Building services specialist, LJJ, has been awarded the mechanical and electrical (M&E) design and installation project for a new containment level 2 (CL2) facility at The Pirbirght Institute, a national centre for preventing and controlling viral diseases of farm animals and those that can spread from animals to humans.
Constructed on a greenbelt site within a masterplan development site line surrounding the existing Pirbright campus, the new BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rated facility will provide a purpose-built research laboratory at The Pirbright Institute for 90 scientists.
LJJ will carry out a full M&E fit out for the building and the project also includes developing both the mechanical and electrical infrastructure for the campus to facilitate development of further buildings on site in the future. The Pirbright Institute has its own high voltage power supply and LJJ will extend this with the addition of four new transformers. The LJJ team will also install a new 500m medium pressure gas main, new water supply networks and new data cabling infrastructure for use by this scheme and subsequent developments.
The project builds on LJJ’s experience of laboratory schemes and the company will design and install class A, B & C ductwork appropriate to the building’s low risk CL2 status. The company will install a dedicated ventilation system for the offices and laboratories linked to the facility’s building management system (BMS), delivering a detailed ventilation strategy designed to address the specific needs of the building and provide future flexibility.
LJJ will install a roof-top plant room which will include extraction plant with heat recovery, chillers and gas boilers. The company is also installing the infrastructure for a planned district heating system as part of the scheme.
The mechanical installation also includes all plumbing and services for both the labs and the washroom facilities, including Vulcathene anti-corrosion pipework for the labs, Co2 and nitrogen supplies and oxygen depletion sensors. We are also installing Purified (RO) water system to the labs.
LJJ is also responsible for the installation of the ventilation systems for the Microbiological Safety Cabinets and Fume Cupboards, as well as the AC system for the Cold Room.
In addition, a rain water harvesting system is being installed along with a PV array to cover the lower and upper roof.
LJJ has also designed flexibility into the electrical installation, with underfloor busbar and desk management power systems in the office areas and dado trunking in the lab areas. The company will install a dedicated low voltage switchroom with dual distribution boards for each of the building’s two levels and separate distribution boards for the autoclave and cryogenics systems.
A DALI lighting system will be installed in both the lab and office areas with manual ‘on’ and absence detection ‘off’ functionality and LJJ will also install CCTV, access control, intruder alarm and fire alarm, with full integration to the site-wide systems.
Jason Burns, from contracts manager at LJJ, commented: “While the scheme involves a relatively low containment level classification, this remains a complex programme with some very specific requirements, both in terms of the CL2 facility itself and the infrastructure works to aid future development.
“Our design and installation capabilities and our previous experience of similar schemes mean that we have both the technical understanding and flexible approach to deliver the project across all mechanical and electrical requirements.”
