62 Buckingham Gate is a cutting edge, environmentally-sensitive Land Securities development in the Victoria area of London, on the site of the now demolished Selbourne House, SW1. Designed for mixed use, the scheme will provide 252,000 sq ft of premium office space, together with street level access shops and restaurants.
The 13-storey development, which occupies a prime position at the junction of Victoria Street and Buckingham Gate, has been designed to provide a highly flexible office environment, with large amounts of open-plan, column free space. A canopied pedestrian area has been incorporated to connect the surrounding streetscape and provide space for pavement caf?s and outdoor public seating.
When designing the HVAC systems for the development, main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine and M & E contractors N G Bailey outlined a number of priorities, including carbon reduction and best possible lifecycle costs. After consideration of the available product options, the pumps specified were 4300 Series split-coupled vertical inline models from Armstrong Fluid Technology, fitted with space-saving Suction Guides and Flo-Trex valves.
The 4300 Series is a flagship pump range from Armstrong Fluid Technology offering outstanding life cycle value, energy efficient motors, smaller footprint, faster installation and greater ease of maintenance. The models specified for 62 Buckingham Gate are split coupled pumps, designed for greater ease of maintenance throughout their lifetimes. They feature external seals which enable all mechanical seal components to be withdrawn for servicing without the need to disturb other pump components or the motor connection. This reduces significantly the time and cost elements of routine maintenance with a corresponding reduction in health and safety risk, as seals can be changed without the need for specialist lifting equipment. In addition the pumps have been selected to allow for potential fluctuations in the design duties in the future. This means that additional load requirements can be accommodated if required, without the need to change impellers or motors, if there should be building changes at a later date.
The models installed at 62 Buckingham Gate also feature Armstrong Suction Guides and Flo-Trex valves. These pump accessories reduce physical footprint of the installation considerably by replacing multiple components with a single pump trim. The Suction Guide creates optimum flow conditions at the pump inlet with a single component, eradicating the need for the conventional Y Strainer, flanges, nuts, bolts, gaskets and suction spool piece. At the discharge outlet, the Flo-Trex combination valve carries out the functions of a check valve, throttling valve and shut-off valve with just one component. Traditional base mounted end suction pumps may take up to three times more floor space than the 4300 Series equivalent, with the accompanying time and cost of creating the inertia base.
Another key benefit of the 4300 Series pump is its ability to be pipeline-hung. It is designed to be an integral component of the pipework, thereby eliminating the cost of inertia bases, springs, flexible pipe connectors, field grouting and alignment.
Each pump in the range is engineered to the very highest standards with a dynamically balanced impeller, and a shaft assembly rotating vertically on the pump centreline for quiet, long lasting operation with minimum vibration. Vertical mounting of the pump means that bearing life is considerably extended, and the Armstrong technology is well proven for reliability and minimised downtime.
