GS Catering Equipment Ltd were employed by BAM Construction Ltd to supply and install the new catering facilities, including the kitchen, coldroom and servery into the newly built extension for the Holyrood Academy in Somerset.  Along with feeding students and staff the facility would also be used to provide catering out-of-hours. Grainge Architects with Western Blueprint Design were involved in consultation and design on the project.

We received our contract in August 2022 for completion by Summer 2023. We worked with our supply chain to meet the requirements of the kitchen design and our subcontractors were employed to undertake the installation of various elements of the projects: CED Fabrications Ltd – stainless steel fabrication and counters, KVP Ventilations for ventilation canopies and the service spine and our sister companies Award Refrigeration for the cold and freezer rooms and GS Engineering UK Ltd for the kitchen equipment.

The building was very high-spec, which included many designs with services not usually found in educational buildings, for example; underfloor heating in the kitchen. Our project manager had to coordinate very carefully with the M&E teams to prevent any service clashes with the electrics, water and heating and the kitchen equipment.

We used the client’s team BIM360 platform to present shop drawings for comment prior to production for all the bespoke items – fabrication, counters, ventilation canopies and coldrooms. We attended Design Team Meetings (via Teams) where the drawings were discussed, and any required revisions applied.

As the servery counters were not standard designs and there were angled sections with a theatre-style cooking counter in the servery area, we undertook site measures with our counter subcontractor (CED Fabrications) and had coordination meetings with site electricians for the positioning of heat lamps and services to the counters.

Following final drawing approvals and to mitigate potential mistakes, GS Catering Equipment’s project team and the appropriate subcontractor checked all dimensions of the bespoke items prior to manufacture.

The academy’s team had the opportunity to observe the installation of the kitchen and serveries at various stages and from their first viewing they expressed their enthusiasm for the new catering facilities.

With the project manager working closely with the various teams, maintaining communication, and undertaking regular site visits the scheme was delivered on time, to a high standard, and with minimal snagging. We received positive feedback from the end user and BAM Construction from whom we have received further project contracts.