Fresh as a Daisy: Office fit-out for global communications provider

Daisy is a digital provider of end-to-end business communications and managed services solutions. It is the UK’s largest independent provider, with 60,000 direct customers, 1,500 partners, 3,700 employees, and 30 locations nationwide.

Project

Holborn were approached by the client’s property consultants, initially to provide strip-out services within the general office area and small comms room at the new centre in West Yorkshire.

The fit-out of office space within this new centre was planned to increase the client’s capabilities to manage the requirements of their customer base and give added capacity to meet the demand from their current growth strategy.

After discussions with the property consultant, it was established the Design and Build (D&B) element of the project was well within the capabilities of the Holborn team and therefore additional services were to be carried out. This included M&E services, ceilings, partitions and fit-out services.

Work

The Holborn team was involved from early pre-commencement stage; carrying out detailed surveys to develop and collate all project information; project specification, brief and associated drawings.

Holborn’s associated costs for works carried out was within the client’s clear and precise project budget. Therefore, Holborn was contracted to undertake the redevelopment without entering a potentially time consuming tender process. This enabled works to commence sooner than initially anticipated.

In January 2016 we were awarded the contract; the programme of works commenced with a strip-out of the first floor general office area and small comms including mechanical & electrical (M&E) services and partitions, ready for the fit-out works.

Fresh air ventilation was provided to the two open plan offices via four Hitachi Heat Recovery ventilation units. We also installed comfort cooling/heating via eight Hitachi ducted fan coil units. Distribution for both was via the air conditioning (AC) system by means of swirl diffusers mounted in the ceiling void. Carbon filters were also installed to remove any food smells that may enter the fresh air system.

Independent and locally controlled comfort cooling/heating for the cellular contained offices was provided via six Hitcachi three pipe cassettes and one ducted fan coil. A centralised controller was installed in the store room. The comms room was fitted with two Hitachi wall mounted fan coil units located at high level. All Hitachi AC condensers were positioned on the existing external concrete plinth as per the client’s requirements.

We also carried out installation of a new Eaton 84kW N plus one modular uninterruptable power supply (UPS) which fed from the Low-Voltage (LV) switchboard on the ground floor.

Co-ordinating with ADT, we supervised the installation of the fire detection and alarm system, which utilises MZT technology. Following this, four CCTV cameras were installed within selected areas of the building and the DS-7716NI-SP channel NVR system was installed within the comms room which allows monitoring via iPhone or android devices.

Additional works comprised the formation of a male toilet and kitchenette area, installation of new suspended ceilings throughout, new vinyl and floor coverings and new partitioned walls constructed using an aluminium partition system.

Benefit

Initially the project was programmed for 14 weeks but because the requirements of the project played to Holborn’s strengths; technical AC specification, electrical fit-out and the redesign of office layouts, we reduced the duration of the project by 3 weeks.

After approval of drawings provided by Holborn, Daisy was able to leave most aspects of the project to us to coordinate, from installing the UPS, AC and ventilation, to working with the ADT team to install the fire system and smoke detectors.

“Speed and quality is central to everything we do at Daisy and this office re-purposing was no different, with a tight delivery schedule of just 14 weeks agreed with Holborn. Mike and his team really stepped up. They impressed with their professionalism and ability to cope with any unforeseen problems, whilst co-ordinating a host of contractors on site.”

Highlights:

• All works were carried out or co-ordinated by Holborn
• Works completed 3 weeks before end of 14-week schedule
• Survey and drawings for project, including AC and Ventilation works, carried out by Holborn
• CCTV system can be connected to clients own ADSL Broadband router
• Various lighting and ventilation is PIR sensor controlled, helping to save energy