Latest innovations and products in the interiors section of the construction industry.

A top deck finish for Worksop Bus Station from Encasement

‘Circa’ and ‘Quadra’ pre-formed decorative column casings from Encasement are helping provide a practical aesthetic and comfortable environment for passengers and staff using Worksop’s £3.2 million bus station.

Handling around 1 million passengers each year, the bus station is has rapidly become a landmark in the town centre since it was opened and the main building boasts a range of facilities including a café, a staffed information and ticket area, as well as free Wi-fi and CCTV monitoring for security and passenger safety. Sustainable design features, such as Solar PV cells and rainwater harvesting are also incorporated to help reduce energy consumption.

As the bus station is predominantly a glazed structure to create an open and environment and provide plenty of natural light, the designers wanted to ensure that the structural steel supports were concealed to improve the finish and attractiveness of the interior. As a result, 15 separate, circular, rectangular and square column casings from Encasement were used to meet the design brief.

All of the Encasement column casings are manufactured from pre-formed plywood, which are finished with a decorative and hard-wearing Formica F6305 ‘Limed Strand’ laminated surface. This not only makes the casings highly durable and resistant to scuffing, essential in a busy environment, but also integrates with the bus station’s interior colour scheme.

In addition to three 350mm diameter ‘Circa’ column casings, Encasement also supplied and installed two 400mm square ‘Quadra’ casings and 10 rectangular ‘Quadra’ casings measuring 250mm x 480mm.

Located around the perimeter of the bus station’s interior, the casings stand 5150mm high and were cut and fitted precisely to accommodate low level bulkheads, as well as structural beams and M&E services in the building.

Encasement’s Managing director, Martin Taylor, commented: “Circa and Quadra casings are perfectly suited to projects of this type, where the need to improve the interior aesthetics and provide a practical casing solution can be address with a single product. The versatility of our pre-formed plywood casings coupled with their cost effectiveness and durable laminated finish have been put to great use at Worksop bus station.”

For more information please visit www.encasement.co.uk.
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Vortice fans selected for award winning regeneration project

Voted the UK’s best regeneration project in the National Housebuilder Awards, Branston Leas by St Modwen Homes, has selected Vortice system 1 centrifugal Quadro fans for its two, three, four and five bedroom properties in Burton upon Trent. Branston Leas was named the best regeneration project in the UK thanks to the many measurable economic, environmental and educational improvements that the development has brought to the local area.

Vortice

Technical Marketing Manager Jennifer Quinn said “We are delighted to be working alongside local electrical contractor PCE Installations of Burton Upon Trent in supplying our range of Quadro fans to this prestigious local project. These energy efficient ventilation fans are stylishly designed and fit beautifully into the interior decor at Branston Leas. ”

The Vort Quadro is an elegant centrifugal fan which comes in inbuilt or surface mounted versions.

Full BIM models and specification details can be found on the Vortice website www.vortice.ltd.uk.
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COMPAC launch 6 new quartz colours

Renowned quartz surfaces manufacture COMPAC has just launched six new colours to complement their innovative technological quartz worksurface range.

Land Functional … inspired by deep green waters, Dune Functional … soft tone creams, Clay Functional…evoking chromatic images of nature, Warm Functional…calming contrasting browns, DIM Functional… conveying the harmony and warmth of nature and COOL Functional…serene neutral light colours.

Offering timeless, elegant warm tones, ingeniously combining functionality with high performance and quality, these new worksurfaces are available with a polished or glacé finish.

With a virtually zero porosity surface that does not require antibacterial chemicals to maintain a hygienic regime, these new colours from COMPAC will retain their beauty and performance with the minimum of maintenance – underpinned by a lifetime guarantee.

For more information please visit www.compac.es.
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Forbo ‘brings the outside in’ at The Kelpies Visitor Centre

Architects at Nicoll Russell Studios have worked closely with Forbo Flooring Systems to create an attractive and welcoming interior environment at The Kelpies Visitor Centre at Helix Park in Falkirk.

The centre provides an all-weather, all-year-round facility from which visitors can admire the magnificent 30m high Kelpies, the world’s largest equine sculptures. It also incorporates a cafe, exhibition space and a retail area.

