Case Study
Manchester Square
Keeping Manchester moving – design & installation of electricity supply for luxury city centre development
Manchester New Square is a joint venture between Urban & Civic and Manchester City Council, located in the heart of the city on Princess Street. Comprising of three individually designed, 12-15 storey buildings that house 350 apartments, restaurants, retailers and secure underground car parking on three levels.
With part of the building having been constructed already when Harlaxton were appointed, the significant design challenge was to provide a workable solution for electricity supply to be connected in the underground space available.
The challenges
• Design challenges – no external space available for sub stations
• Logistics – significant excavation required across the middle of Manchester
• Timescales – ensuring minimal disruption to Manchester’s infrastructure
Solution
Offsite designed and built bespoke sub stations to fit the internal space available. Directional drilling solution enabling part of the 900m route of 11kV cable to be laid in just 6 weeks.
Services provided
• HV 3.9mVA – 1800m looped supply
• 900m of excavation works including part of directional drilling technology
• 1500m low voltage distribution cable throughout basement level for apartments
• Experienced project management team
• Directional drilling to cross a number of tramlines and railway and minimise road closures
Results
• Design, build and installation of 2 internal sub stations into the fabric of the building
• 900m of 11kV cable installed and substations constructed in just 6 weeks
• 3 days to install 1500m of low voltage cable for apartments supply
• Initial phase of the project completed 9 weeks ahead of schedule
When Harlaxton were appointed to provide the electricity for this prestigious project, significant potential energy cost reductions were identified, but only if a series of complex engineering challenges could be overcome.
The connection point to a new HV network was 900m away at Piccadilly Station and so a conventional approach to laying the cable was not always practical, would take too long and cause significant highways disruption. So Harlaxton suggested a partial directional drilling solution and negotiated a host of critical – and densely located – underground services, under tramlines and railways. Also working closely with Manchester City Council to ensure the route didn’t interfere with other utilities, local residents and members of the public to keep any disruption to the City at a minimum.
At the site, two new intake substations were built and installed, along with HV switchgear, to take the feed from the host DNO (ENW).
Harlaxton also installation 1500m of low voltage distribution cable through an intricate cable tray formation routed throughout basement level of the building for all 350 apartments in just 3 days.
“The cooperation and planning by the experts at Harlaxton was excellent and being able to create bespoke design for each of the 7.5 tonne substations and manoeuvre them into such a tight space was a fantastic achievement. The project went smoothly, the onsite team had a very flexible work ethic and I’d have no hesitation in recommending them”. Adam Brooks Senior Project Manager, Urban & Civic
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