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It is not too commond for a fire safety installation company to get involved at the design stage of a project. But the GB pound 1 billion redevelopment of two landmark hospital sites shows what an advantage this can be as Malcolm Snarey and Stuart Ketteringham report.
We have been working on a unique project that has brought together an unprecedented number of specialists at an early point of a huge contract. The coordination and planning required prior to construction has been far greater than either of us can remember on any previous scheme. The project is the redevelopment of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London and The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. When completed, the two hospitals will deliver world-class healthcare provision for the people of the City of London, East London and beyond.
The GB pound 1bn-plus scheme is construction company Skanska’s largest project to date. The company is responsible for design and construction on the two sites, which together cover a built area of 270,000m2 and comprise both new build and refurbishment.
Demonstrating its long-term commitment to the project, installation company Static Systems Group engaged in discussions about the project nearly five years ago. Last year, Skanska then appointed Static Systems as its design phase partner for the fire system, together with the nurse call system and bedhead services trunking packages. This followed a number of previous successful collaborations between the two companies, including work at Derby Hospital and Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry.
Given the complex nature of the project, Skanska realised the benefit of appointing specialists well ahead of starting work. This design phase partnering approach requires potential specialist partners to become involved at a much earlier stage than has traditionally been the case. Usually, the specialist waits to be awarded a formal contract before starting work on a project. Under the design phase approach, Skanska agrees to pay an agreed fee for developing the design, with the achievement of Key Performance Indicators driving any subsequent appointment as the trade contractor. During the early stages of discussions both companies met regularly with the NHS Trust, architects, services consultants and other interested parties to ensure all the key issues were identified and understood.
Designing the system
At the forefront of the design of a hospital are the safety, needs and reassurance of the patients and staff who will occupy the buildings. A vital element of this is the need to ensure that staff and other responsible people are advised promptly of potential alarm situations, and know how to act in each scenario. It is also essential that any fire is dealt with before threatening the availability of hospital services.
To this end, the design team considered the latest in sensor technology, resulting generally in the selection of multi-criteria fire sensors from Apollo, which use both optical and heat elements. With their programmable capability and system management, such detectors will significantly reduce unwanted alarms. The detection and alarm system is designed to Category L1 of BS 5839: 2002 part 1.
The use of low-level sounders at nurse stations was suggested in order to avoid unnecessary disturbance and anxiety to patients in an alert or alarm situation, so a range of addressable and adjustable sounders have been specified.
Coordination
Design phase planning also means coordinating and interfacing the many different trades that will be involved, such as security, nurse call, CCTV and building management services. Each of these specialists will be involved in installing and testing their own products and systems during the construction phase.
So timings and processes need meticulous planning. This is made all the more evident by the nature of the multi-storey design of the two hospitals, and by the complication of delivering plant and equipment to sites in extraordinarily busy locations, where there is very little parking and virtually no unloading or storage space. The project management team is charged with delivering products – many of which will require an element of offsite construction – to the site on a ‘just-in-time’ basis to meet programme deadlines. This is intended to reduce to a minimum the time needed for tasks on site, and so is also a focus area for the design phase planning teams.
A comprehensive fire strategy was drawn up by consultants Bodycote Warringtonfire, and was developed using multiple ’cause and effect’ principles, covering life safety issues such as protecting exit routes and emergency evacuation procedures. These were taken on board by Static Systems in preparing fire risk assessments on a floor-by-floor basis at the hospitals, taking account of the many different situations and the various departments.
In addition to the design and coordination of the detection and alarm system, Skanska asked Static Systems to consider incorporating the control of fire and smoke dampers. While it is now considered normal practice to release fire dampers in ductwork in order to maintain the fire integrity of compartments, this project incorporates a complex smoke purge and extract strategy. To avoid the need for a conventional control system specifically for smoke control, Static Systems integrated control of this to the fire alarm system. This allows the attending fire and rescue service to switch compartments from dampers ‘closed’ to ‘open’, initiating the operation of the respective purge and extract fans, via the building management system.
Simplification
Both sites will have sprinkler protection in most areas, except for those containing sensitive medical or communications equipment, where other forms of suppression systems or higher integrity compartments will be used. Again, in a further break from tradition, Static Systems is liaising with the sprinkler design phase partner, Compco Fire Systems, to incorporate direct inputs from the system flow switches and valve tamper switches. The flow switches will generate a ‘non executive’ signal to the fire alarm indication and control panels, while the valve tamper switch will signal and repeat an ‘action’ alarm to facilities management. Subject to the ongoing development of the integrated fire and safety strategy, this may well replace the need for specific sprinkler panels or indicators; the overall aim being to consolidate and simplify the management process.
The design will incorporate conventional interfaces with access control and emergency fire exit systems, but will ensure that only those within or bordering the affected zone are released in the event of a fire alarm. Such interfaces will include the control of systems penetrating fire compartment boundaries, where operation under fire conditions may prove hazardous. The pneumatic tube conveyor systems used to transfer samples or specimens are a case in point, where their continued use could prove a further risk.
Summary
The design phase has provided a unique opportunity for Skanska and Static Systems to work together to develop the design of a sophisticated fire engineered solution at an early stage. Unlike the more general scenario of a fire systems specialist being brought in after construction has started, and then having to design ‘on the hoof,’ this partnership has benefited from early consultation to improve the efficiency of the design and remove much of the waste associated with the conventional approach. It is a philosophy that has enabled the provision of an innovative, highly cost-effective and timely solution, which complies with all relevant standards and copes with the many intricacies and finite tuning necessary to address the carefully compiled cause and effect scenarios.
We strongly believe from our experience that the many benefits of partnering at this vital early stage can create real improvements in the delivery of complex projects, and would suggest the model sets a standard for future major construction projects to follow.
Stuart Ketteringham (left) is Static Systems’ fire alarm design manager and Malcolm Snarey is Skanska’s fire alarm package manager.
PARTNERSHIP IS MORE THAN LIP SERVICE
Static Systems bought into Skanska’s corporate culture by absorbing many of the construction company’s principles and philosophies into its own production and design facility in Staffordshire. In the area of health and safety, for example, Static Systems adopted a ‘near miss’ protocol where employees are now encouraged to formally report incidents that – although averted – could have led to accidents.In return, many of the existing principles and good practices of Static Systems were passed on by Skanska to other design phase partners.
This two-way commitment has been a vital element in the success of the design phase to date, and has influenced many factors such as health and safety, environment, innovation, product/systems development and operational issues.
Skanska is one of the world’s leading construction and building services companies. Skanska UK employs around 5,000 people and undertakes around GB pound 1 billion worth of work each year. Static Systems Group was formed over 40 years ago and has established itself as a specialist provider of highly engineered systems including fire alarms, prison alarms, nurse call systems and bedhead services trunking.