Brunswick Apartments Student Accommodation  

Brief: ADL Mechanical & Electrical Contractors Ltd have been contracted to provide the Design Development; Supply; Installation & Commissioning of the mechanical & plumbing at Brunswick Apartments Southampton. 
 
The Brunswick apartments site is situated in a prominent postion in Southampton. The overall site design is split over 11 floor providing 174 studio apartments total with a ground floor boasting generous amenities space for its students.  
 
The scope of the mechanical works consists of:- 
 
o ASHP 
o Hot & Cold Water Services 
o Above Ground Drainag 
o Ventilation 
o Air Conditioning 
o BMS Automatic Control 
 
Programme: 40 weeks total 
Project Value: £900K 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Full Project Narrative: 
 
Cold Water Services 
The existing cold water infrastructure has been largely left in use with localised modifications to allow extension where required. 
 
The existing cold water infrastructure that has remained consists of a water storage tank, cold water booster set, main distribution pipework. As part of the works, ADL Pressure tested existing infrastructure pipework and replaced any faulty valves or fittings that did not pass the soundness testing. 
 
Following analysis on the local water quality a base exchange water softener has been installed within the 11th floor plantroom on the cold water supply to the new hot water system. The water softener is dedicated to serving the hot water system only. 
 
Cold water pipework is installed using a combination of copper pipe complete with press fittings and PEX pipe complete with Q&E fittings. The pipework is insulated using foil faced phenolic (copper pipework) & Armaflex (PEX pipework) insulation. 
 
Valves are installed throughout as detailed on the layout drawings. 
 
All outlets are complete with isolation valves 
 
Drain off cocks are installed at low points on the system. 
 
Hot Water Service 
The existing hot water plant & equipment consisting of gas fired water heaters located in the 1tth floor plantroom, have been removed in their entirety. 
 
Hot water provision is provided to the building via the use of a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Q-Ton Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) system. The Q-Ton system consists of external ASHPs located within a dedicated acoustic enclosure at ground floor level within the car park. 
 
The ASHPs provide primary hot water to 3 no. 1,000 litre cylinders located within the 11th floor plantroom. The cylinders are provided with back-up 12kw immersion heaters. The primary hot water circuit is a pumped circuit due to the height of the building and the resultant pressure required to ensure the water reaches the cylinders. The pump for the primary hot water circuit are located within the 11th floor plantroom alongside the cylinders. 
 
The Q-Ton ASHPs are complete with their own proprietary controls. 
 
The cylinders provide hot water to the existing building hot water circuit which consists of a flow & return, with local pipework modifications only where required. A new hot water services return pump has been installed within the 11th floor plantroom. 
 
Cold water pipework is installed using a combination of copper pipe complete with press fittings and PEX pipe complete with Q&E fittings. The pipework is insulated using foil faced phenolic (copper pipework) & Armaflex (PEX pipework) insulation. 
 
Valves are installed throughout as detailed on the layout drawings. Thermal balancing valves are installed on the hot water service return where required to ensure the hot water system is adequately balanced. 
 
All outlets are complete with isolation valves. 
 
Drain off cocks are installed at low points on the system. 
 
Above Ground Drainage 
Above ground drainage has been installed to remove waste away from the water points as required and connects into the existing infrastructure. 
 
Traps are installed to all points to prevent odours spilling out from the wastes. 
 
The drainage pipework is installed in Terrain U-PVC complete with solvent weld fittings. 
 
Air Conditioning 
A new VRF air conditioning system has been installed throughout the new ground floor common student areas. The VRF system installed is manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric UK. 
 
The VRF consists of an external condensing unit located adjacent to the building. The condensing unit is installed complete with a proprietary acoustic kit to ensure acceptable sound levels for the surrounding area. 
 
The VRF internally consists of a central branch selector box (BC Box) located within the maintenance workshop. The BC Box serves various fan coil units throughout the ground floor. A mixture of ducted and ceiling cassette fan coil units are installed dependant on the location. 
 
Ducted fan coil units are installed complete with associated plenums, ductwork & grilles. 
 
The VRF systems are provided with local controllers to each fan coil unit. In addition to the local controllers, a centralised controller has also been installed. The centralised controller allows overall control of the systems from one location and provides the users with the option of limiting the parameters of the localised controllers. 
 
All VRF pipework is installed using refrigerant grade copper complete with Armaflex insulation, the VRF pipework is supported using cable tray, with clips used locally where cable tray is not applicable. 
 
Control cabling is installed in-line with manufacturer’s instructions cable tied to the refrigerant pipework. 
 
Each fan coil unit is provided with a condensate drain run to connect to the overall above ground drainage locally. Where required where gravity drains are not practical, fan coil units have been installed with condensate pumps. 
 
Ventilation 
Ventilation within the accommodation rooms is largely remaining as existing, with a number of rooms provided with new MEV or MVHR units where required. 
 
The new ground floor common student areas are provided with a number of ventilation systems. 
 
The main areas are served via Heat Recovery Units (HRUs) one located in the left luggage store and the other located within the post room. The HRUs provide tempered fresh air to the various areas via a system of ductwork either terminating as an open end onto the rear of a fan coil unit or via a ceiling mounted diffuser. 
 
A number of localised extract ventilation systems are installed as required. With the bike store provide with a supply fan also to ensure adequate air change. 
 
Within the ground floor common student areas, in general ductwork is installed using galvanised ductwork with foil faced ductwrap insulation where required. To allow coordination it has been necessary to install 120 minute fire rated ductwork within the ground floor back of house lobby. This fire rated ductwork has been installed in-lieu of installing fire smoke dampers into the ductwork as it passes through the fire barrier, and effectively extends the fire barrier by providing the relevant 120 minute fire protection. 
 
Grilles & diffusers are located in ceilings/bulkheads and installed to colours as specified by the architect/interior designer. In general grilles are installed complete with integrated opposed blade dampers to allow local balancing. 
 
Where ductwork passes through fire barriers, fire dampers have been installed to the required rating as dictated by the fire barrier e.g. 30/60/90 minutes as necessary. 
 
BMS Automatic Controls 
To ensure all systems installed are operational and work as economically as possible a BMS Automatic Controls systems has been provided. 
 
The existing control panel within the ground floor water services plantroom has been modified to accept the new plant & equipment. In general the new plant & equipment is controlled using their own proprietary control systems with the central BMS only interfacing and providing enable/fault.