Category: Suspended Ceilings

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New Suspended Ceiling Installed over Christmas in Calne

New Suspended Ceiling Installed over Christmas in Calne
New tiles being fitted

Client: Calne Leisure Center
Value: £6k

We were contacted just before Christmas by a surveyor who asked for our help in fitting a suspended ceiling throughout Calne Leisure Center, the only problem was that it had to be at cost and carried out over the Christmas Break ready for opening in January.

The idea was that the people of Calne purchased the Leisure Center and so the work was carried out by local people.

Construction Photographs

Suspended Ceiling Projects

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.

 If you want to improve sound performance for a space, or want to hide some services, or have any questions about suspended ceiling types please give us a call on 01380 73 88 44

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Air Conditioning All Project Categories Office Furniture Office Refurbishments Partitioning Suspended Ceilings Visuals

Complete Design and Refurbishment in Bristol

Complete Design and Refurbishment in Bristol
Making a feature of the pillar

Client: Smufit Kappa
Value:£75k

Office Design and Refurbishment

A complete office design and refurbishment project was required, involving initial space planning and design, through to stripping out and refurbishing the office space.

The existing space had a problem with an existing pillar which could not be moved and it was in the middle of the space, so we made a feature of it. We constructed a curved wall around the pillar. The project included: plastering, decorations, air conditioning, flooring, lighting, new suspended ceiling, demountable partitioning, the design and build of a specially sized conference table with pop up modules in the desk to connect a laptop to for presentations. The project also included the supply and installation of office furniture fully co-ordinated with the colour scheme. We also produced some visuals which allowed the customer to appreciate the colour choices.

Design Work

Once we have looked at the current space and taken a brief from the customer, then we draw it. We use Autocad, and we first have to identify exactly what is in the current space which will include the existing lighting, electrical and air conditioning aspects, as well as the walls and other items in the space. In coming up with a new design we first look to see what the customer wants and then try to squeeze it in. In this case we had a pillar in the way, so we made a feature of the pillar in the design. We always draw technical drawings which allows our suppliers to cost items, but sometimes customers can’t visualise what something may look like. We therefore organise some visuals to be produced which help the whole process in getting the project approved.

Visuals

We appreciate that we still carry out visuals by hand and some may say that computer generated visuals are better. However we like to have another perspective on the design and so these are carried out by another company. The visuals are hand drawn and then painted or coloured in and it is a final check that we are happy with the design.

Existing Space Photographs

Stripping out Work

Finished Results

The most pleasing aspect of this project is that we identified a major issue with the layout and as we could not move it, created a feature of it. The pillar ended up being the focal point of the space where the directors could display some of their samples.

Do you have something similar and need help?

Often with these projects the hard part is knowing where to start. In particular with this project the space was really awkward. The directors knew that something had to be done as it was so dull but we are a loss on what to do.

Translating ideas into a cost can be quite difficult, so what we do at Cre8tive is to listen and then try and interpret what the customer wants. We go through certain steps and doing the drawing work is one of them.

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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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 Refurbishments Partitioning Storage Walls Suspended Ceilings Toilet Refurbishment

Head Office Design and Refurbishment Work

Head Office Design and Refurbishment Work

Client: De La Rue
Value: £200k

Office Refurbishment in Bath

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.

Initial site photographs

Construction / demolition photographs

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.

Please give us a call on 01380 73 88 44

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All Project Categories Partitioning Suspended Ceilings

Office Fitting in Melksham on a Mezzanine Floor

Office Fitting in Melksham on a Mezzanine Floor

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]

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All Project Categories Suspended Ceilings

Suspended Ceiling and Partition Reconfiguration work in Trowbridge

Suspended Ceiling and Partition Reconfiguration work 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.

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