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Air Conditioning All Project Categories Mezzanine Floors Mezzanine Floors Office Refurbishments Partitioning Suspended Ceilings

Office Refurbishment in Milton Keynes

Office Refurbishment in Milton Keynes
Glass radiator in MD's office

Client: Edwards International
Value: £187k

Office Refurbishment

We were  invited by this customer to have a look at their existing office space as it needed an office refurbishment in Milton Keynes and the customer did not know where to start. They found us on the internet and liked our website as it showed real photos of actual projects rather than nice photo shopped images.

Out of the few that they contact we were the only ones to respond to their enquiry within a day.

When we first visited the client it was very obvious that the while area needed stripping out and starting again. What was surprising, although in reality we are not surprised, was that the existing partitions and mezzanine floor were not fire rated. We recognised the system below the mezzanine as a 50mm wide demountable partition system which has no fire rating at all. None of the exit routes out of the building were 30 minute protected and the mezzanine floor had a suspended ceiling fitted but it was not fire rated. The staff were working in a death trap. If there was any problem in the building then there would be a lot of trouble. The customer specialises in fire detection equipment, so for them to be in a building that was a potential death trap as it was not properly fire protected was nonsense.

Building Regulations

There were three different mezzanine floors installed at various times at different heights, and no paperwork to show that they had been passed Building Regulations, so from a fairly straightforward requirement to refurbish the offices there was a need to look at the whole building, design and specify it properly and get Building Regulation Approval. In the design we had to consider:

  • Fire protection of the mezzanine floors using the correct grade of suspended ceiling tile and support  column encasement
  • Correct design of protected fire exit routes throughout the building, checking of escape distances and signage
  • Full electrical design to suit.
  • New fire rated partitions where needed to meet Building Regulations
  • Supplementary fresh air systems to enclosed offices
  • Changes to air condition systems
  • Heating were needed.

CDM

There was no doubt that we were going to be on site for more than a month, and have more than 5 people on site, the whole project was quite a bit of work and so the work comes under the Construction Design and Management Regulations. The purpose of the regulations is to protect the employee and employer in making sure that a construction project is run safely. If you do not notify the Health and Safety Executive that the project is being carried out and there is a problem then directors of the company where the work is being done can go to jail.

Where do we start?

The first step is to measure everything and take lots of photos to see exactly what has been fitted. The next was to understand from the customer how they wanted to work in the space, so this included some basic functional block drawings identifying where they wanted Sales, Accounts and Technical. Once the broad locations were identified then the detail layouts were carried out identifying voice and data positions, partitioning and ceiling layouts and the work that had to be done on the mezzanine floor. Once the layouts were agreed we had to submit the plans to Building Control and get their approval which we did.

We produced many many drawings. All showing everything that was needed for each trade. Some shown below. The important document was the Building Regulations Approval document that is a legal requirement.

Existing Photographs

The first two photographs below show the immediate and obvious problem. The partitions are 50mm wide demountable and are not fire rated at all. The third photo shows the the vast storage area out the back. The rest just show the general bland and dated look of everywhere needed some tlc.

Stripping out and Construction work

We produced a plan and submitted all of the documents to the local Building Control people who assessed the drawings and arranged for some visits throughout the work. We also employed a Health and Safety Consultant who oversaw the work and kept all of the sub contractors on their toes, and they submitted the F10 to the Health and Safety Executive.

Refurbishment Projects

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All Project Categories Office Furniture Office Refurbishments Partitioning

Office Design and Fit Out in Chippenham

Office Design and Fit Out in Chippenham
Overall view looks great!

Client: Deltenna
Value: £18k

Office Design and fit out in Chippenham

This project needed some office design to include constructing an end office using demountable partitioning, supply and fitting of a new Howdens kitchenette, smoke detectors and fire alarms, supplying and fitting new carpets and office furniture to a design co-ordinating the whole colour scheme.

In trying to come up with something a bit more interesting we came up with a couple of options, as the function of the space in terms of where the office had to go was quite limiting, we played around with the carpet design and came up with a few ideas. Building the demountable partition was difficult as the roof was vaulted with tie bars, the demountable partition was built around the tie bars so they were hidden in the wall, we then tape and jointed the wall and decorated it to finish it. The vision panel in the door was the same size as the outside window maximising the light through into the main office. We also had to submit the plans for Building Control Approval which we obtained on behalf of the client.