Euan McCallum, Senior Associate at Nicoll Russell Studios, said: “When it came to specifying flooring for the centre, we initially contemplated having an exposed concrete finish, which would reflect the industrial heritage of The Kelpies. However, our client was concerned that the concrete may feel too hard beneath visitors’ feet and potentially be unwelcoming. So, we contacted Forbo for help as we were aware of the Allura Stone luxury vinyl tile range, which offers an appearance similar to polished concrete but without the associated costs and drawbacks.”

The main public areas of the centre have been fitted with Allura Stone LVT in three colourways – Grigio Concrete, Charcoal Concrete and Natural Concrete. The natural aesthetics and 50 x 50cm format were chosen to blend effectively with the granite paving of the plaza outside. The installation pattern not only reflects the exterior paving layout but also echoes the patterns of the stainless steel cladding panels on the Kelpies themselves.

Other Forbo products installed as part of the floor scheme include Nuway Grid entrance matting with Coral Anthracite inserts to complement the Allura Stone floor coverings, and Surestep safety flooring to help prevent slips and trips in back of house areas such as kitchens and staff rooms.

Euan concluded: “Throughout the entire project, Forbo were very helpful providing advice and all the samples we wanted. They not only assisted with the product selection, they also provided us with technical assistance and gave us a fully detailed specification for laying the materials on the substrate. Overall, we are all very pleased with the finished project and the help we received from the company.”

The innovative use of the floor coverings at The Kelpies Visitor Centre helped the project to win the 2016 Fly Forbo competition.

For more information please call 0844 822 3928, email info.flooring.uk@forbo.com or visit www.forbo-flooring.co.uk/allura.
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Titon launches its new auramode®

Titon’s new auramode® is a simple and sophisticated LCD display for programming, commissioning and occupancy control for Titon’s high quality range of Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery units (MVHR).

The auramode® functions include straightforward speed control at the click of a button with three or four-speed options, alongside an auto-timed speed mode. The fourth speed (high flow) has been added to assist with purge flow ventilation requirements. Seven-day programming is also available, with a total of eight different settings per day, while an adjustable indicator notifies users when MVHR filters require changing.

Furthermore, the auramode® provides internal MVHR humidity set point adjustment, while a ‘boost inhibit’ function linked to time speeds helps avoid night-time boosting – either via switch inputs or humidity. Once the auramode® has been successfully programmed, end users can leave their MVHR systems running without the need for any additional controller adjustments.

Commenting on the control, Paul Cowell, Senior Technical Manager at Titon, said: “The auramode® provides end users with exceptional levels of control over their Titon MVHR units. The new control has a user-friendly interface, while its functionality ensures a ventilation system is operating efficiently, maintaining high levels of indoor air quality and comfort.”

The auramode® programmer is 86mm wide x 86mm high x 16mm deep and is supplied with a 14m connection cable and a one-year guarantee. The low voltage LCD display is back lit, with adjustable light and contrast settings. Plus, it is a multi-language controller, allowing it to be set in a choice of 12 languages, including German, Spanish and Russian.

For more information about Titon and its range of ventilation systems, please visit www.titon.co.uk.
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Enjoyable shopping experience delivered for everyone

“An even better experience for our customers” is extending through to the toilets in North Swindon.

The town’s Orbital Shopping Park has benefitted from a £multi-million investment to improve accessibility for all visitors- able and disabled. The ease with which visitors can now get to, and about, the shopping park has been delivered by better pedestrian flow, a new customer service centre, plus more, and new toilets- including a state-of-the-art Changing Places suite.

The Changing Places, supplied and installed by Clos-o-Mat- Britain’s leading provider of ‘away from home’ disabled toilet solutions- enables anyone who needs assistance when toileting to do so with dignity and optimum hygiene. Bigger than conventional wheelchair-accessible toilets, the Changing Places at Orbital also has more equipment, specifically a height-adjustable washbasin, ceiling track X/Y hoist and wall-mounted, height-adjustable adult-sized changing bench.

“When planning the refurbishment, we asked the local community what facilities they would like, and a Changing Places was suggested,” explained Jamie Turner, Centre Manager for Broadgate Estates, which manages the Orbital Shopping Park owned by British Land. “We aim to provide a safe, accessible and enjoyable shopping experience, and accessibility is top of our agenda.”

