20 January 2014

When Manchester Metropolitan University decided to consolidate its campus resources in the city centre - moving some faculty facilities from the iconic “Toast Rack” building in South Manchester - it appointed Quartzelec, a leader in delivering electrical and mechanical installations,  to help complete the £1.6m design & build project that incorporated lighting, power, containment and life safety systems for two buildings; and all works were completed in under 20 weeks, in time for the start of the new academic year.

The project brief was to completely refurbish the Cavendish Building, previously un-used for a number of years so that it could be used to create new departments for the CAD, Art & Design and Food Technology Courses. In addition, the ground floor of the Righton Building was to be refurbished to form a new student reception area and Hub.

“With only a 20 week programme window, including the initial design phase, we faced an exceptionally tight schedule and the challenge was on, from the word go,” explained Dave Birchall, Quartzelec’s Contract Manager. “To add to the complexity of the scheme, there were a number of floors in the Halls of Residence that had to remain operational throughout the contract works.”

The Electrical System is a model in efficiency and energy saving, with over 3000 LED luminaries installed, together with a sophisticated lighting control system, which minimises energy waste. Sub-metering of all departments via the BMS system also means that the University can accurately monitor and control its energy usage throughout each academic year. The schedule of works also included installing an IT data infrastructure and an addressable fire alarm and disabled refuge system.

Only by working closely with the project design and construction team, and in collaboration with the client, could this be achieved. An average of 30 skilled contractors from Quartzelec’s Manchester based team, were on-site at any one time, peaking at 55, in order to ensure that the students and teaching staff could occupy their new departments and accommodation in time for the September term.

Dave Birchall continued: “It was great to see the team adapting to the client requirements and bring another project to completion on time and on budget. In July, Corin Cowan, one of Quartzelec’s electricians also won a safety award from the contractor Morgan Sindall, for his excellent approach to safety throughout this project.

As the project drew to its conclusion, it was managed so that the University departments were able to move all their equipment into their respective departments prior to handover, enabling them to open the doors to their new facility on time.