Sussex-based Big Foot Systems has been shortlisted in the H&V News Awards for its involvement in the “Hornsea Project One” off-shore wind farm. Named as a finalist in the ‘HVAC Project of the Year (Over £0.5m)’ category, Big Foot Systems supplied rooftop chiller plant and ductwork support, safe access and high-level maintenance platforms to the £25 million project to construct a high voltage onshore substation.
The H&V News Awards 2019 winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at Grosvenor House Hotel, London on April 25, 2019. Now in its 25th year, the awards are an annual celebration of excellence and the evening rewards excellence and celebrates the most forward-thinking and highest achievements across the building services industry.
“We are thrilled to have been shortlisted in these important industry awards and to have gained recognition for our work with contractors Balfour Beatty, where we designed a solution which combined maintenance platforms with plant and duct support at the substation,” said Ashley ten Wolde, UK project team manager, Big Foot Systems. “The substation was a unique and challenging project due to its application and immense size, meaning a very large, innovative support structure was needed as a solution on the single ply membrane roof, including technically challenging cantilevered walkways.”
The new substation is located near Immingham in north east Lincolnshire and has been constructed for Ørsted A/S Energy with Balfour Beatty the principal contractor on the project. The wind farm will provide enough electricity to power well over 800,000 UK homes. The flat roof of the substation was single ply PVC membrane which posed a challenge for locating chillers and safe access on the roofs. Traditionally, penetrative supports are used for chiller and safe access installations on flat roofs, but it was feared this would damage the roof, while penetrations in the single ply membrane would risk both potential leaks and thermal bridging. Since the roof could not be penetrated without the risk of waterproofing issues, Balfour Beatty specified Big Foot’s non-penetrative supports.
Big Foot Technical worked with contractors Balfour Beatty to design a solution which combined the maintenance platforms with plant and duct support. A survey of the empty roof space was undertaken to ensure the massive structure would fit. Due to the restriction of space, some of the walkways had to be cantilevered off the edge of the building and so calculations were done to use the correct amount of ballast, ensuring that the walkways were safe for contractors carrying all the tools and equipment needed to service the plant.
The final design used a combination of bespoke frame work, custom access walkway and duct support to create a large double-stacked lattice-type frame with GRP walkway and handrail around the perimeter. From initial enquiry to the first day of installation took only three months – said to be a very short time frame for this scale of project.
Bespoke Frames are project specific non-penetrative support frames for large, heavy, irregular shaped or unevenly loaded plant. The Big Foot Safe Access range is designed to allow a secure route for service engineers and other trades to gain access to plant and for managing the flow of other personnel.
Big Foot Systems’ products and systems are quick and easy to install ensuring project cost and time clarity, thus reducing the need for complex, time-consuming and expensive detailing. Offering improved roof aesthetics, Big Foot Systems provides engineered solutions that are innovative in design, robust and repeatable. Big Foot combines market leading products and services, which include system design and on-site support. Available to install in all weathers utilising familiar componentry, all systems are designed with safety, security and simplicity in mind. Finally, Big Foot Systems offers short manufacture and delivery lead times to help a project meet its schedule and stay within budget.
’ category, Big Foot Systems supplied rooftop chiller plant and ductwork support, safe access and high-level maintenance platforms for an off-shore wind farm project){kind=link}