Steel wire tray offers flexibility
Designed by architects Axis Mason, Castle Quay is a £50 million luxury seafront development in St Helier, Jersey. The development will be split over two blocks and comprises 384 apartments, civic and commercial spaces, subterranean car parking and ground floor restaurant space that has already been snapped up by celebrity chef, Marco Pierre White.
While the electrical installation for the restaurants has yet to be put out to tender, work is progressing quickly on the first fix for the residential element of the scheme and the contractor delivering the programme is Jersey-based DIS Electrical Contractors.
Gary Frame from DIS Electrical Contractors explains more about the electrical requirements for the project: "The development includes a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments and the specification is varied with standard, mid and high specification units. Our first task is to complete the containment/first fix installations within the landlord areas of Block A. The network of trays has to be flexible enough to answer the varying specification requirements of the apartments and we specified Cablofil steel wire tray containment system for this application."
Complex cabling
Steel wire tray has been the developer’s containment method of choice for several years. However, specification of the individual system was down to DIS.
Gary explains the choice: "Cablofil provides a true system with a range of widths and depths, bracketry, quick couplers and pre-fitted couplers to ensure that it is fast and simple to install whatever the challenges on site. On such a large job, reliability of supply is also important and we are confident that the supply chain from Cablofil, though our local distributor, ES&M, will ensure that we have the materials we need on site, when we need them, even if requirements change as the job progresses."
Throughout the landlord areas DIS Electrical Contractors has installed Cablofil steel wire tray both in the ceiling voids and as risers. Each of the five storeys of residential accommodation in block A will have three risers, carrying the cabling up to the floor above. From the risers, the cables will then be diverted into the steel wire tray containment network in the ceiling void as required. DIS Electrical Contractors has used 150mm, 200mm and 300mm widths of tray to accommodate the varying types and number of cables at different parts of the installation.
Gary continues: "The risers begin in the basement and carry the infrastructure cabling up into the building so that it can be laid throughout the landlord areas to supply core distribution equipment. Cablofil has also been used for ladder rack containment within the basement areas to support the supply authority main distribution cabling."
The Cablofil system carries the cabling for the lighting system throughout the landlord areas above ground too and the containment network will also be used to feed the low voltage mains cabling to each apartment, for the telephone, internet and satellite TV cables and for the door entry system, fire alarms and security systems.
Gary adds: "While the installation is reasonably straightforward, there are large numbers of cables in a single run of steel wire tray in some places. Ensuring that we are using the strongest and most load bearing wire tray in the market is key to getting the job done quickly, efficiently and to a quality standard we can be proud of."
Cablofil has also supported DIS Electrical Contractors by offering advice on the specification of the system to ensure that the contractor can maximise the speed of installation whilst maintaining finished quality. It also offered on-site training, demonstrating to the team new ways of shaping and fixing the system. At Castle Quay, the challenge for DIS Electrical Contractors is not simply the volume of containment, but the exacting timetable for the installation.
Gary said: "To deliver the project to programme we are working alongside other trades to complete the electrical installation. That means co-ordinating with them to decide where the containment will go and being flexible about routing it around other services where necessary. The great thing about using a steel wire tray system is that it is not only faster and easier to install than a traditional perforated steel system but it is also more flexible. That means that if we need to make last minute changes to accommodate other trades, or if there is a need to add new elements to the installation, we can do so quickly and simply on site."
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