DUCTWORK - BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO HERITAGE DEVELOPMENT

The five storey general goods warehouse of the Great Northern Railway Company is the centrepiece of the £100 million ten acre development. This massive structure will house shops, bars and restaurants on the ground and first floors with car parking on the upper three levels. Connected to the warehouse by a glass atrium, will be a new-build 24 screen, 5200 seat, megaplex cinema together with a Virgin Active health club and parking on the lower levels.

High levels of occupancy require close regulation of the environment for comfort and effective measures for smoke removal if there is a fire. The latter requirement is complicated by the mixed use and multi-layer nature of the development.

Senior Hargreaves are working in close collaboration with MITIE Engineering Services (North), the main heating and ventilation services contractor. Under their £800,000 contract, Senior Hargreaves have supplied both standard air delivery ductwork and HFD fire-rated ductwork for exhaust and smoke removal. Standard ductwork conforms to HVCA standards while the fully tested HFD constructions conform to the exacting requirements of BS476, Part 24:1987 (ISO6944-1985).

Within their £1.7 million HVAC package MITIE have installed open smoke ventilation to the atrium, eight major air handling units, pipework, over one hundred fans for ventilation and smoke removal, along with the required control systems.

"Working within the listed building has imposed several challenges," explained sales director David Lowe. "Core smoke exhaust ductwork in the malls has required custom fabrications to fit around the wrought iron central columns while special care was taken with ductwork support brackets attached to the iron beams within the barrel-vaulted ceilings."

The Great Northern is being developed by Morrison Merlin Limited a joint venture formed between Morrison Development Partnerships and Merlin International Properties Plc. The developers are working in partnership with English Partnerships and Manchester City Council in one of the city's most important regeneration sites adjacent to G-Mex and fronting Deansgate.

Main contractors are Morrison Construction. Architects for the scheme are Leslie Jones and mechanical services were designed by consulting engineers Foremans Limited, both companies are based in Manchester.

Uploaded: December 27, 2000

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