Tales of the riverbank

If you’re house-hunting in London and have a passion for electrical goods and gadgets, Chelsea Bridge Wharf could be the place for you. Sited on brownfield land alongside the defunct Battersea Power Station, phase three of the Berkeley Homes development is currently being handed over on a week-by-week basis, with phases four and five already underway.

The development has everything the discerning homeowner could desire: views over the London skyline, a location by the river only a few minutes’ walk from major transport links, and as many electrical outlets and circuits as even the most gadget-obsessive owner could want.

“What I was amazed about when I first walked into a flat was the sheer amount of outlets there are,” says Hills Electrical & Mechanical project manager Derek Darley. Terrestrial and satellite tv points are joined by internal cctv, data and internet connection, wiring for a sound system, a 5A lighting circuit and a home network system ready for future connection should the buyer desire.

The technology has been subtly installed though, so homeowners have the facilities but are not overwhelmed by them; the concept was for high quality accommodation. Darley confirms: “The hardest part of the project unquestionably is obtaining 100% perfection. The handover standard is exceptionally high and anything less than 100% is a failure.”

These features and high standards will not only be enjoyed by London’s rich and famous. In line with current government policy, a proportion of social housing is included. Housing Association Threshold Housing joined Berkeley to produce 166 one and two-bedroom flats to be sold on a shared ownership basis to London key workers. At the other end of the scale are two-storey penthouses. The difference in status between the properties has had little adverse effect on the electrical installations. Some may not have the same level of voice and data systems but, says Darley: “The number of electrical points are around the same, whether it be affordable housing or luxury – it’s just that the accessories will be in white plastics rather than chrome.”

Home front

Hills Electrical & Mechanical won the contracts for the electrical installation of the infrastructure and apartments in phases two, three and four. These were issued and won as separate contracts packages in line with the construction programme. The first two were won by competitive tender, with the contract for phase four negotiated.

Management contractor Bovis Lend Lease is co-ordinating the project, with the timescales driven by Berkeley Homes. Ample space between the development and the power station allowed the construction team to be site-based throughout. Further office space was created in the basement car parks, so the team members are based in close proximity to each other. Information is communicated via weekly meetings: “This site is being run traditionally. Maybe it’s because [Bovis is] a management contractor rather than a main contractor,” suggests Darley.

The scale of development has been overcome by the staged building of the phases – these have generally overlapped, but with one being in the final stages before the next is started.

The m&e services design was completed by consultant Wallace Whittle and has generally remained consistent throughout, as has the build. The basic concept of the buildings is formed around central cores, which comprise the lift shafts, stairwells and m&e risers; the flats encircle these, with the risers serving the adjacent properties.

As a rule of thumb, each phase has a new ring main unit and stepdown transformer in a mv room. This feeds a submain in an adjacent lv switchroom, which is then distributed via the risers. A distribution board is located at every third floor and serves the floor it is on and the ones immediately above and below. Distribution of the supply to the flats is above ceiling.

Internally, penthouses aside, the flats share the same basic structure, varying in size mainly by the number of bedrooms. Most flats have a central dimming system for the lighting. In the two-bedroom flats additional mood lighting is provided by a colour-changing, programmable fluorescent fitting installed above the bedhead in the master bedroom.

In the kitchens all appliances are wired back to a central multi-gang switch rather than individual switches, giving a cleaner finish without losing any circuits. Some of the flats also include air conditioning, which was installed by the mechanical contractor.

Co-ordination of services in the flats was relatively simple, reports Darley: “Each light is just one switch, so individually it’s not that difficult. There’s very little mechanical...so there isn’t a lot of cross co-ordination to be done.”

Products used are generally standard, off-the-shelf versions. “Everything that’s tactile and on show is specified by the client,” explains Darley. This leaves little leeway for the contractor to select from its preferred suppliers, but ensures that the finished product meets the specifications in the advertising material for the properties – a vital aspect.

Some of the more extravagant features Hills installed in phase three were bathroom tv screens and hot tubs on the penthouse balconies. Larger items were raised early in the installation on goods hoists installed along the west elevation. Access was simplified as an area of wall between the cores was left open, allowing movement across the floors; these were sealed as each floor was completed.

“There is little infrastructure electrically in the communal areas,” explains Darley. This is limited mainly to lighting, security and a mains supply smoke detector and automatic venting system. Hills installed IP66-rated lighting and the electrical supply for the water fountains in the communal gardens at the heart of the development. These are controlled by timers and photoelectric cells to ensure energy efficiency.

With all the capacity for electrical use, energy efficiency has not been forgotten. One application that helps to reduce running costs is the installation of Setsquare SCM20 units in the communal areas. These switch on lighting when a door is opened and turn them off when the area is vacated, giving potential electricity savings of 75%.

Completing the job

Each phase is being completed from the ground floor upwards. The basic concrete structure is completed and made weather-tight prior to Hills beginning first-fix installation. “Once the walls are up we then have a week to get into that floor, do all the carcassing then do a dead test,” explains Darley. “We then hand it over to the plasterboarders who put a second skin on the walls.” The firm then returns to the floors for final fixing, handing them over at a rate of one floor per week.

At present, Hills has around 30 operatives on site working across phases three and four. One group is working on the infrastructure, another on the flats. The repetitive nature of the flats and infrastructure design makes progress fast.

Work began on phase four in January and is due to complete in December 2005. This phase of the development is a mix of affordable and luxury flats. “Hills is effectively working two projects on the same site; one virtually complete, the other at first-fix stage,” explains Darley.

Phase five began around the same time as phase four, prompting the client to employ a different electrical contractor. “Briggs & Forrester will be doing the m&e on phase five. We’d have had three phases running together and I don’t think they’d have been happy allocating that to one contractor. But, generally, most of the contractors have gone from phase to phase,” Darley explains.

Planning ahead has been a strength on this project and this seems set to continue. Members of the client’s on-site facilities department have been trained in the use of m&e systems during the build and will oversee these centrally after project completion. Evidence of the team’s forward planning is further evident in the on-site marketing suite in phase three. Two flats have been combined for the duration of the marketing period, afterwards, as Dalvey explains, this can be easily converted for sale: “We’ve actually wired the flats, then a false wall has been installed and wired as a marketing suite. When the marketing suite goes these walls can be stripped out leaving the flats behind ready for sale.”

So if you’ve got a spare couple of million pounds, now’s the time to visit.