Project Photos

Design Projects

We have many ideas on how to make the best use of space, and we are seeing offices and talking to customers all of the time. Over the years we have seen many projects and often have to work to a budget. What we do is get the space working right first and then focus on the budget. In this case the budget was very tight so we ended up using a very cheap carpet which did not affect the design of the office, and just brought it into the manageable level for the customer. This project was leased over 3 years. Please contact us for further information about leasing and financing.

If you are struggling to come up with something, please do not hesitate to give us a call 01380 73 88 44 or email us on [email protected]

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All Project Categories Suspended Ceilings Toilet Refurbishment

Suspended Ceiling in Chippenham

Suspended Ceiling in Chippenham
By the entrance doors

Client: EJS Chippenham
Value: £2.5k

This project involved replacing an existing suspended ceiling in Chippenham. There were several ares to look at including a reception area, as well as supplying and fitting a new grid and tile ceiling for the shower room and toilets. As always the toilet areas take a long time as there are lots of small tile cuts to do as well as forming a bulkhead between some of the areas.

Existing pictures

Construction photos and Finished result

Suspended ceiling problems?

There are many different types of suspended ceilings and the range of tiles now can be quite baffling. The current trend is to focus on sound performance within the office and this can be dealt with by using a special tile.

Suspended ceilings are used for a number of reasons, they are quick to install and mean that all the services required for offices such as pipework for plumbing and air conditioning, as well as power and data can be hidden out of sight. Access to the services is also much easier than using a traditional plasterboard or MF type ceiling as the ceiling tiles just need to be lifted from the grid.

There are many offices with old fissured tiles, with sagging tiles and a mottled grey look they make the office look very dated. We like to fit nice white clean tiles to give a fresh look.

We have been supplying and fitting suspended ceiling systems as part of our main refurbishment projects for a number of years, if you are not sure on what can be done please give us a call.

Please give us a call on 01380 73 88 44.

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All Project Categories Suspended Ceilings

Suspended Ceiling in a warehouse

Suspended Ceiling in a warehouse

Client: Connaught
Value: £35k

Suspended Ceiling

This suspended ceiling project involved two buildings, one very large area and the photograph above showing the front offices. The suspended ceilings were part of a main factory refurbishment project for one of their clients. Working for a Main Contactor meant we had to fit our schedule in with other trades which is always difficult without having tight control on site with every aspect of the project.

Existing photographs

The pictures below show the state of the place when we first looked at it. A considerable amount of debris was on the floors and the main contractor was in the process of dismantling everything and clearing away the site.

Suspended Ceiling Construction photographs

Note the fire barrier that we had to install half way down the building.

We did give some advice on the selection of the tile, as the one that was specified was very expensive, and so we chose an alternative which was not much cheaper on the cost per square meter, but on 1200 square meters it made a difference to the customer.  Other areas such as stair wells and the entrance used an MF ceiling construction which is metal framework construction with plasterboard screwed to the frame, taped and jointed and then decorated in a neutral colour.

Suspended ceiling problems?

There are many types of suspended ceilings available, please click this link for more information. We have been supplying and fitting suspended ceiling systems as part of our main refurbishment projects for a number of years, if you are not sure on what can be done please give us a call.Please give us a call on 01380 73 88 44.

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Air Conditioning All Project Categories Office Refurbishments Suspended Ceilings

Complete Design and Refurbishment

Complete Design and Refurbishment

Client: Kingsley Pike Estate Agents
Value: £13k

This Design and Refurbishment project including supplying and fitting two steel beams to support the three floors above the shop, and to remove a structural wall and so needed some design work in order to carry out the refurbishment of the space.

The effective use of space was very difficult to achieve due to the small space in the office, however we still had to produce drawings to satisfy Building Control and to determine exact positions of voice, data and lighting positions. The project included electrical work, decorations, air conditioning, construction of step, flooring, lighting design and carrying out the work in 7 days. We had to carry out a complete design and refurbishment of the existing space.1703 kingsley pike 11-10-05-Model

Design and Refurbishment work

We spent some time working out what was needed in the space and what we could get in. The beam was calculated, as the back wall to the shop needed to come out to widen the office space, the issue was that the wall held up the 3 floors above. One of the main problems was that the main beam was 6 meters long and it took 4 people to lift it into the shop from the main high street. The delivery vehicle had to leave the beams on the pavement whilst everything was prepared.

Construction Photographs

Completion photographs.

