Archive for the News Category

One day will all laboratories be built like this?

 

The innovative high integrity delivery systems we recently designed and delivered for a ground-breaking biomedical facility make flexi lab working and off-site construction a reality.

Flexible Laboratories

The scale of the gas delivery system which uses over 75,000 metres of copper pipework to supply more than 3000 outlets in the laboratories is impressive in itself but what differentiates it is the flexibility it offers. Outlets connect to special flexible hoses, making it possible to reconfigure the layout of the laboratory and safely deliver the gases required to wherever they are needed, or to add additional lines. The couplings between the hoses and taps are specific to the gas to be supplied to avoid cross contamination and the various threats to health and safety that may result from this. This innovative solution means that, although this is a high specification specialist system, modifications can be carried out by on-site maintenance with no compromise to the system’s integrity and without specialist intervention.

Off Site Construction 

In addition to the gas delivery system, we designed and delivered turnkey high integrity distribution systems for purified water, liquid nitrogen, super critical fluid (SCF), clean steam, solvent delivery and waste collection plus a hydrogenation suite. To make the installation as efficient as possible we built an innovative system of pipework cassettes populated with blocks of quick connect points for the flexi hoses. Once on site the cassettes were loaded into modules, with up to 10 pipes on each module carrying gases plus power, chilled water, sprinkler system etc. By minimising the amount of work required onsite we were able to significantly reduce time on site, ensure that we delivered on schedule and minimise disruption to other aspects of the build.

As the recognised market leader in our field, we are unique in our ability to deliver both purified water and laboratory gas delivery systems to large scale projects. This recent contract demonstrates the range of our capabilities, our innovative approach and our dedication to delivering systems with zero compromise on integrity or aesthetics, which deliver the gas or liquid they are designed for safely and purely.

 

Providing essential oxygen systems for emergency
COVID-19 Intensive Care facilities

 

We are immensely proud of our team who worked around the clock at the start of the COVID-19 shutdown to deliver essential oxygen systems for three emergency COVID-19 Intensive Care facilities in London and Cardiff. Our dedicated teams demonstrated their commitment in extremely challenging circumstances delivering new facilities at The Royal London, Epsom General and The Dragons Heart Hospital, Principality Stadium, Cardiff. They were ably supported by our suppliers who went above and beyond their normal service to help us to deliver the projects on schedule, on budget with no compromise on quality.

Timing was the obvious challenge –  projects that would ordinarily take months to design, plan and install, had to be delivered in a matter of weeks to provide emergency additional capacity for coronavirus patients and relieve the pressure on existing hospital facilities. To be able to achieve this, our resources had to be temporarily diverted from existing projects, and installation teams worked twelve to fourteen-hour shifts, whist complying with the additional requirements of COVID-19 safe working, to deliver the projects on time. Maintaining the quality and the standards required was as crucial as the timing, and the projects had to be signed off by the NHS Trust’s pharmacist as fit for use, with all quality standards meeting the pharmacist’s requirements. All projects were signed off on time with no issues.

Predictably, securing the necessary materials during the COVID-19 shutdown was also challenging, and we relied heavily on the relationships we have built over the years with our supply chain who, whilst also working under extreme pressure supplying the majority of the coronavirus emergency hospitals, still managed to manufacture and supply the necessary medical equipment and pipework, without which we would not have been able to complete the projects.

Few companies have the depth of experience, knowledge, expertise and trusted supply partners we have accumulated over 40 years of designing and installing gas delivery systems, all of which contributed to us to succeeding in delivering these projects, in time scales which prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic would not have been considered for projects of this size, without compromise on quality.