Capital Building Refurbishment

We recently wrote about some of the external work we were carrying out on the Capital Building in Liverpool. It gave us some stunning views of Liverpool’s Three Graces and across the river towards the Wirral. We enjoyed the view so much, it became the inspiration behind our company video.

The Capital Building itself is the largest office space in Liverpool City. Some of the upper floors are occupied by the Home Office and it’s on these floors we have recently been working. It’s a high-security working environment and is currently fully occupied, so we have always had to keep disruption to a minimum and be ultra vigilant in maintaining security. All of the Kimpton staff on site have been counter-terrorism and security vetted. This has meant that we’ve kept a consistent team on the project throughout. Other challenges existed in the need to maintain material supply throughout, despite the challenges of Brexit and Covid.

The project started with a replacement of the HVAC system. Working closely with the landlord and their client, the decision was taken to repurpose and reshape office spaces to suit post-Covid working patterns. This meant a redesign of the floor plan to include more break out spaces, meeting rooms and hot desks, to support the call centre areas. Inevitably, with this change to the layout of the office, the HVAC systems needed to be adapted to effectively service the new areas formed.

The project was initially to replace all of the existing worn out and leaking carbon steel pipework and fan coils as part of the full office refurbishment.

As we spent more time on site, the scope of the project grew and we took on additional works to replace the fire alarm system across six floors and complete the Cat B Electrical installation.

Scott Bennett, who is the lead engineer on the project said.

“It’s been an ever-changing project, but all the more interesting for that. We started on the project with the cooling tower pipework and have gradually worked our way through the building. The project has evolved throughout and the scope widened, but we have kept a flexible approach and worked closely with the client and the Home Office to deliver what is needed for all parties.

The biggest challenge has been the evolving nature of the project itself. From a large scale but straightforward external pipework project, the job has grown to add firstly a single floor HVAC solution and since extended to six floors of complete HVAC refurbishment and electrical, fire safety installation.

We still have work to do to complete the project, but it’s very much on track, despite the working restrictions.”