Tag: LED lighting

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All Project Categories Office Refurbishments Suspended Ceilings

Hall Refurbishment in Chippenham

Hall Refurbishment in Chippenham
New wood effect vinyl flooring

Client: Chippenham Rotary Hall
Value: £21.5k

Chippenham Rotary Club wanted a Hall Refurbishment to bring the dark and dated old hall into the 21st century and make it more appealing to those looking at hiring the space.

The first task was to survey the existing space and understand the requirements for the space.

Existing Hall Space

The existing space was very dated and there were a number of tasks  that we could easily identify that would make a big impact straight away. The dated carpets, the woodchip wallpaper and the poor lighting all needed replacing.

Our first step is to measure the space, have a meeting to discuss what the customer likes and dislikes and how the space will be used.

Next we go away and produce some plans and costs for the project. Once the basic cost is determined we can adjust the specification to suit the customers budget so we show all of the costings and juggle things around to get to a cost that everyone is happy with before we carry out any works.

Work in Progress

The Hall Refurbishment went really smoothly and every element made such a big difference.

The new suspended ceiling used a modern flat white tile which looks much cleaner than the old fissured tiles, we also cranked the ceiling to maximize the available height in the middle making the space much more light and airy.

The woodchip wallpaper was removed, all walls were re-plastered before being decorated in a neutral grey with an orange feature wall. All of the old dark wooden skirting boards and window sills were painted using good quality white gloss to compliment new lighter colour scheme.

The LED lighting with spots around the edges and LED panels in the centre fills the space with much more light and it is fully adjustable with dimmer controls for each section making it nice and easy to see the projector screen.

The new wood effect vinyl flooring looks great whilst being super hard wearing and ultra realistic with textured woodgrain and beveled planks.

The final element was to replace the double entrance doors into the hall with a modern light oak veneered door with extra large vision panels and stainless steel kick plates and pull handles.

Completed Photos

The finished hall looks clean, fresh and modern whilst also being much more practical with easy to clean flooring and much better lighting levels.

The new hall will appeal to more people running groups, training or events with such a versatile space.

Does your Hall or function room look dated?

Please give us a call or contact us and we would be more than happy to help you modernize your space and appeal to more customers.

01380 73 88 44

Categories
All Project Categories Suspended Ceilings

Suspended Ceiling and LED Lighting in Devizes

Suspended Ceiling and LED Lighting in Devizes
New suspended ceiling and LED lights

Client: MG Books
Value: £6.5k

MG Books Ltd in Devizes wanted a suspended ceiling installed into their back office and contacted Cre8tive Interiors. The office area got very cold in the winter and they felt that a suspended ceiling would do the trick. When we visited site, we could see that the space would also benefit from some LED Lighting. If the existing fittings were to be re-used it would detract from the look of the ceiling, and LED panels would also give a much better lighting levels in the space.

The levels had to be calculated based on the ceiling height and the area. In many offices, other suppliers have just replaced the existing fittings with LED in the same place and this has resulted in the area being too bright and not very pleasant to work in.

If computers are used, the LED panels also have to be office compliant with a UGR rating of less that 19. UGR stands for Unified Glare Rating. Most LED panels are mass produced and use poor quality LED’s which can give an inconsistent light level in the panel and this makes it unsuitable for offices. Fine for everything else, just not offices.

Existing Space and work in progress.

The first task is to measure everything and draw it. We always do this so we can accurately work out the material costs without guessing it. Once we have drawn the new grid and determined the new ceiling height the information is sent over to the electricians to carry out a lighting design.

You will notice one of the photographs below shows a fire detector and red cable. This was connected to the building system so had to be repositioned onto the new ceiling once finished.

Work in Progress

Final Photographs

Suspended Ceiling requirements?

We chose a very clean white ceiling pattern. It is possible to have a more textured design, or one that uses a tegular edge design but we do not like these. The tegular edge attracts dust and we think makes the ceiling look fussy. The tegular design is also more expensive than flat square edge. Also included in the price was 200mm bagged insulation that we fitted over the back of the suspended ceiling. We also blacked out the windows from the outside so people could not see the void above the suspended ceiling through the windows from the outside.

