Trox meets design challenge in Sage project
Trox’s design and mock-up capabilities for chilled beams were a key element in meeting the design criteria for Sage’s new complex at Gosforth.
A mock-up of the air-conditioning system for the £70 million office complex of business-software company Sage at Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, using almost a thousand chilled beams revealed that the design of the ceilings needed to be modified. The design was altered before work started on site, and the tests demonstrated that the beams would do what the manufacturer Trox said they would do. The project was worth almost £500 000 to Trox. It involved the design of TCB-RB passive chilled beams concealed behind perforated ceilings and DID 600 active beams in the 35 000 m2 complex. The first phase comprises six 3-storey and 4-storey blocks, plus an atrium. A 2-stage tender system was operated. Main contractor Tolent appointed Balfour Kilpatrick as M&E subcontractor. Based on M&E specification and contractor drawings from Cundall Johnston & Partners of Gosforth, Balfour Kilpatrick developed a scheme for approval by the architect and consultant. Trox designed the beams in consultation with CJP. Associate Kevin Hanna says, ‘We gave Trox the performance criteria we required, and they put together a solution. The exposed DID beans involved more design, and Trox were exceptionally helpful on that score.’ Balfour Kilpatrick’s mechanical project manager Bill Stott said, ‘There were several hundred beams, so logistics was everything. Each Monday for weeks on end, we would take a new delivery of beams that Trox had manufactured and brought up here in crates. Trox never failed to meet the deadline.’ The architect was able to see what the beams would look like in situ at Trox’s factory.
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