General Refurbishment and Fit out Work

If you need any advice or are thinking of an office refurbishment project please give us a call, we would love to talk to you, on 01380 738844

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All Project Categories Mezzanine Floors Office Refurbishments Partitioning Suspended Ceilings

Office Expansion in Corsham for Coombe Castle

Office Expansion in Corsham for Coombe Castle

Client: Coombe Castle
Value: £48k

Office Expansion in Corsham

This project consisted of converting a storage unit in to office space in order to provide some much needed office expansion. The project would involve fire protecting a mezzanine floor as this is required by Building Regulations if you have offices above, steel work and a suspended ceiling.  Ventilation had to be put round a chiller and fire sensors had to be installed within the chiller as it could not be moved to fit the fire protected board. Office windows had to be installed to match the rest of the building.

Upstairs needed a complete office fitting, so a suspended ceiling, dry lining the outer walls, decoration of the outer walls,  some fire rated partitioning to create a fire barrier between the offices and warehouse, as well as demountable partitioning within. Full electrical work including CAT2 lighting, 3 compartment perimeter trunking, flooring and new windows were also required. As always we follow our process, so the first step is to understand what the client wants, and then to assess what they have by taking photographs, and drawing everything.

Existing Space Photographs

It is a bit difficult to see from the photos, but essentially we had several areas to deal with. Underneath the mezzanine and on top of it was the main area, but included absolutely everything we do.

Building Regulations

It is crucial to consider Building Regulations when looking at layouts for offices. In particular fire ratings and Building Regulations which is a legal requirement. This particular project needed offices to be fitted on top of a mezzanine floor and so this is why it had to comply to the law.

If you need more information about Building Regulations, we have written a few things here.

Construction and finished photographs.

Office Expansion?

If you have a problem with your existing office space and need it altering as you are running out of space then Cre8tive can help. Please give us a call on 01380 738844.

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All Project Categories Partitioning

Jumbo Stud Partitioning in Bristol

Jumbo Stud Partitioning in Bristol

Client: Bristol Language Centre
Value: £16.5k

Jumbo Stud Partitioning

The client was expanding to a new floor in the same building and was in need of jumbo stud partitioning as well as standard stud partitioning for seven new classrooms. The client decided against a suspended ceiling, instead having the rooms reach up to the apex of the roof at 4.5m. We felt that this would increase the noise levels in the room but the benefit would be a much more open environment.

We had to work out the materials in order to cost the work, so the first job is always to measure and draw it.

Jumbo stud wall for Bristol Language Center Bristol
A drawing is needed to work out how to do things.

The walls were constructed from stud and board with jumbo stud to achieve a strong structure to that height. The walls were taped and jointed and painted in an off white colour so that each room was kept light and airy. The front doors to the training rooms were constructed from some conventional demountable partitioning system materials, as well as some demountable partitioning skirting sections to run around the walls.

Existing photographs

Construction photographs

As explained in the previous paragraphs this project used jumbo stud partitioning due to the height requirements of the wall, most walls in offices use demountable partition for speed of construction as well as other uses.

Why Demountable Partitioning?

  1. Demountable partitioning is tax efficient in that they are seen as movable items and so can be treated differently in writing down allowances in the accounts.
  2. We can also lease Demountable Partitioning as they are movable, this spreads the costs of having the work done as Demountable Partitions always cost more than customers think.
  3. Leasing of demountable partitioning is very tax efficient and Cre8tive can provide illustrations, please contact us for further information.
  4. Most landlords insist on demountable partitions being used for offices as it is much easier to take them out should the tenant renting the space leave for any reason. The benefit is that is saves making a huge amount of mess and destruction that would be need with a conventional stud and plasterboard constructed wall.

Questions on any  kind of Partitioning?

If you are not sure about anything we love to talk about projects and sort out problems and issues with space, please give us a call on 01380 738844

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All Project Categories Partitioning Suspended Ceilings

Office Fitting in Melksham

Office Fitting in Melksham

Client: Coombe Castle
Value: £62k

Cre8tive was asked to help carry out an office fitting project for Coombe Castle,who were moving from Corsham to Melksham. The work on this started 6 months ago, once the customer had in mind what they wanted to do, Cre8tive carried out a detailed plan of the building. This involved taking accurate measurements of all of the inside and outside space, in particular determining where all of the cabling went.

Cre8tive then designed the position of the new canteen and offices that were required on the existing mezzanine floor. The only problem was that the roof height was over 4 meters high, and Building Regulations says that you have to have 1 hour fire separation between offices and warehouse, so we devised a specification to meet this.

Other requirements for office fitting included spaces that need ventilation and heating, so Cre8tive had to extended the existing heating system, and fit a VAM  unit within the ceiling void to take air from the outside to the inside.

