Press Information
Press Ref: 28003
12th June 2008
Attention: Immediate
Jones of Oswestry steelwork meets challenging
demands of flagship Liverpool development
Jones of Oswestry
data on the service
life of its landscaping
products enabled
BDP to demonstrate
that they met the 25
year longevity needs
of the client’s QCD
document.
Photo refs: L to R
4181, 4321, 4172, 4417,
4443. High res digital files
& other photos available.
Chosen for their durability and aesthetics, Jones of Oswestry’s steel landscaping products have been
specified by BDP for the Paradise Project, Grosvenor’s £1 billion regeneration of the heart of Liverpool.
Block paving and landscaping materials coverage have been maximised using Jones’ recessed products for paviour
infill. They include Suprabloc access covers, Solobloc covers with assisted lift, Telebloc approved, assisted lift
telecommunications access covers, and Aquaslot recessed drainage. Special Arborslot recessed tree surrounds
were supplied with hinged inset covers providing a watering point to the tree root irrigation system.
Jones also designed over 250 linear metres of bespoke linear slotted drainage combined with Supradrain high
volume channels, reduced in depth for installation in shallow concrete slab. Other special products included a
recessed multiple leaf fire-fighters’ access system and a smoke venting assembly, both in stainless steel and with
features such as safety barriers, walk-on safety grids and integral chamber ladder.
Grosvenor’s Paradise Project is creating Liverpool One, six interlinked districts over 42 acres, master-planned by
Grosvenor and BDP, with another 25 firms of architects designing individual buildings and Laing O‘Rourke, Balfour
Beatty and Kier as main contractors. Grosvenor was selected by Liverpool City Council (LCC) as developer for the
Paradise Street Development Area (PSDA) project in March 2000.
Jones’ provision of service life data for its products, including certification of the company’s Duragalv postgalvanising, simplified compliance with design life needs in Grosvenor’s QCD (Quality Cost Delivery) document.
James Millington, BDP landscape architect associate, said: “The client’s QCD document required 25 years
longevity from metalwork in the ground, so post-galvanising of steel products was an important specifying issue for
us together with assurances of product durability. Performance data provided for Jones’s Duragalv protection
system made it easy to demonstrate compliance with durability criteria.”
More overleaf………..
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Jones applies different grades of Duragalv hot dipped zinc protection – 70 microns, 100 microns or 140 microns - to
its steel landscaping products to meet modern service life needs, typically 25 or 30 years for public sector building.
Very importantly, predicted longevity takes into account local atmospheric corrosivity and corrosive factors borne in
surface water, such as de-icing agents and gritting salts, which can significantly accelerate product ‘weathering’
from location to location.
BDP’s James Millington said: “Jones of Oswestry products meet the demanding, high quality requirements of high
profile public realm schemes. Great attention has been paid to the aesthetics of paving designs at Paradise Street
and Jones’s recessed products allowed us to minimise the visual impact of metalwork on these crucial landscaping
elements“.
Also key to the quality and enduring performance of Jones’s recessed products is the use of 6mm thick steel plate
as standard. This minimises deflection, provides increased impact resistance and assures ease of removal
combined with the tapered tray design. A full flange on the frame further assures stability of the unit in service.
Risk of a slip
By maximising paviour coverage and minimising metalwork, recessed landscaping products reduce the risk of a slip
caused by differentials between paving materials in line with BS 8300: 2001: Amendment 1 and health and safety
considerations. They also aid movement of wheelchairs and pushchairs in line with local authority ‘Access for All’
initiatives and their responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act.
The assisted, one person lifting mechanism of Jones’ Solobloc and Telebloc units
enabled compliance with other health and safety requirements.
Photo ref: 4466
BDP’s James Millington said: “Telebloc provides modular design, assisted lifting and a choice of multi-leaf
systems that divide access into smaller, manageable covers for easy handling by one person in compliance with
Manual Handling regulations. This ease of access also ensures that on-going use of the products, for maintenance
access, for example, complies with CDM requirements.”
Jones’ high specification products are a key feature of the Paradise Street district, suiting the quality and aesthetics
of the wide, boulevard style design of this flagship pedestrianised retail, housing and leisure complex.
One of Europe’s largest city centre regeneration projects, the Paradise Project will link Liverpool’s existing main
retail area with the waterfront and business district, as well as being a key attraction in its own right. It incorporates
over 1.6 million square feet of shopping and catering, 625 residential units, together with two new hotels, cinema
complex, four storey underground car park, a green park and performance space.
Main building work commenced in autumn 2004 and is due to be complete this summer.
More on the products overleaf….
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Installed
Jim Ennis Construction Ltd, a public realm works subcontractor to Laing O’ Rourke, has ordered and installed a
range of Jones’s products in areas LA3, LA2, LA4b and Discovery Axys.
Darren Durose, contract procurement manager for Jim Ennis, said: “Jones of Oswestry’s service has been first
class, from start to finish.
“Their sales team provided very professional technical advice and prompt pricing when we made our initial product
enquiries. This was followed by quick and accurate design work by their design department, enabling us to progress
approval of special products with BDP very efficiently.
