explore the BusinessNet
FENDOR BRINGS A COOL BREEZE TO THE ORCHARD
Story
Specialist healthcare glazing supplier, Fendor, has completed a turnkey contract to upgrade the fenestration on the bedroom blocks at a medium security hospital for women in West London, known as The Orchard.
Originally completed in 2007 by Kier Construction, The Orchard is operated by the West London Mental Health NHS Trust and provides treatment for females patients with a variety of conditions. While the premises are well designed and built to a high standard, staff and patients found that the original security windows – featuring restricted opening of just 125 mm – did not provide adequate ventilation.
Fendor was awarded a contract to replace a total of 60 windows in the bedrooms of The Orchard. The work involved a Fendor team, with their supervisor and security guards, being given access to secure areas on a daily basis to remove the original frames and replace them with steel outward opening CleanVent windows. For reasons of health and safety, as well as security, each operation, including making good the reveals and clearing away all equipment from the scene, had to be completed within each shift.
The buildings’ occupants have already noticed that the full opening operation of the CleanVent windows deliver a far better airflow than the original windows, while the mesh screens not only provide security but prevent patients secreting any items within the recesses of the frame or outside. A further benefit to the Trust and to patients is that CleanVent is uniquely easy to clean, overcoming cleaning issues inherent with traditional horizontal sliding windows. The inside of the window is completely ligature free and the rounded control mechanism incorporates a gearing system – called the Slipper Clutch – to prevent the mechanism being snapped.
Clive Nutley is the Project Manager, Capital Works, for the West London Mental Health NHS Trust and comments: “The team have consistently given 100 per cent in ensuring the installation process didn’t interrupt the day to day running of the wards, while maintaining a good working relationship with staff, patients, security and the project.
“In fact I regularly received comments from ward staff and security saying they wished all contractors were like Fendor: They are organised, work all day without any problems, clean up after themselves and make our job so much easier.”
The buildings’ occupants have already noticed that the full opening operation of the CleanVent windows deliver a far better airflow than the original windows, while the mesh screens not only provide security but prevent patients secreting any items within the recesses of the frame or outside. A further benefit to the Trust and to patients is that CleanVent is uniquely easy to clean, overcoming a problem inherent with traditional horizontal sliding windows. The inside of the window is completely ligature free and the rounded control device incorporates a gearing system, known as the Slipper Clutch, to prevent the mechanism being snapped.
The Orchard is just one of a growing number of mental health, medical and custodial establishments to take advantage of Fendor’s capabilities, both as a manufacturer and as a contractor.
