RE-ENERGISING A MULTI-USE SITE IN THE CITY OF LONDON
Paternoster Square Building No.1 otherwise known as Warwick Court, is part of a major scheme involving office, leisure and retail space in an area close to St Paul’s Cathedral in London. The project was carefully designed round a public square in keeping with the surrounding architecture. The original Paternoster Square development was built in 1967 following extensive damage to the area during the Blitz however this scheme went on to be widely criticised and replaced by a more classical style building, completed in 2002, which was designed by MacCormac Jamieson and Prichard and faced with distinctive Portland stone. The building was reaching the end of its term with regards to a long lease when System Five were asked to tender for the upgrade of the BMS system.
THE CHALLENGE TO BE MET
The originally installed system was based on the Trend IQ2 product and so utilised the original current loop LAN configuration (2 wire ring) and the software running the plant was both out of date and so heavily adapted that its efficiency had been seriously compromised.
The scope required that a new managed IP network should be installed on a ring, in order to provide resilience to the system. In addition, every controller was to be replaced, including the high-level interfacing to metering and the weather stations.
Interfaces were to be installed and updated for each floor, allowing for the future proofing of the networks and providing the ability to expand them as required.
Finally, the installation of the new system was to be as minimally intrusive as possible, as the building would be remaining occupied and would continue to require cooling, heating and ventilation for the tenants.
THE PLAN OF ACTION
The first task was to create a plan for the replacement of the site network and then attend to each panel in turn.
The plan was straightforward yet thorough, the networks would be installed first, this allowed for the new front end to be setup and communication to each panel proved.
Each control panel would be carefully validated, this would include the recording of the position of each input and output and for the cables to be individually marked to maximise accuracy.
The information on actual configuration was then returned to System Five HQ and a backplate made up to match. The backplate was setup in order to fit in the space vacated by the original equipment, and wiring looms were arranged so as to minimise the installation activity to take place on the day of changeout.
Plugs were also pre-installed so that the original cables, within the original position could be unplugged and re-plugged directly into the new controls, again reducing down time.
THE BEAUTY OF OFF-SITE PREPARATION
Thanks to this offsite preparation, we were able to power and link the backplates to the network before our works began, this allowed us to again prove communication, and remove a potential issue from the installation process.
The plates were then fully pre-commissioned, proving operability and attaching all of the points to the graphics.
At this point an additional risk assessment and method statement took place, this allowed us to apply any of the additional information found during the survey to the Method Statement/Risk Assessment.
Due to the level of diligence and forethought applied to the process, we took what was originally a 3-to-4-day turnaround of panel shut down and reconnection with a multitude of unknowns and risks and turned it into a simple 4-8 hour process on site (depending on complexity) with minimal risk and a very high level of confidence on site.
A SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION EASILY REPEATED
The Client on site challenged us with each part of the process requiring a very specific layout and application of solutions.
Our proactive approach to the Clients requirements created a narrative everybody understood and supported. The result was that the project progressed very well, with each changeout providing us with partial handover of each sub-section of works and a growing confidence in the innovative delivery system that we had created.
Our Client has now adopted our method of delivery into their specification and have subsequently invited us to tender for these works which further reinforces our confidence that our approach is highly effective and efficient.