CMB were awarded the Mechanical contract for the Cardiff Interchange project under Main Contractor, ISG and Developers, Rightacres, as part of the ongoing Cardiff Central Square development. This is now the seventh project in Central Square we have worked on since 2015 and it has been a privilege to for us to play a key role in developing the city centre skyline throughout that period.

 

The Interchange sits adjacent to the new BBC Headquarters on Wood Street and is one of the first buildings you see coming out of Central Station. Comprised of 24 storey’s, a new bus station, 100,000 sq ft and 8 floors of new Grade A office space, 318 apartments, private dining spaces, a gymnasium and a multi-storey car park, the £200 Million project stands at almost 300 feet tall and will become a pivotal point for our Capital’s transportation system and business centre.

 

The project managed to become the first development in the UK to be awarded BRE Home Quality Mark ONE at design stage as early as 4 months into the works – referring to BRE’s new benchmarking standard for sustainability and quality in housing. ISG also chose The Interchange to host their World Quality Day in November 2021, where clients and customers were given an insight into what sustainability means in the construction industry and how The Interchange, as a BRE Home Quality Mark ONE project, is achieving this.

 

CMB project Director, Richard Smithen, led the conversation discussing how we changed the fresh air and exhaust ductwork from plastic duct insulated with mineral wool to pre-insulated ductwork, saving an estimated 4,500m2 of insulation. It also removed the need for additional working at height, providing an added health and safety benefit. CMB secured a Quality Award from ISG for our sustainability works on the project.

 

The mechanical services for the PRS and car park elements of the build briefly consist of:

 

• A centralised boiler plant room which supplies 24/7 LTHW to the heat interface unit within each apartment.

• A 54,000 litre cold water storage tank complete with cold water booster set, providing potable water to all apartments.

• Ventilation to each apartment is facilitated via an MVHR unit, providing fresh tempered air into the living spaces and bedrooms, and extracting stale air from the bathroom pods and kitchen areas.

• The building is fully installed with a sprinkler system, wet riser (for the tower) and dry risers in the remaining areas, fed from the plant area via electric pumps and standby diesel pumps for resilience.

• All stairwells and extended corridors are fully protected by a mixture of mechanical and passive smoke control systems.

• Automatic BMS control system and metering.

• Above ground drainage and rainwater systems.

• Below ground water and gas infrastructure.

• Thermal insulation.

 

The Mechanical services for the Office development briefly consisted of:

 

• 24 ASHPs to generate low grade high efficiency heat to the building.

• 4 ASHPs to supply heat to the domestic hot water system.

• 2no 750kW Chillers to provide comfort cooling to the building.

• Cold Water Storage tanks and booster sets.

• 4no Air Handling Units.

• Fan Coil Units.

• Thermal Insulation.

• VRF Cooling to the IT hub rooms.

• Domestic Water Supplies and Sanitary systems.

• Above Ground Drainage and Siphonic Rainwater System.

• Sprinkler and Inergen Gas Suppression Systems.

• Smoke Extract Systems.

• BMS Control System.

• Advanced Power Monitoring System.

 

The Mechanical services for the Transport for Wales Bus Station development briefly consisted of:

 

• Cold Water Storage tanks and booster sets.

• MVHR Ventilation.

• Fan Coil Units.

• VRF Cooling to the IT hub Rooms.

• Domestic Water Supplies and Sanitary systems.

• Above Ground Drainage.

• Sprinkler Systems.

• BMS Control System.

• Thermal Insulation.

• Changing Places Facility.

 

CMB project Director, Richard Smithen, commented on the completion of the development saying:

 

“The recent completion of the TfW Bus Station is the final milestone of this complex development.

 

The Interchange has been an extremely successful project and it is thoroughly rewarding to now stand back and admire the excellent efforts delivered by the CMB team and our dependable supply chain.”