“People who use facilties such as Changing Places tell us that without them, they simply can’t do things most of us take for granted, like a trip to the shops. The options, without a Changing Places or similar, are to lie a loved one on the floor of a public convenience to change them- with all the associated safety, sanitary considerations that go with that, go home, or not go out at all” added Kelvin Grimes, away from home toileting project manager for Clos-o-Mat.

Clos-o-Mat is Britain’s leading provider of disabled toilet solutions in and out of home, including Changing Places toilets, enabling tens of thousands of people with special needs and disabilities to undertake their personal care with dignity, independence and optimum hygiene.

It is unique in offering, in-house, design advice, supply, installation, commissioning and after-sales service & maintenance, reinforced by a raft of technical support available on its website www.clos-o-mat.com.

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Book your Giacomini CPD course now!

Giacomini is now a CIBSE approved CPD course provider and is offering two courses that CIBSE members can take to contribute towards their CPD qualifications.

The first in underfloor heating explores heat transfer, design factors and component applications and gives participants an understanding of how and why underfloor heating systems work. The 1 hour presentation covers:

  • Theory behind underfloor heating
  • Benefits of underfloor heating
  • System components
  • What influences the output?
  • System design
  • Types of floor build up

The second course focuses on Giacomini’s other specialist subject, heat interface units, and in 1 hour participants will learn about:

  • Central plant heating systems
  • The role of heat interface units
  • Types of heat interface units
  • Unit components
  • System design
  • Heat metering
  • System performance

Attendees will receive a certificate that will contribute towards CIBSE CPD requirements.

To arrange a seminar, or for more information, please contact Helen Gibbons, Giacomini’s technical support manager 07824 595527/01454 311012 or email helen.gibbons@giacomini.co.uk.
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COMPAC’s technological marble specified for Shanghai shopping mall

Versatility, functionality, longevity and beauty were key factors for leading architectural practice RTKL to specify COMPAC’s technological marble for a state of the art shopping mall in Shanghai.

The shopping mall is part of the largest multi- transportation hub in the world integrating Hongqiao airport –Shanghai’s second international airport with high speed rail, metro stations and road networks.

COMPAC’s high performance technological marble in the distinguished Nacarado design was specified for over 9,000 sq metres of flooring to provide a cool to the touch hardwearing surface.

RTKL specified 600×600mm and 600×900mm tile formats each with a 20mm thickness to produce a stunning, modern contemporary look which perfectly complemented the aesthetic requirements of the building.

COMPAC have been able to create ‘technological marble’- an engineered stone composite which has the look and feel of natural marble but with properties that eradicate many of the problems associated with it.

Containing up to 96% natural marble mixed with resins, COMPAC’s technological marble has a hardness that is similar to marble but its resistance to impact and breakage is much greater owing to its enhanced flexibility.

COMPAC’s technological marble can also be polished, thus maintaining its shine and original appearance for much longer.

It can be used on kitchen and bathroom floors, walls, vanity tops, building façades, and staircases and on high footfall surfaces such as airports, shopping malls and public buildings.

For more information please visit www.compac.es.
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LED is the Jewel in Lighting’s Crown

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By Stephen Hurrell, Managing Director, Aurora Group UK Projects

There are several misconceptions about LED lighting, principally that LED lighting prices will go down so it pays to wait; LEDs are so efficient that controls are unnecessary; and that LEDs don’t work well in high-temperature environments.

According to the Energy Savings Trust, LED offers best value for money in lighting today; the price of fittings has come down and, at the same time, performance has improved significantly.

The Carbon Trust advocates LED as its number one efficiency recommendation. LeaUnknown-2ding website www.environmentalleader.com reports that while switching to LEDs creates a one-time savings event – typically reducing lighting energy use by up to 50% – integrated sensing and controls can nearly double those energy savings, making controls essential for maximum savings and project economics.

And did you know that by using LED in construction, it significantly contributes to the BREEAM rating of a building as it typically halves energy consumption of traditional light sources. Miniaturisation has also led to a significant reduction in raw materials utilised in manufacture.

Artificial lighting in buildings is usually categorised in three ways. The ‘Ambient’ lighting function provides light to the space to an accepted level. ‘Accent’ lighting highlights certain features and/or attributes. ‘Task’ lighting illuminates specific working areas to aid visibility.

Lighting Performance

The four key criteria governing LED performance are thermal management, optical control, efficacy of light and reliability of power. So, what are the guiding principles of best practice in quality manufacturing?