Electrically we provided emergency lighting as well, and also removed all of the existing fittings. Also supplied was an NICEIC certificate, certifying the work.

Any questions or requirements please give us a call on 01380 738844 or email us at [email protected]

Categories
All Project Categories Toilet Refurbishment

Toilet Refurbishment in Chippenham

Toilet Refurbishment in Chippenham
Modern sinks, vanity unit and mirror and bulkhead removed.

Client: General Dynamic UK
Value: £22k

A toilet refurbishment can simply mean updating the sanitary ware or tiling the walls. or it can involve a great deal more. Our customer, General Dynamic UK, specialises in technical systems for the MOD and wanted to bring their toilets into the 21st century.

The toilet refurbishment incorporated everything from a new ceiling and LED lighting down to new easier to clean anti-slip vinyl flooring.

We started off by measuring up the toilets and drawing it on CAD which made working out the quantity of tiles and the sizes of new cubicles much easier. Luckily the overall layout of the toilets was going to stay the same so there was no need for a plumber to re-route any pipework. We worked with the customer using colour swatches and mood boards to plan the new toilets. By identifying what was wrong with the existing toilets we were able to define what was going the make the biggest difference.

Toilet Refurbishment plans
Toilet Refurbishment plans

Existing Toilets

  • The existing tiles were very dated on both the walls and the floor with some very bland grey cubicles. 
  • The suspended ceiling comprised old fissured tiles with marks on the grid and damage to some tiles.
  • The gold lights looked very dated and with halogen bulbs were not very energy efficient.
  • The toilets and urinals were very basic.
  • The lighting above the mirror didn’t work and the bulkhead above and down the side of the mirror looked poor.
  • The shower was fairly recent with a good quality shower installed.
  • The pipework below the vanity unit leaked and the sinks just needed updating.

The solutions

  • LED lighting compared to halogen bulbs will always make a space much brighter and eliminate the nasty shadows on the walls.
  • Large format tiles add a modern touch whilst also being much easier to clean.
  • Anti-slip vinyl flooring is not only much safer, but much easier to clean with coved edges and no grout lines to worry about.
  • Modern dual flush toilets, urinal and sinks are much more aesthetically pleasing.
  • New cubicles and IPS panels in a modern colour combination have an instant effect making the space much more modern.

Toilet Refurbishment Construction Photographs

As soon as we got on site our fitters made quick work of removing the tiles, suspended ceiling and old sanitary ware. We used floor protection to ensure the mess didn’t spread into the hallways and offices when we were transporting the rubbish to the skip. Once the toilet was stripped back to basics we could install the IPS panelling and all the associated plumbing behind them. The coved edges of the new anti-slip flooring provided a level base to start tiling which made a dramatic difference in a short space of time. Large format tiles look great and because of their size they cover a large amount of area very quickly.

Once the flooring and tiles were installed the suspended ceiling, sanitary ware and cubicles were installed. The mirror was given a new minimalist frame to replace the wooden architrave.

Toilet Refurbishment Completion Photographs

Once the plumbing had been checked and all of the electrics re-connected the toilets were ready for use. We installed some lovely new stainless steel toilet roll holders and soap dispensers to keep with the modern look of the toilets. The customer was very pleased with the work we did as it caused minimal disruption and we left the toilet area looking clean and tidy.

Summary on Toilet Refurbishments

  1. Tiling and lighting have the biggest impacts on the overall look of a toilet.
  2. Mood boards and samples are a great way to visualise how a colour scheme will look.
  3. We use floor protection on our projects to ensure dust and dirt from the construction doesn’t spread into offices and hallways.
  4. We like to install LED lighting and dual flush cisterns where possible to promote energy efficiency and save water.

Questions on Toilet Refurbishments

Want more inspiration? Have a look at another job we did in Melksham. If you have any questions or you have a toilet that needs updating, please give us a call on 01380 738844

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

Offices on a Mezzanine Floor

Offices on a Mezzanine Floor
Outside of building

Client: H J Knees of Trowbridge
Value: £45k

We are asked to look at making some office alterations to a new office for HJKnees in Whitehorse Business Park. The customer wanted to fit some new offices on a Mezzanine Floor. At first glance we could see straight away that the work would need extra work to make the project comply with Building Regulations as none of the existing mezzanine floor had any fire protection on it at all.