The office fitting project included data cabling the existing offices as well as the new, providing all electrical, flooring, kitchen, decorations and suspended ceiling for the space.

Drawing and specification work.

We produced many drawings for each of the areas that we had to work on. This included work to the front offices, so they needed power and data, lighting, repairs to the suspended ceiling and new carpet. Other areas included:

  1. Repairing some of the panels in the toilets.
  2. Stripping out the existing kitchen and canteen, converting into a new Sales office.
  3. Providing all of the plumbing requirements for the clean room area downstairs.
  4. Building new offices and canteen on top of the mezzanine floor which had to meet building regulations.
  5. New heating and ventilation.
  6. New comms rack.
  7. Painting much of the outside block walls white.
  8. Building a couple of offices on the shop floor, again these had to be 1 hour fire rated.

Existing building photos before work

Construction photos

Completion photographs

Project Management..

We have many ideas on how to make the best use of space, and we are seeing offices and talking to customers all of the time. Over the years we have seen many projects and often have to work to a budget. What we do is get the space working right first and then focus on the budget. In this case the budget was very tight so we ended up using a very cheap carpet which did not affect the design of the office, and just brought it into the manageable level for the customer. This project was leased over 3 years. Please contact us for further information about leasing and financing.

01380 73 88 44 or email us at [email protected]

Categories
All Project Categories Suspended Ceilings

Suspended Ceiling in Trowbridge

Suspended Ceiling in Trowbridge

Client: Zircon Software
Value: £23k

Suspended Ceiling and Alteration work

We completed this replacement suspended ceiling project for Zircon Software in Trowbridge who moved to new premises. The existing ceiling was very tired, so we produced a lighting scheme along with some drawings to present to the customer with the costing. We supplied new suspended ceilings and lighting throughout and also took out a couple of walls for them. The work carried out here is typical of what we call dilapidation work, in that the work is needed for someone moving in to be able to occupy it in a reasonable state.

Continue reading “Suspended Ceiling in Trowbridge”
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All Project Categories Consult Install Office Refurbishments Partitioning

Office Fit Out British Nuclear Group

Office Fit Out British Nuclear Group
Mallard Court

Client: British Nuclear Group
Value: £99k

Cre8tive were contacted by an Office Furniture company as they were not able to deal with the office fit out side of the project for British Nuclear Group. The customer had already employed an architect to specify what was required and so it was really a case of demonstrating that we knew what we were doing and that could cost the project to meet the clients budget. This project took place on the ground floor of Mallard Court.

The project was designed by Oxford Architects who specified the partition system.

The project was a 6 week duration project which had to run under the Construction Design and Management regulations. Cre8tive Interiors acted as Principle Contractor on the project. The office fit out  for British Nuclear Group consisted of Komfort Double Glazed Polar Demountable Partition System, as well as single glazed Polar screens and Komfort Komfire 100 partitions. The project also included supplying and fitting of a kitchen from Howdens, new carpets, fitting of fire barriers in the ceiling and floor voids, and complete decoration of the workspace.

Initial design and drawing work

Initial site photographs before work

Construction Photographs

Working for the British Nuclear Group had it’s challenges. As you would expect every aspect of the work was scrutinized, we also had to have a permanent person on site all of the time which sometimes on projects like this we do not always need to have fitters doing work whilst other work is being done by others. BNG contracted their own duct work people, so they had to carry out some works when we had to be off site.

Completed Photographs

Why Demountable Partitioning?

This particular project had what we call demountable partitioning in it. Landlords insist on this type as it can be easily relocated without doing much damage to the building.

  1. Demountable partitioning is tax efficient in that they are seen as movable items and so can be treated differently in writing down allowances in the accounts.
  2. We can also lease Demountable Partitioning as they are movable, this spreads the costs of having the work done as Demountable Partitions always cost more than customers think.
  3. Leasing of demountable partitioning is very tax efficient and Cre8tive can provide illustrations, please contact us for further information.
  4. Most landlords insist on demountable partitions being used for offices as it is much easier to take them out should the tenant renting the space leave for any reason. The benefit is that is saves making a huge amount of mess and destruction that would be need with a conventional stud and plasterboard constructed wall.

Need an Office Fitting out?

This particular project was driven by BNG with a design carried out by Oxford Architects. We were the contractor who completed the work. If you need any design work doing we can do this, as well as being the principle contractor for the work.

Any questions please do not hesitate to contact us on 01380 73 88 44 or email [email protected]