We have carried out several refurbishment projects for Smurfit Kappa over the years and the customer had every confidence that we could deliver. The project had to be run under the Construction Design and Management Regulations (CDM) due to the time on site, and the number of fixers on site as well. Please click the link to go the page which explains more about CDM.
The office refurbishment project was made more complicated as the main staircase had to made available whilst the work was carried out, so planning and carrying out the appropriate risk assessments was important.
The work included:
- Initial project brief
- Development of ideas with the customer
- Drawings, designs, 3d visuals
- Costing
- Liaising with on-site Health and Safety advisors, production of Health and Safety Plan.
- Running the project under CDM
- Completion on time within budget
Supply and fit of: stripping out, electrical work, flooring, lighting design, office furniture, design of colours and specification of finishes, air conditioning, decoration and construction of a curved presentation wall and fitting the customers own artwork.
This was essential to try and work out what we were dealing with. The constraints as well had to be considered which mainly revolved around agreeing access times to get materials up and down the main staircase. First task is always to take loads of photos, measurement, then to go away and think about it.
The first step in any office refurbishment projects that needs design is to work out the basic space plan first, once this was done we produced a series of the 3d visuals to help the client understand what the space may look like, and use this tool to further refine and ensure that the customer will get exactly what they want.
Once the design was approved the next task was to detail up the drawings to ensure that we produced exactly what the customer wanted. The table for the downstairs meeting room was made to a Smurfit Kappa specification and design. We had to squeeze it in to the space however which was a bit difficult.
One of the tricky things to do was to actually get to the height of the roof using mobile towers. The insulation had to be tacked in place so it did not slip down the roof, everything boarded, tape and jointed then painted, all working 5 meters off the floor.
There are so many awkward angles, it is hard to show with photographs the geometry of everything.
The final result was a mixture between the original design that we did and adjustments made by the client. The actual box wall itself was made by the customer as this is what they do, construct things in cardboard. We had to give them the curve and they did the rest. Overall the customer was very happy with the result
Although it is very unlikely that we will ever come across a project exactly the same, the same basic principles in what we do are carried through all projects.
If you are stuck for ideas but know that something needs to be done, please give us a call on 01380 73 88 44 or email us at [email protected]
