Royal approval for Rehau Rautitan
Rehau’s Rautitan universal pipework solution has been installed in 13 luxury apartments, located on Edinburgh’s world-renowned Royal Mile.
The 123 High Street development being delivered by Unicorn Properties is a four-storey building built above three traditional stone buildings on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. The development will create 13 two-bedroom premium apartments.
Consulting engineers RSP specified Rehau’s Rautitan universal pipe solution, to suit the particular requirements of this building.
Consultant Ross Leask of RSP says: “One of the main challenges we had with the 123 High Street project was that the new pipework needed to be run through wooden joists. Copper piping would have been awkward to run through the joists and would also require soldering at the joints, so the natural solution was to opt for polymer piping instead. As well as being easier to install, due to its inherent flexibility, the use of polymer pipe meant our contractors wouldn’t need to do any hot work near the joists either.”
Rautitan is certified as hygienic for drinking water, and has a smooth inner surface to prevent deposits from forming. When used with Rehau’s joint system, it offers cavity-free impermeable joints which eliminate the risk of microbial contamination, and the possible growth of legionella bacteria.
The 123 High Street development’s location above a number of period buildings meant that the plumbing installations for the apartments also needed to be reliable, something the project’s main contractor – Colorado Group – was keen to see reflected in the pipework specification.
David McGinigal, Director at the Colorado Group said: “Our primary concern with the pipework was reliability. Just one failed joint could cause irrevocable damage to the period buildings below us, putting the whole build back and increasing our costs considerably. We wanted to be able to close a wall and seal in a pipe with confidence, knowing that everything was working as it should. We couldn’t take any chances on the specification.”
