Dec 1 2006
A range of pipework and fittings has been specified for an apartment complex as part of a £22 million combined residential and retail project in Clapham, South London.
Both the Wefatherm and Friaphon pipework systems were installed within the apartment building, as part of a wider development, under construction by property developers Taylor Woodrow. In the first project of its kind, the apartment building is being constructed above a new Tesco superstore and comprises of 106 mixed standard and luxury apartments.
Sub-contractors, Rotary Southern, were tasked with selecting a high quality pipework system to meet the needs of the boosted cold water supply throughout the apartment building and required a product that was quick and simple to install, as well as meeting budgetary requirements. As a result, Wefatherm in 25mm – 125mm was specified as an ideal solution. The system is lightweight, but durable, and these thermoplastic properties provided ease of handling on site for installers and combined with its simple socket fusion jointing method, the pipework offered fast and efficient installation, which ultimately reduced labour costs.
Rotary Southern also required a soil drainage system for the development and initially considered cast iron and PVC-u options, combined with additional insulation, to minimise noise emitted by the individual sanitary installations within the development. However, the added labour cost this would have incurred to fit the additional insulation prompted specifiers to opt for the Friaphon drainage system. Installed in 110mm, Friaphon is a built-in sound attenuation drainage system, manufactured by dual forming two materials of different density that provides excellent sound insulation and airborne sound reduction properties.
Melvin Shulman, from Rotary Southern, commented: “The Wefatherm system was specified as a high performance, light-weight product, which didn’t require extra labour time to solder the joints. The Friaphon system’s built-in sound insulation makes it an ideal choice for fitting within residential developments and both systems enabled us to keep overall installation costs to a minimum.”