BSEE DRAINAGE


Essential building services can often get in the way of design, compromising the architect’s vision. When it comes to drainage in particular, a key element of every roof, the latest solutions mean even the most unusual shapes can be accommodated while still ensuring exceptional water removal. Jon Briafield, Senior Product Manager for Geberit, looks at London’s recently built Design


Museum and how pipework allowed an iconic piece of 20th century architecture to remain intact.


Commonwealth Institute, located on Kensington High Street. Opening its doors in November last year, the Design Museum’s new home is a distinctive Grade II* Modernist building, which had previously stood vacant for over a decade. Transformed by architects, OMA and Allies and Morrison, one of the key features of the structure is an unusually shaped, 1,500-ton parabolic roof. Inside the museum, its unique spatial quality has been maintained, with upgrades including basement excavation to increase floor area and the replacements of glass facades, incorporating new glazing to allow controlled daylight inside of the museum space, while preserving the pattern and blue-glass appearance of the original building.


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The parabolic roof, however, is the key feature instantly recognisable from the outside, setting the building apart from the modern Hollandgreen apartment development which surrounds it. Being grade II* listed, it was essential that the roof was treated with care, potentially at odds with the need to install modern standards in drainage, particularly as heavier rainfall and flooding has become a more common occurrence.


Sympathetic upgrades


The original pipework was significantly undersized and did not accommodate suitable flow rates; a problem that had caused the roof to flood on many occasions. The extent of the drainage system could not be increased because of the listing, so to retain the unusual shape, piping could only be included in two existing internal raked columns. To ensure exceptional drainage within these constraints, a siphonic solution for


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FUNCTION VERSUS AESTHETICS Building services that take a back seat


he Design Museum has recently moved from its old site on the South Bank, to what was the


uThe parabolic roof is a key feature of the Design Museum. To ensure exceptional drainage, a siphonic solution for rainwater collection and disposal was chosen.


rainwater collection and disposal was chosen, allowing the pipes to follow the routes of the originally inadequate rainwater piping.


Geberit Pluvia was specified, using specially designed roof outlets combined with robust and versatile HDPE discharge pipes to create negative pressure, meaning large quantities of water can be safely drained away. Thanks to hydraulic optimisation, the discharge rate is practically double that of a


conventional system, without increasing the pipe diameter. Emergency overflows provide additional safety in extreme weather conditions. Roof outlet, feed pipes and discharge stacks fill up rapidly and without air pockets when it rains. A closed water column forms in the pipes which generates negative pressure in the piping system and causes the water to be rapidly drawn away from the roof. The high flow velocity through the pipework ensures the Geberit Pluvia system is self-cleaning and minimises any danger of blockages.


For architects, this means a smaller number of roof outlets, discharge stacks and underground pipes, and,


importantly for the Design Museum, no slopes are needed for the feed pipes leading to the outfall locations at the building perimeter. This allows for simpler installation, with far less void space required at high level in the basement. Geberit Pluvia can also withstand the heaviest of storms, safeguarding against future climate change and the potential for increased flooding.


Audio issues


The latest drainage techniques also come into play in the Hollandgreen apartments, the high-end accommodation built around the museum, constructed as part of the overall redevelopment of the site. Here, it’s not so much visual, but audio considerations that were of primary concern. Noisy sanitary pipework is just not acceptable for modern flat dwellers, particularly those paying the hefty price tag that this development demands. To combat unwanted noise, sound- deadening Geberit Silent-db20 pipework was installed, which has noise minimisation built-in. Made from mineral reinforced polyethylene, the pipes and fittings have an increased weight, effectively reducing both their natural vibration and any sound generation. Sound insulation ribs in the impact zones further reduce noise, combined with special pipe brackets that decouple the drainage system acoustically from both walls and ceilings, preventing the transmission of solid-borne sound.


Taking a back seat


uThe latest drainage techniques also came into play in the Hollandgreen apartments, the high‐end accommodation built around the museum.


14 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER AUGUST 2017


When you think of high-end architecture, drainage may not be the first thing that comes to mind, but by choosing the right behind the scenes services, design can be allowed to shine. In fact, the best building services go unnoticed, working when they need to, but largely invisible to the end user, whose eye should be drawn to the aesthetic, not the pipework. Beyond the ‘look’, the function must also be first class – whether that’s preventing flooding, or ensuring residents are not disturbed by unwanted noise.


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The original pipework was significantly undersized and did not


accommodate suitable flow rates; a problem that had caused the roof to flood on many occasions. The extent of the drainage system could not be increased because of the listing, so to retain the


unusual shape, piping could only be included in two existing internal raked columns.


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