On the waterfront

As Trafalgar Week celebrations rage around the UK, those in Swansea will be toasting a more recent victory, with the £30.8 million National Waterfront Museum scheduled to open on 18 October.

Built to showcase the industrial and maritime heritage of Wales, its construction and means of services are a mix of old and new, with the latest sustainable energy systems sitting pretty in the listed building.

Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, the museum is the centrepiece of the redevelopment of Swansea’s Maritime Quarter. It comprises two buildings: a grade II-listed warehouse that was formerly home to the Swansea Maritime and Industrial Museum (SMIM); plus a new, two-storey gallery building. The two sit 45° apart, interconnected by a glazed circulation area.

The exhibition area is divided into 15 themed displays ranging from energy, to coal and Welsh heroes. Devised by Land Design Studio, the exhibits make extensive use of interactive computer technology as well as including more traditional museum artefacts from the country’s industrial past, such as a 28-tonne steel rolling mill.

“In practical terms the m&e services installation was completely different in each building,” explains Martin Wadey, project engineer for NG Bailey, the m&e contractor on the project. “Everything had to be hidden in the old building and concealed where possible. That approach couldn’t be replicated in the new galleries as it’s more of a modern building, but again lots had to be concealed – in terms of the power and mechanics – because of safety issues due to the building being a public area,” he adds.

Putting life into the museum

The two buildings were approached at the same time, with the SMIM building being taken back to its basic shell for restoration while construction began on the new structure. NG Bailey began installation work on site when the buildings were watertight shells, being located for the duration of the project in a construction team complex at the site.

Due to the different natures of the museum buildings, NG Bailey made the decision to tackle them virtually as individual projects, with a separate team of operatives working on each one. “It was a team for the smim and one for the galleries – one for the old and one for the new,” says Wadey. “That’s how we tried to keep it, although there was a certain amount of crossover.” The two teams worked to the same timescales and each had its own site foreman, with a project manager and project engineers having responsibility for the overall project.

NG Bailey’s role on the project expanded as the scheme progressed. It was originally contracted for the base build, but as Wadey explains: “It became more and more apparent that there were going to be co-ordination problems between the base build and fit-out services.” The issue of warranties played a part here. “We signed a 12-month warranty; ie if there was a defect or anything went wrong within that period we’d replace it. There was always the issue that the fit-out contractor could not alter or touch our installation or the warranties would be null and void,” points out Wadey. This led to the contractor completing part of the exhibition services fit-out. “We provided power at locations for the exhibitions, and the fit-out contractor did its own electrical work on the exhibitions.”

M&E consultant McCann & Partners co-ordinated the services installation to ensure the flexibility required for the exhibition fit-out was provided. Workshops were held where Land Design could state what services they required in certain areas and NG Bailey worked with McCann to overcome any installation issues. “It’s just workshops and communications, explaining the solutions to the client, who at the end of the day is not an m&e contractor. We and McCanns had to advise on the most cost-effective way of doing [the services] and getting that flexibility,” explains Wadey.

Services for the show

The efforts put into this co-ordination was vital to the services strategy as it ultimately led to a plug-and-play system for the museum exhibits. “The m&e strategy is, in a word, flexible,” states Wadey. “The very fact that it’s a museum dictates the flexibility that’s required, because they are moving artefacts around on a regular basis.”

A plug-in busbar system has been installed underfloor throughout the museum to enable exhibits to be simply plugged in where needed. In the SMIM building, this meant the installation of floor boxes at regular intervals of around 2-3 m radius apart. This is a plug and socket arrangement, with data connections in the same floorboxes for maximum flexibility.

The plug and socket arrangement also allows the museum to hire out the upstairs area in the SMIM building as a function room. Tracks have been laid into the floor on which exhibits can easily be pushed to the sides of the room after unplugging to create an open space.

In the new building a floor access system is used for the electrical distribution. Regularly used in applications such as supermarkets, it comprises a network of busbar trunking in underfloor ducts. These are at set distances, with a socket every 1·3 m in this instance. Covering this network is a system of interchangeable tiles – some simply floor coverings, others with grommets that can be opened to enable a plug to be pushed down into the busbar socket for power. The flexibility is gained by the ability to swap the two forms of floor tiles so the grommeted version is positioned where power is required.

To cater for the high degree of IT-centred exhibits a fibre optic network has been installed, plus a Category 6 voice and data system. “A lot of the artefacts and displays are the appliance of science and are operated on a category 6 cable,” explains Wadey. Control and supply is catered for by six IT comms rooms scattered between the two buildings.

Three plantrooms serve the museum. The main one houses the mechanical plant and incoming electricity supply; this feeds a separate sub-plantroom for each building. The only crossover of services involves the location of the chillers in the new building, which supply the entire museum.

Conditions within the museum are closely monitored and controlled to protect the historical artefacts and the SMIM building itself. “The ventilation system is quite complicated,” says Wadey. “Humidity would have an effect on the condition of the artefacts and there were stringent environmental tests carried out beforehand to enable them to be placed in the museum.”

Tamperproof sensors monitoring temperature and humidity are positioned at height throughout the museum, with the air conditioning being controlled 24/7 via a central building management system installed by Bailey Controls. Standby power and backup facilities have been provided to ensure conditions can be maintained.

Co-ordinating for construction

The need to conceal the m&e services as much as possible in the museum necessitated close co-ordination between NG Bailey and main contractor Mowlem. “We had to get our first fix and second fix in before they could finish the floors and ceilings. That was paramount to effectively completing and adhering to the programme,” explains Wadey.

Regular co-ordination meetings were held between the teams prior to and during the museum construction to ensure the programme was being maintained and address any issues. Much work had been put into setting a workable programme before starting on site. “There was a lot of work upfront so that our programme matched the builders; there was a lot of co-ordination,” says Wadey.

An unusual aspect of this project was the time between practical completion of the building and the public opening. Construction work finished in earnest in November 2004: “You actually walked away from the project and it’s still a building site for the next 12 months before opening because of the nature of the fit-out,” confirms Wadey.

The fit-out was a complex process which included several weeks of testing prior to opening to ensure the technology will continue to work over time. Testing is now complete, and the time has arrived for the public to enjoy the museum for its exhibits and buildings.