When tasked with installing the soil and waste system for a prestigious new hotel, contractors Emtec required a solution that would provide great acoustic performance and not disturb guests. Furthermore, the materials required to construct the prospective system needed to be readily and consistently available to meet the project’s ambitious 8-month build time.
Part of a regeneration project in Edinburgh’s New Fountainbridge district, the 262-room Moxy Hotel from Marriott International is situated on the former Scottish & Newcastle Fountain Brewery site, alongside offices, cafés, co-working spaces and a restaurant.
For any hotel, the visible furnishings and decoration be of the highest calibre for the guests’ comfort. However, all aspects under the surface must also match these standards and offer best possible performance. To keep quality high and installation time to a minimum, Emtec chose polymer specialist REHAU to provide soil and waste pipework for the project.
Noise from a hotel’s building services are expected to be minimal. To achieve this, the rooms were constructed offsite as prefabricated ‘pods’ with extensive soundproofing. These pods would then be installed, coupled at their connection points to the structure and service points.
To avoid any disturbance from water running through the system, the soil and waste solution needed to offer excellent levels of acoustic performance. On top of this, it had to be adaptable enough to connect to the outlet of the prefabricated room unit. Faced with the challenge of finding a solution that could meet these demands, Emtec used REHAU’s acoustic soil and waste system, RAUPIANO.
Ideal for multiple occupancy buildings like hotels, it combines sound-absorbing multi-layer technology, elbow joints with thicker walls, and patented acoustic brackets in a system with 17 dB sound rating, meaning vibrations or system noise do not disturb occupants. Not only did it match up to the building’s acoustic requirements, but also helped tackle challenges posed by the offsite-manufactured rooms.
“RAUPIANO was not only a good choice because of its performance, but also because of how compatible it is with other pipework,” said Andrew Currie, Project Manager at Emtec. “Sometimes with prefabricated units like these there can be lots of adaptations required, which uses more components and takes lots of time. The REHAU solution, by contrast, was able to be installed easily without giving us more work to make it fit.”
With any development, there is pressure on contractors and developers to complete all works to tight deadlines. On a site with many different trades working in tandem, the quicker the installation is for each contractor, the more likely it is the project will be completed on time. As well as its easy connection to prefabricated units, the contractors were able to quickly install the rest of the system, avoiding any holdups that would let them miss the deadline.
“We had quite a quick turnaround for this project,” added Currie. “RAUPIANO was very quick to install once you are familiar with it, so it helped to get the system in place quickly. Even the bracketing system was simple and fast to install, and because no extra tools were needed to fasten them, it made the entire process even quicker.”
Another potential obstacle for many developers and contractors is the supply of materials. If resources are not available throughout the project, ensuing halted work could risk costly delays. With a tight deadline for completion, Emtec needed a ready supply of RAUPIANO pipework throughout.
“After we discussed with Emtec its requirements for the build, we made sure that there was enough RAUPIANO stock that we could earmark for the project,” said Mark Taylor of REHAU. “Not only did we hold the stock for the job at our Manchester warehouse, we also made sure there was enough supply to a local merchant so it was available either the same day or next throughout the project.”
Alongside its stock availability, REHAU’s onsite training and attentive service throughout the project also impressed Emtec, and ensured installation time was minimised and delays avoided.
“The service from Mark and the team was great and we were able to get the team quickly up to speed installing the system,” said Currie. “This, coupled with the ease and speed of installation and good supply of materials meant we were able to install the soil and waste pipework by within 6 months, well in time for the project’s June 2020 completion date.”