“Manufacture and delivery also went very smoothly, with Jones production department responding on time to our
schedule and call-off needs on both standard and bespoke products.”
The precision and quality of Jones’s products were soon apparent to Jim Ennis’s site team during installation.
Darren Durose said: “The products, including specials, were very straightforward to install. Frames and grids went in
perfectly, such is the quality, making paviour inlay and abutment to the units easy. Jones offered to send someone
to site to trouble-shoot if we had any hitches, but this was not necessary.”
Specialised personnel access systems
Jones designed two pedestrian duty, recessed multiple leaf access systems in
stainless steel, infilled with artificial turf to blend with the green space of Chavasse Park.
Photo ref: 4447
Providing access to emergency stairs for fire service personnel, the larger assembly has a 5750mm by 1650mm
overall frame with three individual hinged covers providing a combined clear opening of 3800mm by 1350mm.
Inside, three hinged barrier sections with pull handles can be deployed to create a 1100mm high guard around the
chamber together with the main covers and a pair of stow-away gates at the non-entry end of the assembly.
Secondary emergency escape from the chamber is provided by a smaller hinged 900mm by 900mm clear opening
cover set inside a blanking plate at one end of the assembly. Opening from the inside only, this provides personnel
escape, should the stairway be impeded, in conjunction with a fixed ladder also fabricated by Jones.
The stowed barriers are engineered to provide fall protection resistant to a force of 740 N/M whether mounted
vertically or lying horizontally across the chamber. The assemblies also feature drainage spigots within the frame,
as well as turn-catch locking and cover lifting points.
At 3500mm by 1500mm overall, a smaller three leaf assembly provides a venting facility for smoke. Inside the
cover, three lift-out mesh panels provide fall protection, while permitting pedestrian loads on top.
Drainage solutions overleaf….
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Surface drainage
Photo ref: 4176
Surface drainage for a feature stairway linking Chavasse Park with retail space posed particular
problems. The required drainage is installed on relatively shallow building slab with limited depth
for surface paving and associated metalwork.
James Millington of BDP said: “We were unable to meet the application with a standard slot
drainage system so Jones designed bespoke units. These allowed us to achieve the aesthetics we
wanted but also met technical needs, overcoming the constructional constraints posed by the slab while providing
the required drainage capabilities assessed by the drainage engineers, Capita Symonds.”
Jones designed six substantial, continuous drainage assemblies, four being curved-on-plan, to provide drainage for
the staircase and adjacent areas.
On top, they incorporate mainly slotted drainage units with 120mm raised drainage slots, interspersed with Aquaslot
recessed gratings where access is needed to catchpits or sumps below. Combining to present only slim drainage
slots and frame edges, the two products allow maximum paviour coverage and minimise the impact of ground-laid
metalwork.
Below, the gratings are teamed with high efficiency Supradrain channels, reduced in depth to just 100mm for
installation in the shallow construction concrete slab but 300mm wide to provide generous water holding capacity .
Three of the curved drainage assemblies, providing over 85m of drainage at the top of the stairway, are based on a
220mm deep by 300mm wide overall module combining a 120mm high slotted drain with the 100mm reduced depth
Supradrain. They have eight 600mm deep catch-pits to allow rodding of the channel, as well as sump units, with
various sizes of outlet to connect into existing drains.
A 50m long curved and faceted drainage assembly was designed for the bottom of the stairway, again with eight
catch-pits and sump unit.
Two other drainage runs were also designed for adjacent retail areas, both using the same 300mm wide and
220mm deep grating module.
Tree surrounds
Jones designed nine special, super-size Arborslot recessed tree surrounds measuring
2500mm by 2500mm overall and with a 50mm deep or 125mm deep recessed tray to suit
adjacent paviours. James Millington of BDP said: “Recessed tree grids allow paving to run
close to the tree, reducing ‘clutter’ on the floorscape and the potential hazards to users,
while still allowing drainage to the tree for healthy growth.”
Photo ref: 4419
More on the tree surrounds……..
4
The grids provide a 688mm square aperture to accommodate a 200mm diameter tree trunk plus subsequent
growth.
The two support beams required to carry these large span units – designed for B125 loadings - were engineered to
leave a 1300mm space to give clearance for the 1200mm diameter root ball.
Due to its size, the Arborslot frame has been strengthened with extended backing plates for packing deep into the
concrete tree pit to prevent rotation. Gussets along the outside of the frame provide extra reinforcement against
frame distortion.
In one corner, a 439mm by 530mm removable sump cover has been provided with two lifting points for access to a
300mm by 300mm removable sump below.
In another, a 204mm by 204 hinged self-closing cover acts as a watering point to an embedded perforated flexible
pipe providing irrigation around the tree root ball.
ENDSn
Area Assessment
Contact info for reader enquiries (for publication with press information if required):
Jones of Oswestry
tel: 01938 555511
fax: 01938 555527
email: [email protected]
www.jonesofswestry.com
All other enquiries to:
Terry Batten
Jones of Oswestry marketing
Henfaes Lane
Welshpool SY21 7BE
tel: 01938 555511
fax: 01938 555527
email: [email protected]
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