our Forza solid grade laminate lockers complete with digital code access locks. We also installed our highly engineered Marcato toilet and shower cubicles, fitted with stainless steel locks and coat hooks, and finished the new space with bespoke Corian trough vanities.

1,000m of red and blue double skin FAIRs (factory assembled insulating rooflights) provide an even and diffused daylight spread in Middlewich environmental hub in Cheshire. The hub operates as a multi-use site and the angled composite panels were fitted to a recycling centre as well as a vehicle workshop. The FAIRs were manufactured to to meet the specific light transmission requirements stipulated by the customer and specified to meet insulation fire and safety requirements.

Funky Blocks Thomas Street ManchesterStreet Furniture | VAD | Counter Terror BlocksLocation: ManchesterTownscapes CT blocks have been given a cool ‘funky’ makeover in Manchester.The Thomas Street Manchester scheme used a local street artist to design and implement the designs.Part of the wider safe routes for cycling scheme the blocks provide additional security whilst fully fitting in with the Thomas Street vibe.

An 8m long Twinfix canopy installed on the front of the Lower Willingdon Pre-School Nursery in Eastbourne is proving a great success. With a 2.8m projection from the building and fitted with vertical glazing at both ends, Julie Langford, Nursery Manager, says it has made a tremendous difference to the nursery, with the extra space also being well used by the Breakfast and After School Clubs, as well as by parents dropping off and collecting their children.

Developing a successful space that was cohesive in its design for two strong brand identities meant proactive attention to the challenges of occupants’ needs, combined with a strong creative narrative. The overall concept for this office fit-out was ‘bringing the outside, inside’.Vtec were thrilled to be specified as part of this healthy workplace plan for the Grade A design.Learn more about how the SupaSlat ceiling evokes biophilic attention to promote openness and welcome.

The project objective was to create a dynamic space for a large range of use by the members. An example of this is the boardrooms, which had to be designed to create a space that could cater for 4 simultaneous separate meetings or the flexibility to cater for 2 x 50 seater conferences as well as a 90 seater conference style space. Folding acoustic walls and organic puzzle-piece boardroom tables that fit together to create near endless configurations to solve this.

The Hepworth Gallery required access to their low pitched roofs to facilitate safe working at height when carrying out external glazing cleaning and general maintenance. The concrete design of the building resulted in a thin roof construction, so The Gallery needed to ensure that any systems installed were fit-for-purpose, fully tested and compatible. With such a prestigious and architecturally prominent building, it was imperative that the chosen system also suited the design of the building.

When Bodmin Community Fire Station in Cornwall needed a hardwearing, hygienic, and safe flooring solution for their fitness room and gym, they turned to international flooring specialists Gerflor. Its’ Taraflex® sports flooring was supplied and would deliver to the highest standards required by the site users. In acknowledgement of the brave and hard work of Cornwall Fire Service crews, Gerflor donated 60m2 of this world-renowned sports flooring in the colour ‘Red’.

Above food preparation areas, the existing rooflights needed replacing, but it was vital no broken glass could ever enter the production chain for obvious reasons. Our PlasGard patent glazing system combined with ‘unbreakable’ multi-wall polycarbonate was the obvious solution. Ventilators were fitted with fly-screens to prevent insects entering the building as again everything had to be done to prevent contamination of the food-stuffs being produced below.

The Roads & Maritime Services now benefit from a highly progressive workspace in their refurbished HQ on Parramatta Street. SAS800 Trucell ceilings were installed in the open plan lounges and stairwells of the renovation. The system gives a decorative feature to the fit-out with the illusion of a much larger space for activity-based working. Comfortable lounge furniture and bright colours have also been chosen to encourage communication and create a flexible working space.

In the nursery toilet cubicles, Bushboard’s Tiny Stuff range was chosen with colours including Buttermilk, Winter and Bayleaf. The staff chose Solid Surface wash troughs in Celestial to compliment the soft colour palette.The sports building at Croydon High School was also fitted with new toilet cubicles and ezeeduct panelling. The project was completed with perimeter benching in SGL and wall mounted coat hooks.Read the whole case study on our website.

