Lloyd Preston 
13 November 2018 
Barton Park – Oxford
Barton Park in Oxfordshire is a housing development project from housing developers Hill Ltd. Set in the picturesque countryside, close to its bustling city centre, the site is filled 237 properties which range from one bedroom modern apartments to spacious, detached family houses. Furthermore, project has recently been chosen as one of the NHS’s ten ‘healthy new towns’ that will test creative solutions for health.
Having already specified our ScubaTANK combined tank and pump booster sets for a number of properties on the site, Hill asked Dutypoint to consult on the underground packaged plant-room also needed for the project. Due to the ongoing costs and safety issues associated with underground plant rooms, Hill was keen to install a product that would be in keeping with its eco-friendly theme.
Rising to the challenge
After a full site survey, the engineering team at Dutypoint were able to install an Optimise underground packaged plant room system. This innovative steel-framed system is clad in a hollow plastic shuttering that is later filled with concrete. This not only adds to the structural integrity of the room but also removes the need for costly, and often time-consuming, concrete backfilling.
The unit was also constructed off-site, enabling it to be simply craned into place, connected up to the relevant services and then sealed off. This in turn drastically reduced any potential safety risks and disturbance to residents or wildlife.
Another key feature of the Optimise system is its fully integrated staircase which helps to overcome common health and safety issues regarding working in confined spaces. Furthermore, the system also includes a built-in raised floor that acts as an emergency water storage tank, known as a ‘bund’, to further reduce any safety risks with the room flooding.
Lastly, the modular design of the plant room also meant that a number of these units could be connected together to create a wide range of room configurations. This flexibility enables the facility to be scaled up as the development expands in an effort to future-proof the system.
The plant room was delivered to the site and installed by Hill Ltd Contracts in line with the redevelopment build schedule and later commissioned by the team at Dutypoint to ensure the unit was operating correctly.
Click here to find out more about Optimise Underground Packaged Plant Rooms
