Richmond Upon Thames College, London, UK

• Building Type: Educational
• Main Contractor: ISG
• Subcontractor: REL Building Services
• Services: Electrical Containment

Richmond upon Thames College (RuTC) is one of London’s most successful Further Education Colleges. For more than 80 years the college has educated 16-18 year olds and adults from across the Richmond, London and Surrey areas.

Main contractor for the project, ISG, has delivered a scheme which has been awarded with the influential
Pagabo framework which drives efficiencies and best value across public sector procurement. Targeting a ‘BREEAM Excellent’ environmental performance rating, RuTC incorporates a large atrium with internal wood cladding which creates an impressive design aesthetic and plays a crucial role in the building's acoustics.

ISG built a new five storey, concrete framed building which extends to over 161,000 sq. ft of new space. The development was constructed next to existing college buildings and will create a modern learning environment that can accommodate over 3,000 students when the college opens at the end of 2019. For this project, ISG chose to use Gripple solutions for the suspension of electrical containment.

Due to the strict timescales of the build, ISG and subcontractors REL Building Services required a proven
method of drastically reducing installation times on site, which also delivered an aesthetically pleasing finish. ISG opted to use Fast Trak, Gripple's pre-fabricated trapeze bracket solution, which delivered significant time savings for the installation of the electrical containment. Fast Trak is a zero waste product, comprising metal tracks and mounting brackets which arrive to site in pre-cut lengths. Fast Trak has been independently tested and is a fully compliant, fire-resistant suspension system which is suitable for a range of applications.

Adjustments during installation can be made completely tool-free, allowing contractors to save time and labour. In conjunction with Fast Trak, Cable Basket Clips were used to efficiently connect Gripple systems to cable baskets on site. Subcontractors REL Building Services have now used Gripple products on various projects to save time on the installation of electrical containment.