The award-winning Worcestershire Golf Club, Gaudet Luce Golf and Leisure Complex has recently undergone an upgrade of their washrooms. The revamp was completed by Inspired Washrooms, a Nottinghamshire based fit-out company who Franke Water Systems have worked with on numerous projects. We were thrilled to be chosen to supply over 20 washroom products for the project which included composite wash basins, accessories, taps, cisterns and more.  

A special educational needs school in Salford welcomed an additional sixty pupils across its two sites in Swinton and Irlam this September.Springwood Primary School, which is the only primary school of its kind in the city, increased its overall capacity to three hundred pupils from nursery to Year 6.The expansion involved enlarging a second site at Craig Hall in Irlam which the school used as a ‘temporary annex’ for around three years.Twinfix were approached by MTX Contracts the Principal Contractor on the project to design, manufacture and install a canopy at the site, between the building and existing canopy.A major challenge that Twinfix’s design team needed to over-come was a Build-Over-Agreement issued to the school by the Water Board, which required 24/7 access to the drains beyond the proposed site for the canopy.The team rose to the challenge and designed this mobile canopy, a first of its kind for Twinfix. This impressive free standing curved canopy, spanning a total of sixty square metres comprises of a sliding section with a run length of three metres and a static section with a run length of 17.5 metres.The aluminium structure is powder-coated to RAL 5003, Sapphire Blue. The half barrel vault roof design was constructed using Twinfix’s bespoke roof glazing systems glazed with 10mm clear polycarbonate. The non-fragile system achieves a Class B designation in accordance with the HSE’s ACR[m]001:2019 drop test.The main challenge was to create a frame that was strong enough to retain its shape when moved but light enough for a single person to open and close the retractable section. This was achieved through material choices, such as the polycarbonate vertical glazing instead of glass to keep the weight to a minimum. The expert team also designed a bespoke track and wheel system which allowed the whole frame to glide open and close very easily, once closed it was locked in position to the adjacent fixed frames which retain it in place during high winds.Director at Twinfix, Dan Smith commented: ‘From initial concept we felt like this product would fit in well with our current product range, so had confidence it was something we could develop for the client. The finished design looks really well and is extremely easy to use, this is a credit to our internal design and fabrication teams that worked together to achieve our goal’Matt Lawrenson, Deputy Head at Springwood commented on their new canopy: ‘Over the Summer of 2021, we had a Sheltered Walkway constructed and installed by Twinfix at our SEND provision, where we have children with a range of complex additional needs aged 2-7 years old. Our sheltered walkway allows us to move pupils between our existing school building and the new extension we have had built. As well as ensuring safe passage for children and staff, the quality and dimensions of the structure will provide an ideal additional learning space for our pupils, lending itself to a whole host of possibilities. It is light, spacious, and aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore, the walkway satisfies an extremely specific and demanding design brief, with a retractable section which will allow utilities services access to a rising main in the event that this should be needed, without compromising its appearance or necessary sturdiness. We could not be more pleased.’You can see the canopy in use here.

