Project Background
Located right in the centre of Newport, South Wales, Friars Walk is 390,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space which has completely transformed the heart of the city.
Group SCS was delighted to be involved with this prestigious development, which was opened to much public acclaim on schedule on November 12, 2015. Friars Walk boasts a fantastic selection of major fashion brands, an eight-screen cinema and a choice of top restaurants. The site was developed by Queensberry Real Estate in partnership with Newport City Council.
Photo © Jaggery (cc-by-sa/2.0)
The Project
Our Solution
UniJet
Car park and service yard/road – protected for vehicle pollution (general day-to-day ventilation of harmful vehicle exhaust fumes). Constant monitoring of the NOx and CO will determine the required extract duty to limit the concentration levels. In the event of a fire being detected the system would immediately initiate fire mode, this is to extract at full duty to assist firefighters in clearing the car park of smoke.
UniForce
Firefighting protected stair/lobby – mechanical extract systems to the lobbies to protect the various firefighting stairs. UniForce mechanical extract is a fire-engineered smoke control solution designed to extract smoke from the lobbies while fresh air is drawn in from the staircase to maintain suitable conditions both for means of escape and firefighting. Extract is provided by run and standby Fläkt Woods axial flow fan units mounted on the roof and inlet air is via a roof-mounted stairwell ventilator. The pressures between the stairs and lobbies are constantly monitored to prevent excess depressurisation. A constructed shaft connects each lobby and air is extracted from the lobby through a fire-rated damper. The system operates automatically on detection of smoke from an addressable control system with manual overrides for firefighting and maintenance use.
One of the challenges that came up was to develop a workable solution with regards the main extract plant arrangements for both the service yard and car park, taking into consideration the strict noise levels and requirement for large extract plant within a limited plant footprint. Our solution was to manufacture off-site custom bespoke discharge and attenuation arrangements, which allowed key completion dates to be met.
We were always aware of the importance of the shopping centre opening on the correct day and ensured our deadlines were met. Just before the shopping centre opened, we carried out successful smoke tests to the satisfaction of the professional team including Newport Council, Queensberry Real Estate and South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
We worked closely with Whitehead Building Services to ensure all required interfaces with other trades were considered and worked effectively.
UniJet
UniForce
Manufacture of off-site custom bespoke discharge and attenuation arrangements allowed key completion dates to be met.
Carried out successful smoke tests to the satisfaction of the professional team.