50mm wide glazed office partitioning was the obvious solution to the customers requirements. The customer wanted some demountable partitioning to turn and unused office space into an open plan office space and a directors office. The system we recommended was a 50mm wide glazed demountable system from Komfort that included a lot of glazed walls to allow light through and keep the area open and bright.
Privacy was a factor; the customer wanted each office and the meeting rooms to be private as possible. we used a wider 75mm system on the adjoining walls, and integral blinds in the glazed partitions so each office and meeting room could be enclosed when they needed. The walls were finished in a pale gray vinyl and the doors in a nice beech veneer to add some colour.
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Existing open space
Nice open space recently refurbished
More open space
Nice amount of natural light
Lights to be moved
Side view outside
Radiator to be moved
Drawing and planning work
Always important to measure what we have, by laying out where the partitions were needed, straight away we could see that the lights needed to be moved.
Existing areas measured
New light positions
Final Layout
Construction and final photographs
Radiators moved under the windows
Air conditioning units installed
Air conditioning units installed
Frames in, next window beads and glass
Decoration started
Window beads in
Wall paper bubbled, will dry out
Front elevation of meeting room
Door with long vision panel in it which looks better than a cheaper smaller one
Air conditioning trunking fitted onto partitions
Another air conditioning unit fitted
Skirting and trims fitted.
This is annoying, someone damaged the wall
Boards cut around trunking
Glass and blinds fitted
The pencil marks are annoying, easily removed.
Glass and blinds fitted
Finished offices
Finished offices
Need any office partitioning?
Offices require demountable partitioning. As well as looking better than traditional stud and plasterboard there is a financial advantage as well. Please refer to our post Why use demountable partitioning?
Please give us a call on 01380 738844 or email us at [email protected]
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.
Ground Floor
Ground Floor proposed showing carpet
Upstairs proposed showing carpet
Ventilation upstairs drawing
Plans Approval Building Control
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.
Downstairs obvious non-fire rated partitions fire exit route!
Non Fire rated partitions again
Downstairs warehouse with MD’s car
Downstairs warehouse
Downstairs warehouse
Upstairs needing new ceiling and walls to be re-used.
All offices very small and dark
Very old ceilings everywhere
All doors painted as well looking very dated
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.
Main office downstairs stripped out
Boards out to be re-used
Downstairs frames going up
Ceiling grid being installed
Upstairs sales office being rebuilt
Another upstairs room with new grid being fitted
Top floor meeting rooms to be built here
New stud frames up
Loads of new materials delivered
More demountable partition frames
New grid tight to the ventilation duct work downstairs
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
Partitioning layout
Electrical work
Kitchen details
More kitchen details
Initial site photographs before work
First job, check materials access
Next main entrance
All open with glass
Ceiling grid unusual
Site foremans desk position
Central core to the building is glass
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.
Electrician looking puzzled!
Frames up, looking at bording now.
Frames up, looking at a bit more bording now.
Insulation being unrolled
More walls to be borded
Drylined ready for decorations, tracks in for glass
Better view of the tracks for glass
Kitchen under construction
Kitchen under construction
Kitchen under construction
Tracks in for glass nibs
Still decorating..
Still decorating..
Doors being made ready
Another door hung
Glass going in for the offices
Single glazed glass nibs running into the office
Single glazed glass nibs running into the office
Main glass delivery, carefully does it.
Glass being installed
More glass being moved about.
Nearly done
Another door to hang
Last one..
is a bit of a..
struggle…
NIce open space ready for furniture
still a bit of work to do in the kitchen
Completed Photographs
Almost finished kitchen
Almost finished kitchen
New glass partitioning
New single office
Another office
Another office
Wider view of front offices
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.
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.
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.
Leasing of demountable partitioning is very tax efficient and Cre8tive can provide illustrations, please contact us for further information.
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]
The Administration Building looked very dated and did not represent the image De La Rue wanted to present to their customers. The building needed a thorough interior office refurbishment and design to create an environment in which staff feel empowered and involved and to portray the right professional image to visitors to reflect the high company values.
As the company uses wood pulp in the production of security papers, an earthy feel was required to the design. Due to the size of the project the work had to be carried out under the Construction Design and Management Regulations (CDM) which applies to any construction type work taking longer than 30 days or employing more than 5 people on site at any one time. Cre8tive was employed as a principle contractor, and the client employed a Heath and Safety Consultant to help run the project safely. The office refurbishment had a strict timetable of 8 weeks for completion.
