Howe Green creates “specials” for centre of collaboration and creativity

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Oct 10, 2018

Howe Green, one of the leading brands in the specialist horizontal access market, has supplied products to the £150 million National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC) being built on the University of Warwick campus.

The distinctive 33,000m2 building, with state of the art equipment and world class facilities, will provide a centre for research, innovation and technology development in the UK automotive sector. Academics, engineers and designers will be brought together under one roof to create the technologies and products of the future.

The space within the four storey building has been designed to facilitate collaboration, creativity and the cross fertilisation of knowledge and ideas. It will also act as a shop window for advances in British design and engineering.

Howe Green supplied around 400 floor access covers for use throughout the centre to provide safe and easy access to building services concealed under the raised flooring.

The Howe Green bespoke 7500 Series Medium Duty Stainless Steel covers were specified by award-winning architects Cullinan Studio. The specification required that the covers were manufactured with a reduced depth, instead of the standard overall frame depth of 75mm. The reduction in depth enabled the access covers to be infilled with the same flooring used elsewhere in the raised floor system - calcium sulphate floor panels, with the stone pre-bonded.

The floor access covers were installed by Lindner, the market leader in raised flooring systems. Calcium sulphate floor panels are ideal for sustainability as they are manufactured almost exclusively from recycled materials – an important consideration for the NAIC which is aspiring to a BREEM excellent rating.

The Technical Department at Howe Green are frequently called upon to help develop a bespoke solution to an access challenge. Established in 1983 the company has a gained a real insight into designing and manufacturing access covers that can deliver the right aesthetic whilst fulfilling the required performance criteria.

The 7500 Series Medium-Duty Floor Access Covers are available in a range of standard sizes from stock. They can be manufactured in stainless steel or aluminium as single covers, duct runs or multipart units. With a performance loading suitable for up to 5 tonne pneumatic tyre wheel load the covers can be used in areas with pedestrian traffic, cars and light delivery vehicles.

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