Selby Project Showcases Benefits of MT Twin Plus Trunking
An innovative project to co-locate a community hospital, health clinic and civic centre into a shared new building in Selby, North Yorkshire, is making full use of the many benefits of cable management solution Twin Plus from market-leader Marshall-Tufflex.
The £22 million Selby Community Project is a joint venture between the NHS North Yorkshire and York, and Selby District Council to re-build the town’s War Memorial Hospital and health clinic and provide new council offices at the same time.
Marshall-Tufflex’s Twin Plus trunking proved the perfect choice for a number of reasons, not least because it is available in standard and antimicrobial versions, allowing consulting engineers DSSR to specify standard Twin Plus into the council offices and the antimicrobial Bio Twin Plus into the hospital, which includes 24 GP-led beds, a minor injuries unit, diagnostic facilities and minor surgery suite. Overall, the trunking system is being installed in almost 65% of the project, the hospital side of which has achieved a rating of 'excellent' against BREAAM, the national environment assessment tool.
“Having the Twin Plus profile available in the Bio antimicrobial version enabled us to achieve a constant design aesthetic throughout the building as well as making economic sense on such a large order,” said Mahesh Mehta, DSSR executive electrical engineer. “It also meant the electrical contractor was required to install just one profile throughout while still offering the really valuable properties of an antimicrobial trunking system where it matters most, in the healthcare environment. Infection control is a huge issue and Bio Twin Plus supports cleaning regimes by continually working 24/7 in the fight against harmful bacteria.”
The Twin Plus trunking system was installed by Airedale Mechanical & Electrical. Airedale project manager Mark Sheffield said the cable management went in smoothly and provided flexibility to move accessories around. Building contractor for the scheme is BAM Construction.
Silver-ion protection is added to Bio’s PVC-U formulation during manufacture, meaning that the bug-busting solution is incorporated within the Twin Plus. As a result it works 24 hours a day for the life of the trunking to neutralise and kill dangerous bacteria such as MRSA, E-Coli and Salmonella, even if the trunking is scratched or knocked. Trunking products utilising a surface coating antimicrobial are unable to offer this level of protection.
Bio Twin Plus has been tested to the quantitative standard ISO 22196:2007. Results show the survival rate of tested bacteria to be less than 0.1%. Marshall-Tufflex’s Bio formulation is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and compliant with the European Biocidal Products Directive (BPD). Untreated trunking systems can harbour harmful bacteria and, if touched, be a source of cross-contamination.
Twin Plus is a large capacity trunking with bend radius up to 50mm (compliant with CAT 6 & Cat 7) and a comprehensive suite of flush accessories and boxes. It can be treated with a conductive spray coating for protection against EMI in PVC-U versions.
Selby had been in need of new hospital facilities for some years – its War Memorial Hospital was built in 1927 and required significant maintenance work. Selby District Council was also in need of new offices as its existing Civic Centre was nearing the end of its life. The new site shares its infrastructure and it has been projected that by sharing key services and procuring the scheme together the organisations will have saved a projected value of £2m.
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