Design Work
The design process took around 3 months. The initial proposal was made in competition with another company in which we were able to convince the customer that we had the skills to deliver, as well as come up with a good design. The first step is to measure everything and work out who does what where before moving onto the plan. We thought upstairs the best thing to do was to take out as much of the upstairs walls as possible to let as much natural light into the space. Unfortunately the walls upstairs held up the roof, so we had to employ a structural engineer to do some calculations and fit some steels to the beams. Downstairs also required opening out, and a beam had to be fitted downstairs.
Site Plan for De La Rue
First floor plan
Ground floor plan
Visual for upstairs layout
Wider view for first floor proposals
First floor plans
First floor layouts
Initial site photographs
Lots of plain walls to come out
re-route of electrics and wall to come out
Redecoration required
New ceiling to be fitted
Walls to be painted
Walls badly decorated
Damp to sort out
Not very nice doors
Asbestos window ledges
Kitchen to be replaced
Kitchen to be replaced
Asbestos window boards again
False panel to sort out
Stairs to be repainted
Reception with plastic flooring
Back wall non descript and bland
Sterile reception area
Damage to some of the walls
Construction / demolition photographs
Stairs stripped
Start of stripping out
Bare room
Walls comming out
Stripping out
Stripping out
Stripping out
Stripping out
Creating space for beam
Laying cable trays
All ceilings propped as walls come out
Revealed floor at different levels
More props
Marking some hole positions
Downstairs corridor prepared
Upstairs stripping out
Downstairs foundations for beam
Steel supports for roof
Beam for enlarged opening
Cleared rubbish away upstairs
Waste cleared to skips
Main beam ready to go in
Footings prepared
Suspended ceiling grid going in
Suspended ceiling grid
Suspended ceiling
Reveals formed in main downstairs opening
Cables to contend with as well
Suspended ceiling detail
Suspended ceiling detail
Suspended ceiling in
Toilets being refurbished
Partition tracks in prior to glass
Taking a break
New kitchen being fitted
Corridor ceiling and painted
Floor screed going down
Work moving into the main lobby
Silicon Jointed glass partitions
Glass walls in
New toilet cubicles fitted
Wallpapering the forest wall
Wallpapering the forest wall
Wallpapering the forest wall
Curved top door and nice vision panel
Storage wall
Two of the offices done
Glass nibs
View of the final office
LG3 indirect /direct light fittings
Another view of final office
Office Refurbishment Project?
If you need some office design as you are unsure what to do Cre8tive can help, regardless of the size of the project we like to be Cre8tive with what we do with the space. As well as all of the practical things such as running the project as Principle Contractor, dealing with Health and Safety and running the project well we add something extra and that is the Cre8tive effect.
This was a difficult problem to solve and the only way we could think of doing this was to actually construct a glass partition onto the reception desk. The school had a specific issue with noise coming into the office area as the reception desk is in a main traffic area. Draught’s were also a problem as well as some of the electrical control equipment including the CCTV system was spread over a large area. A new cabinet was supplied under the desk with all the cables re-routed to suit. It was also important to keep the costs to minimum so various options were considered before work started.
In addition to the above, the school wanted some degree of sound insulation. Their initial thought was that the desk would have to be rebuilt with some form of new partition built and all of the computing equipment behind the desk would have to be moved. The CCTV and security systems would also have to be disconnected so a real nuisance. I did think that the desk that was there was pretty good and we could keep it in place, why get rid of it. The idea then was to build something on top of it. The complicated section was on the raised section, a normal partition system would have very chunky frames, so we chose a silicon jointed glass system that would be ready neat and tidy. The joins of the glass could then be angled and ground, then seal with a silicon seal without any vertical aluminum uprights that you would normally use on a conventional partition system.
A further requirement was that they wanted a sliding hatch arrangement so they could open and shut glass doors as needed and we could build this in a partition.