Lee Valley Ice Centre originally opened in 1984, and before closing in 2021 welcomed over 279,000 visitors each year. With the old centre reaching the end of its operational life, it was time to design and build a brand new Ice Centre at Lee Valley Regional Park. The new centre, due to open in April 2023 will be home to 2 new ice rinks, doubling the capacity of the old centre, and inviting in new visitors as well as welcoming back those who visited before.As part of the redevelopment of Lee Valley Ice Centre, 95% of the concrete from the old centre was used in the foundations of the new centre. With this and many other environmentally friendly choices made in the construction, Lee Valley Ice Centre will become the UK’s most sustainable Ice Centre.The fully accessible centre will maximise the opportunity for sports for everyone, and with two Olympic-sized Ice Rinks, a brand-new café, gym, exercise studios and various other facilities, Lee Valley will be able to welcome up to 500,000 visitors. The range of facilities will encourage a variety of new visitors, from committed skaters, though to people stopping for a drink in the café before enjoying the green space in Lee Valley Regional Park.At Helmsman, we were pleased to be contacted by the main contractors for Lee Valley, The Buckingham Group, to supply the lockers, cubicles, vanity units and bespoke high-level cladding. We manufactured and installed 268 Bespoke Heavy Duty Laminate Lockers, with a variety of compartment configurations, and a range of different locking options.Our Heavy Duty Laminate lockers are a great option for high traffic areas, as they are more likely to withstand scratches and dents, so were a perfect choice for Lee Valley Ice Centre. The lockers also feature bespoke perforations in the doors and aluminium number plates. A selection of the lockers also have seat stands with the slats in matching laminate. A variety of locks were also used across the lockers in this project, with Ojmar Hasp locks the main choice for users to use their own padlocks, as well as Ojmar coin return locks and Lowe and Fletcher cam locks.The cubicles chosen for this project were our Front Line Cubicles with Hidden Fixings. These cubicles are tailored to suit the needs of the particular project, with bespoke sizing available. The fixings are hidden to provide a smooth surface and aesthetic finish. The cubicles were manufactured with 12mm Solid Grade Laminate from BioCarbon Laminates in colour Luna Grey, a fantastic carbon-neutral option which aligns perfectly with Lee Valley’s aim to be the first sustainable Ice Centre in the UK.As we manufacture all our products in house, and to order, we specialise in bespoke items. The project at Lee Valley Ice Centre featured bespoke high-level cladding, which our highly experienced installation team fitted on-site.Other products on this project included metal framed IPS panels, using both Luna Grey and Elegant Grey laminates from BioCarbon Laminates, and Helmsman High Pressure Laminate Vanity Units.It was great to work alongside Buckingham Group again for the Lee Valley Ice Centre project. Should you have a similar project, or want any more information on the products mentioned, give us a call on 01284 530 427 or contact us here.

In conjunction with construction company Speller Metcalfe, Medspace was delighted to work on the new £35 million Accident and Emergency department at Worcestershire Royal Hospital. The previous A&E department at Worcestershire Royal Hospital had been built in 2002 to service a far smaller number of expected patients – around 45,000 patients each year. In recent years, the A&E department has seen 75,000 attendees every year – more than 160% of their predicted numbers. As such, the size and layout were inadequate to service today’s patient numbers.Medspace was tasked with designing, manufacturing, and installing bespoke reception desks and staff bases for the new A&E department as well as our standard HTM63 and HTM71 storage solutions. The desks and bases were bespoke designs made to fit the spaces perfectly and to house all the items necessary in these spaces.To ensure the finished items were as successful as possible, we worked closely with the hospital, the architect and Speller Metcalfe to get the designs right for the space and make them as functional and useful as possible. The items had to be highly durable and versatile so that staff could use them as effectively as possible, making their jobs easier and making it more straightforward to treat patients.The designs we created for Worcestershire Royal Hospital A&E department made use of solid surface; highly clinical materials with seamless joints, making them ideal for infection control within healthcare environments. This offers the client peace of mind that their staff bases and reception desks will last the test of time, no matter how much traffic they see. Working closely with SpellerMetcalfe, the Medspace team installed the fitted furniture and equipment to fit in with their construction schedule so that the project could be completed and handed over to the client by their agreed timeline. Our team fitted the items quickly and without disrupting other ongoing work on the site. Medspace was tasked with designing, manufacturing, and installing bespoke reception desks and staff bases for the new A&E department as well as our standard HTM63 and HTM71 storage solutions. The desks and bases were bespoke designs made to fit the spaces perfectly and to house all the items necessary in these spaces.To ensure the finished items were as successful as possible, we worked closely with the hospital, the architect and Speller Metcalfe to get the designs right for the space and make them as functional and useful as possible. The items had to be highly durable and versatile so that staff could use them as effectively as possible, making their jobs easier and making it more straightforward to treat patients.The designs we created for Worcestershire Royal Hospital A&E department made use of solid surface; highly clinical materials with seamless joints, making them ideal for infection control within healthcare environments. This offers the client peace of mind that their staff bases and reception desks will last the test of time, no matter how much traffic they see. The A&E department has proven to be a resounding success, revolutionising the provision of emergency medical care in the region. The department has significantly reduced waiting times and enhanced patient outcomes with state-of-the-art facilities, streamlined processes, and a dedicated team. SpellerMetcalfe said, “The expansion of urgent care facilities will further contribute to the improvements being led by local health and care organisations to reduce waiting times, improve ambulance handovers and also introduce new and innovative models of care in and out of hospital.”