EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
Like most schools and academies, The Bulwell Academy has been designed to provide a safe and secure environment for staff to teach and students to learn. A new building completed in 2010, the design brief was to create a facility fit for a 21st Century education. And construction consultancy Faithful+Gould appears to have done just that.
Part of the Building Schools for the Future programme and sponsored by Edge Education Foundation, the 11,500m² school now accommodates over 1,000 11-19 year-old students. Learning zones are located in a striking two-storey structure, accessible by all regardless of any special needs, with the glazed architecture and angular lines now widely recognised.
But the heart of the academy is an internal courtyard, reached via the main entrance plaza. Inverted conics constructed from tensile fabric provide a sheltered canopy for this communal area. With a typical lifespan of 20 years, this PVC structure should maintain its integrity and appearance long into the future. However, up to 10 metres tall at its highest point, and with such an unusual shape, these ‘peaks’ are far from easy to keep clean.
PLANNED PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE With any facility, the preparation of a planned
preventative maintenance schedule helps to uphold the quality, safety and appearance of a building or structure, with minimal financial investment and disruption. Minor issues are identified and rectified before they can evolve into larger problems, which avoids the need for costly repairs. So, when caretaker James Logan came into position at The Bulwell Academy, this was the approach he wanted to take for the upkeep of the tensile fabrics. Discussions unfolded with Access North Structures – a team he identified as having specialist expertise in designing, installing, inspecting, cleaning, maintaining and enhancing PVC, PTFE and ETFE structures. A site visit was then scheduled.
Following an audit of the site, a quote was supplied to conduct a full inspection of the structure, from which a detailed next-step schedule of maintenance work could be planned. It was evident that a full clean was also required, so this was similarly quoted for.
Impressed with the knowledge and approach of the team, James called on their expertise for a small, urgent repair, before the order was even placed. Storm Doris had caused one of the shackles holding the canopy to the building to break away, so the maintenance experts acted fast to fit the crucial replacement.
A team of three ANS engineers returned just days later to carry out the inspection. The entire canopy was assessed for signs of degradation and a maintenance schedule was devised as a result. Some work, such as the installation of a replacement turnbuckle at the end of the roof was identified as a minor task that should be tackled in the short term, whereas other routine maintenance regimes were recommended at future intervals to maximise the condition of the structure.
www.tomorrowsfm.com
The programme was recorded in the proactive cloud reporting tool – Acqudo© – to provide the client with a live, detailed log of upcoming actions and progress.
CLEANING THE PVC An eight-day deep clean of both the steelwork and fabric
was carried out during the Easter holiday. Using only rope access techniques, two IRATA-trained technicians were able to reach even the most restricted parts of the canopy, without the need for heavy plant or scaffolding.
A special PVC cleaning fluid was used to break down the excessive build-up of dirt and reveal the bright white canopy underneath. The result was not just a more aesthetically- pleasing structure when the academy re-opened for the new half term, but a better condition tensile fabric that will now maximise the longevity of the asset if maintained.
Like most areas of business, there is no prescriptive answer as to how frequently a PVC structure has to be cleaned. Recommended intervals are always influenced by a number of factors including the location and use of the structure, plus the maintenance regime that has been adopted to date.
“ROPE ACCESS IS BECOMING
WIDELY REGARDED AS THE SAFEST WAY TO MAINTAIN TENSILE FABRICS.”
USING ROPE ACCESS Rope access is becoming widely regarded as the safest
way to maintain tensile fabrics – even at significant heights – providing it is carried out by highly trained and experienced technicians. Risk assessments and method statements must be carried out for every individual job, and necessary insurances must be in place, but the technique itself is the safest way to work on complex structures and eye-watering heights.
Once the team is rigged into position using two connection points, they can easily navigate their way around a facility, without the need for any powered access equipment or scaffolding. This keeps costs down, minimises on-site disruption and significantly reduces the environmental impact of the work. Jobs can even be carried out safely at night, should the situation dictate.
PRAISE FOR PVC PVC is a great all-round, economical membrane, which
ticks the recyclability box too. It is a tensile fabric that is built to last, however, adverse weather conditions, accidents, misuse and poor upkeep can all contribute to the deterioration of these tensile fabric canopies over time. Steps should therefore be taken to enhance the life and appearance of the architecture, and facilities managers should rest safe in the knowledge that the work can be carried out safely, cost-effectively and with minimal disruption, if the rope access technique is adopted.
www.accessnorthstructures.com TOMORROW’S FM | 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
