Fast track for efficiency
In spite of the economic downturn, office space in the UK remains at a premium value. For landlords and tenants, the fit-out stage is crucial — requiring high-quality work with rapid completion.
Mark Aldridge explains how a well-planned fit-out can create more efficient and effective occupied spaces.
The lifecycle of the average office today is a short one. Most commercial spaces generally have a shelf-life of around four to five years before tenants move on and new occupants arrive. Ensuring that the space is kept up-to-date and ready for occupation is the goal of most property owners.
The high value of commercial property, particularly in London, means that the time for fit-out is usually squeezed to a minimum. Yet the extent of electrical and mechanical services to offices is increasing year-by-year, so the amount of work to be done is constantly growing. For most clients, fast-track fit-out is therefore about saving money. Moving the occupier into the building quickly is good business for them.
HSE Building Services (HSEbs, part of the HSE Group) has worked on a variety of buildings from banks such as BNP Paribas and HSBC to student accommodation such as the Nido building in East London and the refurbishment of Asda stores. A wide range of services can be included in every project, such as HVAC, fire and security, small power, UPS and building-management systems.
Whatever the occupant’s business or purpose of the building, speed is of the essence for fit-out, and reducing any potential on-site problems to an absolute minimum is one of the most important factors for success.
One of the major contributors to the process of fast-track fit-out is off-site prefabrication and the modularisation of building services. For example, on the mechanical side, a number of toilet cores now come as pods delivered to site, and our teams simply plumb them in. As the amount of equipment we are dealing with has increased, the ability to prefabricate elements of the services means that we can achieve fault-free work in a short space of time.
Modelling of the services elements before the fit-out begins is another development that makes the fit-out process much smoother. With space for services always limited, 3D modelling enables us to plan exactly where services can be positioned.
Not only does this help at the fit-out stage, it also means that it is possible to ensure that services requiring regular maintenance can be more readily accessed by the FM team. This is an important point to remember — the whole life-cycle of services equipment has to be considered from installation to replacement.
While mechanical and electrical fit-out can be carried out separately, greater efficiencies and better results can be achieved by a team with expertise in both. Although technologies such as modularisation have made faster fit-outs more achievable, planning is still the main factor for success in this area.
By dealing with everything from data to air and water, a single fit-out team can plan the whole process from start to finish, and optimise co-ordination of the trades on-site. Beginning with reverse engineering the project along the required timeline, it is possible to plan concurrent work on different tasks. With deadlines of weeks rather than months on some projects, this is vital. Experienced fit-out contractors know exactly how long tasks will take, and planning can be as detailed as hour-by-hour.
Better planning of the mechanical and electrical services is an important part of keeping a building flexible. Even in buildings with a single purpose, such as a supermarket, we always need to plan for future refurbishment and extension.
For example HSEbs worked on the recent remodelling of the Asda store in Sutton. This involved the integration of a new customer restaurant and deli counter along with new installations to the warehouse area. As well as working on the installation of a new BMS, lighting, power and distribution the fit-out team was also tasked with introducing energy-saving initiatives throughout the project. Engineering with a view to future modifications such as these requires a team that takes an holistic view of building services
It could be said that a good fit-out is one that keeps business disruption to a minimum and is carried out on time and to budget. But these are really only the minimum requirements. In today’s commercial building environment, fit-out should also ensure that the requirements of the building occupants are met not just for today but also for the long-term.
Not only does this approach help to create a more efficient workplace, it also helps to reduce waste and encourage better operation of the building for years to come. By combining electrical and mechanical services, projects are better planned with fewer problems and higher-quality outcomes.
Mark Aldridge is managing director of HSEbs, part of the HSE Group.
