Quartermile Service Risers

At a Glance

Quartermile is the mixed use redevelopment of the former Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Hospital in Lauriston, Edinburgh. Once complete, the development will contain more than 900 apartments, 30,000 sq. meters of Grade A office accommodation, 10,000 sq. meters of retail and leisure space, and 7 acres of open landscaping. Sir Robert McAlpine, the primary contractor of the project awarded Relinea the sub-contract of supplying and installing Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) service riser flooring with a structurally sound support system throughout the service risers of the new development. This was to provide access to ventilation ducts and pipework for maintenance purposes.

Client

Sir Robert McAlpine

Location

Edinburgh
, Scotland

Services

Design, Fabrication, Installation

Products

GRP Re-Riser System

Explain your needs

Problem/Challenge

Steel was originally specified on the project for the service riser flooring and support structures, however owing to the installation restrictions that required the flooring to be installed from beneath each service riser pit, Sir Robert McAlpine sought to source a lightweight alternative material to minimise the health and safety risk.

The complexity of the design and the unstandardized areas meant that the service riser flooring and supports needed to be easily fabricated onsite to allow for alterations. This would prove problematic for steel, due to the inherent difficulty of onsite alterations.

Solution

Sir Robert McAlpine sought out Relinea’s Re-Riser system which provided a cost effective, lightweight, easily installed alternative to the original steel specification.

Relinea’s GRP Re-Riser system possesses the same high strength properties as steel, yet is 80% lighter in weight. This successfully resolved many of the health & safety challenges that would be encountered on site.

Relinea’s installation team were able to easily and safely manually handle and install the Re-Riser system from a height within the confined areas of the service riser pits. Relinea’s fully trained installation team hold PASMA certificates, allowing the team to set up and alter scaffolding as required.

Relinea carried out a full design and provided the customer with design calculations and drawings. Working closely with the M & E contractors onsite, Relinea ensured that the spacing and positioning of the apertures for the risers were accurate. The material was pre- fabricated prior to arrival onsite; however Relinea’s design incorporated flexibility to allow for onsite alterations owing to variations in the concrete. This ensured that a close-fitting installation was successfully achieved.

Relinea provided Sir Robert McAlpine with complete design support and advice throughout the project. Relinea’s highly skilled installation team completed the project to a high standard whilst providing the client aftercare to make adjustments to the support beams once the ductwork was installed.