Heat has a negative impact on any LED light source’s performance. The next generation in thermal management dissipates heat away from the LED chip, providing higher quality, brighter light for longer.  There’s also been continuous improvement in efficacies of LED chips so the higher the lumens per watt, the better.

Look for products warranted to L70 to a stated number of hours.  This means you can expect a light output of 70% of the lumen performance stated at that period of time e.g., a 1000 lumen LED luminaire will deliver at least 700 lumens after six years, based on burning 4000 hours per year.

An emerging trend in construction is to insulate the ceiling void by ‘blowing in’ loose fill insulation as an alternative to loose-laid products. Loose fill completely encloses the fitting which could affect LED performance in inferior downlights.

 Biodynamic lighting

Light controls our biological or body clock and this is known as the circadian rhythm. New to the market, biodynamic LED lighting allows people to control their environment according to need, mood and task, which can improve performance and motivation. Changing the colour temperature of the artificial lightsource (e.g. from extra warm to warm through to cool) can have a dramatic effect. Biodynamics is particularly suitable for dynamic interior projects, retail applications, and in healthcare and homes for the elderly.

 Regulatory compliance

Lighting design is a complex issue and part of a quality manufacturer’s role is to develop bespoke schemes which will comply with regulations. A revised version of the Building Regulations, Part L (2013), came into force in April 2014. BIM LEVEL 2 was introduced as a requirement for all government construction projects this April 2016.

Enlite’s LED value solution

The Aurora Group has responded to increased demand for LED by engineering the Enlite range of 250+ “Lighting Essentials”. Enlite offers Offsite’s varied modular business model the best in value, quality and performance to meet specifications and budgets.

Firm Enlite LED favourites in the MMC sector are the E8TM 8W integrated fire rated downlights with halogen like appearance, the ultra-slim E6060 TM 600mm2 flat panels for commercial applications, the UniPac TM and LinearPac TM IP65 linear anti-corrosives which replace traditional T8s and the vandal resistant Orbital TM IP66 bulkhead.

 

Call: +44 (0) 1727 83 66 11 or visit http://enlitelighting.com
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New moisture resistant weberfloor DPM damp proof system saves application time

Saint-Gobain Weber, the manufacturer of many innovative, high performance construction products and systems, and specialists in industrial and commercial flooring products, has introduced weberfloor DPM, a highly moisture tolerant, epoxy resin damp proof system.

weberfloor DPM has been designed to bond to concrete surfaces even when the concrete is still drying out and when it contains a high degree of moisture. It is a two coat system which is easy to apply to concrete and cement-based substrates as well as to Weber levelling compounds.

“This really is a hard working product,” says Tracey Dempster, marketing manager, Saint-Gobain Weber, “as weberfloor DPM supresses the passage of moisture by up to 98% and is resistant to a wide range of chemicals. Its ease of application reduces project timescales and allows early installation of floor finishes. It can also be used at temperatures as low as 5°C which allows winter working.”

weberfloor DPM contains a tin of resin and a bottle of hardener packaged in a 5.6kg box. Before application all surfaces must be mechanically sound, dry and clean; free from dirt, dust, grease or other contamination or coating. Laitance must also be removed from concrete.

Immediately after mixing, weberfloor DPM should be applied evenly and uniformly over the entire substrate using a brush or roller. When the first coat has partially cured, around six to eight hours depending on ambient temperature, a second coat should be applied. Immediately after this second application cover weberfloor DPM in a full sand scatter using 1-2mm of kiln dried sand.

After 12 hours, or overnight, the floor should be brushed and vacuumed to remove any loose sand particles and then primed with weberfloor 4716 in preparation to receive a Weber levelling compound. weberfloor DPM permits early overlaying with vinyl, carpets and resin based products without the conventional ‘drying out’ period required of concrete bases.

For more information about this product, or for technical support, please contact Saint-Gobain Weber on 08703 330 070, or visit www.netweber.co.uk. Customers in Ireland should call 028 9335 2999 or visit www.weber.ie.
A free download of the Weber app for iPhone and iPad users is also available from iTunes and from Google Play for Android smartphones and tablet users. Follow Saint-Gobain Weber on Twitter @SGWeberUK for the latest company news and updates.
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