Mezzanine Floors and Building Regulations.

Our first consideration when considering an office project is Building Regulations, does the existing structure comply?, and whatever we do as far as changing things also has to comply. In each case we consider the Regulations and obtain approval before the work starts, during the work we usually have an inspection carried out before the walls all get closed in, and then a post project inspection.

We can then give the client a proper certificate from a Building Regulations Inspector that certifies the design and our work to confirm that all legal requirements have been met.

Please see our articles on Mezzanine floors and what you need to do with Building Regulations on the News section of this website. Unfortunately the customer has never been aware that their existing floor does not comply, and we do come across this quite a lot, so we are always on the back foot before we even start talking about what they want as the whatever work is done, adequate fire protection, escape routes and distances need to be considered to comply with the law.

The additional problem in this situation is that it is a legal requirement to have a 1 hour fire rated separation between offices and warehouse. The construction of a 1 hour wall is not an issue, often it is the height that is the problem as you have to construct the wall to meet the plasterboard and metal stud work manufactures specifications.

The most expensive parts are the doors and windows, so the plan is always to keep these to a minimum.

Initial site Photographs.

Original upstairs rooms not meeting fire regulations

Another view of old offices

Another view of old offices

Another view of old offices

They stored things next to the offices

They stored things next to the offices

Underneath the mezzanine, hardboard used a potential fire hazard!

Toilets needed doing

None of the mezzanine floor steels protected.

Edge of mezzanine not protected.

As you can see from the above photographs, a general builder has built the offices ontop of a steel mezzanine floor with no fire protection using timber windows and non fire rated materials. The offices look ok but does not comply at all. The whole lot needed to be stripped out and started again. All of the mezzanine floor underneath needed a 1 hour fire rated suspended ceiling, along with column encasement protection (1 hour) and some re-organisation of the access routes with toilets, a small office and warehouse access with some basic security.

Construction Photographs

The other constraint that we had is the whole job had to be completed in 3 weeks as a new machine was due to arrive in the unit. The reason why the toilet block had to be halved, was that the new machine was 26 meters long and so it would not quite fit.

Staircase needed to be scaffolded

Main fire wall plastered ready for decoration

First fix electrics underneath mezzanine

Demolition of existing offices

Timber frame exposed to be removed

Timber frame exposed to be removed

Start of dry lining the walls

Boarding of the main fire wall between the offices and warehouse

Building the frame under the angles steels of the building

Suspended ceiling grid is quite quick to go in.

Construction of the new offices started

Outside walls plaster drying out

Ceiling tile just starting to go in.

Fire rated ceiling going in under mezzanine floor

Underneath of stairs

Windows dry lined around and window boards fitted

Offices starting to take shape

LED panels fitted

More office walls going in

Column encasement system fitted to steel uprights

Offices starting to take shape

Offices starting to take shape

Window boards fitted, insulation for ceiling arrived

Completed column encasement and ceiling tiles fitted.

More fire rated walls downstairs

Mezzanine floor edge protection

You can see the back of the light fitting has a 1 hour smoke hood fitted.

Downstairs work nearly finished

Offices nearly done

Offices nearly done

Offices virtually done

Final Result

We do not have any finished photographs as the customer needed to move in straight away. We kept to the dates that we advised the customer and we did have a couple of snag items to deal with which was not a problem once they were in. The project was inspected by Building Control and a passed certificate was issued to the client, as well as the Health and Safety file. The Health and Safety file included all of the as built drawings, certificates and evidence of emergency lighting and fire detection equipment that acts as a reference binder for the client to use in the future.

We chose demountable partition for the main office upstairs due to the speed of construction and the final finish looking much more modern and professional that a traditional stud and plasterboard wall.

Summary on Demountable Partitioning

  1. 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.
  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 Demountable Partitioning?

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