Buchanan wharf, Clyde side Glasgow

Barclay’s Investment Bank appointed ISG to undertake the fit -out of the largest commercial property in Glasgow in the last 15 years. Utilising the newly constructed frame and superstructure erected by McLaughlin and Harvey, ISG appointed Veitchi Flooring as the contractor of choice to install the Raised Access Flooring and the Decorative Floor Covering throughout the first of three buildings.

Using NEC 3 contract, Veitchi’s involvement started pret ender, liaising with the primary contractor team to advise on on-site logistics, early warning preparation service, installation coordination programme, production, and output requirements. Veitchi thus participated in a major project to achieve completion of over 12,000m in under 32 weeks. After the programme agreement and site commencement, excellent communication was maintained throughout, reaching the best level of experience within the company in recent years. This was achieved by conducting daily supervisor, weekly manager, and monthly director visits.

Due to the project size and scope, a requirement to use seasoned veterans in a large scale fit-out was established, and ISG used their London fit-out team to head the project. Veitchi, along with the other Scottish contractors, were sceptical of this at first, but as a credit, to the team, they soon showed the value of their experience from the delivery of projects at the canary wharf. Carpet installation within the floor plates with plywood substrate and vinyl to prep areas, along with some crazy design tiles, made this project a standout from the get-go. Then, with the inclusion of Kingspan Attire magnetic wood flooring on our raised access tiles, the project design scope reached another level.

Challenges

Whilst delivery of the products to this project did not cause any significant challenges due to the ability to gain artic lorry access to the main door, and problems soon arose with the distribution of the material. In the absence of a hoist or crane, the building materials to allow construction must be loaded with the permanent lift. To indicate the scale of the project, there were over 20 sub-contractors, 12,000m of flooring, 12,000 m of raised access tiles, 62 pallets of adhesive, lights, plasterboard, furniture, and fittings, all to be coordinated with a single lift. This required out-of-hours working and pinpoint accuracy for the occupation of lift times and distribution of materials.

Veitchi flooring utilised a variety of innovative ideas to assist construction; from including steel plates to cover service penetrations in the floor and reducing the trip hazard for other trades, to the setup of specialist cutting booths to minimise disruption to other trades in the area. Our joint package also resulted in a huge saving in the cost of protection as the execution of the floor coverings could be timed with our own raised access, to removing the requirement for intermediate protection of the raised access floors. This also reduced threshold bars and stepped coverings as we controlled our raised access installation. We would alter the floor levels within 1mm to allow for adjoining materials to be installed level to level. Futhermore, this project also used Attiro as its breakthrough product, using the magnetic-backed hardwood to maintain access to the floor void to be maintained throughout the building life span.

Partners involved:

Kingspan

Sustainability

The use of magnetic-backed hardwood in this project provides a new level of accessibility for the building, meaning that future developments and re-routes of building services can be accommodated without the removal of floor coverings or early end-of-life costs. The project also specified the use of Interface carpet tiles made up of a total recycled and bio-based content of 93.8%. Additionally this use of over 12,000m of corex protection board was made obsolete by employing Veitchi Flooring as an installation partner.

Using the specified products, this project took the highest regard not only for the installation materials but also for lifespan costing to ensure that the building could facilitate adaptation throughout its lifespan from conception.

By coordinating the carpet installation with our own raised access department, the requirement to install corex protection board on the raised access was removed. This happened because the control of floor finishes was coordinated internally to allow completion of the raised access floors in a “just in time” delivery model, leaving it exposed to traditional construction traffic for the least amount of time possible.

Sustainability techniques used on this project included 1) donating the waste cuts to local schools and colleges and participating in constructing a “Free Store” as a project enterprise, including using waste materials, 2) Reuse of pallets from the project.

Summary

This landmark project on the south side of the River Clyde is the beginning of a billion-pound development of the waste ground, a remnant from the by-gone shipping days of Glasgow. Barclay’s investment bank, in conjunction with ISG and Veitchi, has started a scheme that will alter the Glasgow skyline over the next decade and for years to come. Using the innovative techniques, ISG were happy to support Veitchi Flooring. It has now raised its level with H&S and quality recording, providing a new higher baseline for reporting all future projects. The collaborative approach from the contractor specific to this project meant that our operatives’ working through Covid were always safe and secure. A project of this scale within the centre of Glasgow facilitated the education of 3 apprentices and the commencement of a mature apprentice who, after working for Veitchi Flooring for over a year as a general labourer, commenced his apprenticeship and was given the opportunity to gain a trade. Visually the works are an architectural wonder, combining a mix of reused and recycled products to evoke a provocative image which ties Glasgow’s history to the modern era. Moreover, the project community benefits as the free store will provide a source of assistance to the disadvantaged people in the surrounding area for many years to come.

Testimonial

The team at Veitchi showed true partnership working to finalise this project, completing raised access and top covering to a standard the client praised as the highest quality fit-out project they have in the Barclay Estate to date.
Steve Jackson-ISG

Summary of the project

This project started life as Buchanan Wharf, named after the Scottish tobacco baron Andrew Buchanan, whose liners docked in Glasgow back in the day.

The name was changed to Project Grant due to the BLM movement and its association with slavery.

As the largest project in Glasgow in recent years, this job exposed a new method of working for  Scottish subcontractors as the London Fit-out style was introduced. The project incorporated the patented Kingspan accessible magnet-backed flooring to retain accessibility and allowed Veitchi to trial its new QA inspection app. This app allows our fitters, supervisors, and managers to control quality recording and information sharing with the client and end users of the building.