Construction photos
Timing was important as with a busy school and the reception desk being situated in the main thoroughfare, we had to build the partitions out of school hours for safety. The first section to build was the more conventional sliding frame hatch using a conventional partition system but using special ‘Chas mood’ sliding door gear within the partition frames. Once the sliding hatch was built, the glazed system was constructed across the desk. Once all of the frames were built the glaziers arrived to fit the glass.
Open reception desk before
Behind the desk
This bit needed a serving hatch
Sliding hatch frame built
Ready for silicon joint glass
Ready for silicon joint glass
Chasmood sliding track system
Top panel ready for glass
Completed photos
Sliding hatch completed
Detail of the sliding hatch
Finger slider in glass
View of the faceted glass
Another view
Different view
View from inside
We did use two different proprietary demountable partitioning systems to provide the finish result. There are several good reasons to use this type of system, the main one is that it can be taken down and removed quite easily. The words demountable partitioning are used quite often in our fit out and refurbishment projects.
Summary on Demountable Partitioning
Using Demountable Partitioning is very tax efficient as they are seen as movable items and so can be treated differently in writing down allowances in the accounts. We have a better description on our News / Blog page on this site.
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.
Leasing of demountable partitioning is very tax efficient and Cre8tive can provide illustrations, please contact us for further information.
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 extending offices?
If you are not sure about anything as well as taking about all kinds of partitioning including Demountable we love to talk about projects and sort out problems and issues with space, please give us a call on 01380 738844
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:
Repairing some of the panels in the toilets.
Stripping out the existing kitchen and canteen, converting into a new Sales office.
Providing all of the plumbing requirements for the clean room area downstairs.
Building new offices and canteen on top of the mezzanine floor which had to meet building regulations.
New heating and ventilation.
New comms rack.
Painting much of the outside block walls white.
Building a couple of offices on the shop floor, again these had to be 1 hour fire rated.
Upstairs space, needing offices
Existing downstairs including car park
Detail of the new offices and canteen.
Detail of data cabling for the Sales Office
Existing building photos before work
Front offices all walls and carpets need replacing
Kitchen to strip out and convert to Sales Office
Kitchen to strip out and convert to Sales Office
New offices to go here
Big open factory floor
Fully fitted desks needed to be removed in offices
All walls dull grey block
Construction photos
Initial open space for the new upstairs offices
Chiller being built by others
View of where the offices need to go
New comms rack delivered
VAM Ventilation unit in
1 hour fire rated wall
Frames in for the office fronts
Boarded one side
Formation of openings for windows
Special fire rated window frames in
More boarding
Very tall walls!
Old kitchen units out, to be re-used in new kitchen
Most boards tape and jointed ready for painting.
Suspended ceiling going in
Walls wall papered to improve sound performance and wear.
Internal demountable partitions to the offices.
The line across the office fronts.
Starting work on the kitchen
Getting on with the kitchen
Electrical work being done.
New Sales office complete
Glass installed
Warehouse offices being built
Warehouse offices being built
Lots of plumbing work downstairs
Completion photographs
All block walls painted
Doors fitted and finished offices
Warehouse offices completed
Canteen complete (and kitchen)
Non-slip flooring in the canteen
View of upstairs offices on the mezzanine floor completed.
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.
Cole Easdon approached us with a couple of requirements for their new office in Swindon. The first was to construct a couple of office but they also had a major problem with storage. We realised that we could utilise the full height of the ceiling and use a product called storage wall, which is a full height cupboard constructed and fitted to the underside of the suspended ceiling which acts like a partition. We then built some demountable partitions off the storage wall to solve the problem.
Storage Wall Project photographs
Initial layout and design work
Run of 4 storage wall bays acting as a partition wall
Storage inside!
Outer view of the offices
Inside from the small office
Why Demountable Partitions in Office Refurbishments?
Demountable partitions are tax efficient in that they are seen as movable items and so can be treated differently in writing down allowances in the accounts, we can also lease elements of office refurbishments. Anything that can be moved.
We mainly lease Demountable Partitions as they are movable, this spreads the costs of having the work done as Demountable Partitions always cost more than customers think.
Leasing of movable items is very tax efficient and Cre8tive can provide illustrations, please contact us for further information.
Most landlords insist on demountable partitions in an office 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
Storage wall or Partitioning questions?
We have been supplying and fitting storage wall and demountable partitioning as part of our main refurbishment projects for over 15 years, if you are unsure about anything please give us a call.
