The next phase of a Bristol based centre of dementia care excellence has been completed to offer a further 22 residents specialist dementia and nursing care.
Orchard Court has been transformed to reflect the court-style accommodation of the rest of the care home's care scheme that opened in December 2012, which allows residents to live in a family-style community with their own communal areas. The modern and calming environment has been developed to a very high standard as part of the organisations’ modernisation programme and expansion plan for growth.
Orchard Court has been transformed to reflect the court-style accommodation of the rest of the care home's care scheme that opened in December 2012, which allows residents to live in a family-style community with their own communal areas. The modern and calming environment has been developed to a very high standard as part of the organisations’ modernisation programme and expansion plan for growth.
The £500,000, 21-week project was delivered by main contractor Aztech Building Services, a local firm that specialises in modernisation and fast-track refurbishment programmes within occupied buildings for the Care Home and Education sectors.
The project involved a complete strip-out of the existing services together with a remodelling of the building’s internal layout and internal drainage to create 22 bedrooms with luxury en-suites, some with assisted showers; a spa bathroom; two kitchens and new-look communal dining and lounge areas, storage and the scheme manager’s office.
Work was managed and delivered by Aztech under a collaborative arrangement with mechanical and electrical contractors combined with the firm’s own multi-skilled trades to provide a highly developed service, value-engineered and coordinated around the existing sheltered housing schemes.
Dementia can have a big impact on a person’s behaviour. It can make them feel anxious, lost, confused and frustrated, so the modernisation has been completed on the advice and guidance of the Dementia Services Development Centre at Stirling University.
A particular dementia friendly aspect of the refurbishment is the new décor of Orchard Court, an example being the feature walls within the bedrooms that are colour-coded to match their front doors to help maintain familiarity and aid recognition.
Not only did the University want to make better use of the useable space within Senate House, creating a modern work environment conducive to improved human performance and the free-flow of ideas was an overarching objective.
Following the success of a £30,000 refurbishment job at Senate House, the University of Bristol's administrative headquarters, 12-months on and £750,000 later we complete our 4th project; this time an extensive office refurbishment and move management programme across multiple floors for 200 University staff.
As principal contractor and with a week to mobilise, planning and resourcing the right internal teams and supply chains were critical to the success for delivering the project to an accelerated programme of just 11-weeks.
Our work involved the strip out of cellular offices, mechanical & electrical installations and blockwork, and the fit-out of modern, open-plan workspaces throughout the three floors, combined with meeting rooms, boardrooms, server rooms and reception areas, and a full refurbishment of the existing kitchens, WCs and tea points.
The fit-out followed consultation with the University as the briefing to involve staff in the move management process; with them moving to the opposite wing of the building, then back again on completion of the work.
Resourcing the work involved an average of 20, (40 at peak times), multi-skilled and directly employed tradespeople combined with subcontractor support for specialist elements, working extended hours 7-days a week to deliver the programme on time and to the specified quality and budget as the minimum standard.
The next phase of a Bristol based centre of dementia care excellence Saffron Gardens in Whitehall, has been completed, to offer a further 22 residents specialist dementia and nursing care.
With knowledge transfer and technical innovations for industry being central themes for the University's Faculty of Engineering, reinstating the disused Hele-Shaw Laboratory to specialise in different areas of fluid mechanics as a teaching and research facility was a priority.
This £395,000, 23-week refurbishment project to modernise the University’s Hydrology Laboratory, involved careful and detailed planning to remove and reinstall the existing Wave Flumes in addition to other items of equipment such as an industrial grade water pump, heating and two vertical, 15 meter high secondary steelwork structures for attaching experiments which run the height of the buildings stair core.
The project involved a complete strip-out of the old Laboratory; removing the existing ceramic wall tiles, plastering all surfaces, installing new partitioning and undertaking a full refit of the mechanical and electrical installations and Wave Flumes: one 15 meters in length and a 14 meter high, bidirectional, vertical multi-phase Flume fitted to new layouts.
We undertook modifications to widen the existing drainage gully that’s formed within the concrete floor and refurbished all copper-linings, complete with new stainless steel grill to bespoke designs. Alto Unity safety flooring was fitted throughout to provide a slip-resistant surface to the Laboratory’s 400 square meter floor area.
New electrics and lighting complete with 3-phase power to Laboratory machinery was installed throughout complete with industrial power sockets fixed to pillars and other areas future-proofed the Hele-Shaw lab for subsequent equipment relating to areas of research.
We managed and delivered the project mostly out of hours at weekends and early mornings via our own professionally qualified, multi-skilled trades and project management team.
The complete modernisation of pupil and staff toilet facilities make a positive contribution to school life at this Bristol-based special educational needs school
With the existing toilet facilities being reminiscent of 1970’s design, creating a modern learning environment that contributes meaningfully to school life and in keeping with the school’s teaching facilities were the main drivers for this 6-week, £60,000 refurbishment project.
The Bristol-based special educational needs school is a school for children of pre-school age to post 16 year olds with moderate to severe learning difficulties as with Asperger’s and Autism. School life has therefore become a full learning experience of academic education combined with the skills of independence, all with the aim of increasing pupils’ sense of wellbeing and self-esteem.
A particular aspect of the project in addition to the benefits from having modern facilities was for pupils to maintain their independence in being familiar with a variety of washroom fittings and fitments, and so making the facilities more accessible to all pupils, installing signage in braille and connecting a variety of tap styles: lever, crosshead, mixer and pushdown pedestal types were prominent features of the project.
Work commenced over a 6-week programme to the schools own designs and specification where the 6-rooms were stripped-out and refitted with a range of Amwell cubicles, ash veneered entrance doors, a choice of Armitage Shanks ceramics, new energy efficient lighting and Polysafe vinyl flooring and decoration.
Staff and pupils now benefit from having modern washroom and changing facilities that reflect the school’s teaching spaces and amenities. These modern rooms have also become learning environments themselves given the variety of fittings and fitments that pupils can now be familiar with outside of school life, thereby contributing to their confidence; boosting self-esteem and independence. The facilities are bright and welcoming spaces that are easy to clean and maintain having been designed with pupils’ needs in mind.
The Bristol based building refurbishment contractor has achieved certification for its management system for quality and environmental processes.
The Bristol based building refurbishment contractor has achieved certification for its management system for quality and environmental processes, namely ISO9001:2008 and ISO14001:2004 respectively, which places them among the top 3% of businesses that achieved both standards in the last 12-months according to statistics published by the British Standards Institute.
The ISO standard is an internationally recognised framework based on a collection of integrated standards. Its regulations set out stringent guidelines for a company’s approval towards processes, systems, leadership, decision-making and customer care that aims to drive more business efficiency and value to clients.
Chris Jenkins, Managing Director, Aztech Building Services comments: “doing more with what we have is something of an obsession, and so we were very keen from the outset to ensure that the ISO certification was used to bring genuine value to our clients. We are delighted that the company’s investment in quality and sustainable working is backed by a certified management system that reflects the hard work that we've put into developing our business processes.”
Aztech were accredited with the standards following a 360 review of virtually everything that they do to improve the way they operate, from how sales enquiries are handled through to how project completions are administered; administering the final accounts and every customer touch-point in-between to streamline our processes and to improve business efficiency.
The company’s management system was certified by Certified Quality Systems Ltd, a company registered with the International Accreditation Board.
