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The Forge, a commercial office development with Landsec in central London, is the first major building to use P-DfMA from building design to delivery.The benefits of P-DfMA are showing in many areas of the project, but not least in the installation of M&E building services, in RIBA stage 5..
The Forge is designed as open-plan office space, with exposed services and soffit.It is also designed to be zero carbon in both construction and operation.Our M&E design challenge was to look at the entire office environment and standardise the design of the M&E systems to deliver outstanding performance, while controlling costs and ensuring that the exposed services were aesthetically appealing as well.. Driving value in M&E building services at the Forge.
Our solution was to use a small variety of repeatable elements.Across the entire project, we have minimised the variety of types and sizes of equipment and distribution modules.
This is to ensure repeatability, without compromising the performance of the building, both in terms of energy consumption and user comfort.
Doing this allows us to combine efficiency of performance with economies of scale on buying, for example, larger quantities of single gauge of pipe.. For ease of installation, we use pre-wired electrical products wherever possible.Gain insights into how reference design varies based on client or sector needs, with examples from the Ministry of Justice and the healthcare sector, demonstrating the adaptability and customisation of the approach..
Enhanced design process:.Understand how reference design amplifies benefits, allowing for extensive stakeholder engagement and the integration of best practices into a repeatable design, leading to improvements in asset operation and maintenance..
Continual improvement cycle:.Learn about the cyclical nature of improvement in reference design, where lessons learned from ongoing operations are integrated into future iterations, fostering continual enhancement rather than constant reinvention.. Strategic site selection and design optimisation:.
(Editor: Modern Gimbals)