Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

Whilst writing my thesis I have found Mendeley Desktop to be an excellent reference management system and the citation plug-in for Word is well worth downloading as well.  I only wish I had listened to Mark Hill and downloaded it before starting TMR 1!

Check it out – https://www.mendeley.com/

As my Phase 3 placement progresses I am getting used to the systematic way that the design office undertakes a building services project.  This blogs aims to describe the process using a small task I am running with (it is related to aeroplanes – exciting).

The Project:

British Airways have a flight training facility at Heathrow centered around a hanger with a row of articulated flight simulators.  The surrounding building contains the plant to operate the machines and a number of offices.

Flight Simulator Hall.  I wasn’t allowed to have a go in one.

One office has fallen into disuse so BA has decided to convert it to a medical facility with the following spec:

• Waiting area with seating for six.
• Three conditioned treatment rooms.
• Tea point and unisex toilet.
• All spaces are to be cooled or heated as necessary, supplied with ventilation, hot and cold water and electrical power.

The area is currently used as a storeroom and janitors office – it is unheated and has a number of bits of old air conditioning plant running through it.

Medical facility – current state.  Some homeless facilities manager has been squatting here for a few months, hence the PPE.

Design Process:

The M&E design process at Bryden Wood is almost identical regardless of the size of the project.  However, a bit like the combat estimate the cycle is scaled to the time and resources available to the task …. smaller project = less money = less detailed design.  With the very small scale of this task the entire plan has to be completed in about a week, giving it the feeling of a Phase 1 design project.  Generalised steps to the design are included below:

Schematic of the existing plant room space.  Note the Air Handling Unit at the bottom right that the new ventilation design aims to tap into.

Step 1 – Fix the Spec.  Meet the client and hammer down exactly what they need and are willing to pay for, bearing in mind that these things are usually decided by different people with very different priorities.  During this process I listened to the nurse’s passionate pleas for a tea bar with coffee grinder, zip tap and dishwasher.  This has subsequently made it into the design as a sink.

Step 2 – Develop Strategy.  This is arguably the stage requiring the most engineering judgement.  Decide on what systems are needed to meet the client spec – how it will be heat, cool and ventilate the space.  As an example, at this stage I decided to use a wall-mounted unit to provide cooling and piggy-back on a nearby air handling unit to provide ventilation.  At last I can now sleep at night.

Step 3 – Calculate Room Loads.  Work out the worst case cooling loads (people, lights, solar gain, and equipment on the warmest day) and heating loads (empty room on the coldest day).  Add 15% extra capacity for future expansion, wear & tear, etc.  Follow a similar process for hot water and ventilation rates. This is easy, bread and butter stuff following CIBSE guidance and rules of thumb.

Step 4 – Speak to Manufacturers.  Talk to our favorite manufacturers (the ones who buy the best free lunches) and ask them to quote for the systems needed.

Step 5 – BIM Modelling.  Model the selected systems in Revit (the chosen Bryden Wood BIM programme) and ensure there are no clashes with the existing sites systems.  I usually outsource this step to an apprentice CAD draftsman who uses Revit like he is plugged into it Matrix-style.

New room ventilation plan.  This sketch is handed to the Revit techie who turns it into a sexy model for the client to peer at.

Step 6 – Paperwork.  Complete the diligence paperwork required to provide we have met the Principle Designer responsibilities and manipulate the Revit model to produce the final design drawings.  Sit back and enjoy tea and medals.