The Ask:

We were asked to install a 4.8m x 4.3m pod over two parking spaces between columns and within the ground floor of a multi-storey car park and shopping centre. Access was via a ramp down from the ground level busy highway, turning 90 degrees into car parking with a height restriction of 2.3m

The Solution:

The Pod was constructed in Dorset at our production site, separated into two sections, packed and wrapped up, HIAB lifted onto a low loader and began its journey to the final destination in Tallaght, Dublin. The building was steel framed, built as two sections that were then re-connected on site.. The construction challenge was to create stability for the front glazed half of the building and allow for both sections to be HIAB lifted on and off the trailer and reconnected in situ. Internally the pod had been pre-finished with corporate branded wallpaper, walls clad, fully electric and data installed, flooring, suspended ceiling and lighting. Essentially all the client needed to do was plug it in.

The Extra Challenges

Storm Arwen an ‘extratropical cyclone- with gusts up to 100mph put in an appearance which first delayed the collection, and then Storm Barra ‘dangerous Bomb Cyclone’ joined the party and prevented the shipping.

Our pod sat at Liverpool Docks for 48 hours, waiting for shipping to re-start, while our installation team watched the 100mph winds, checked all the weather apps hourly and waited to see if the building would arrive within the installation window.

Eventually, the pod was offloaded at 7.40 am – 5 days late – and with hours to spare before the install team had to return home. The pod was offloaded 1 mile away from its final location; we transported the sections on a low loader through the city centre, down the access ramp with a 90-degree turn into the car park area. We had a 100mm height space spare to offload the building section with a forklift onto skid plates and manoeuvre into place, avoiding various obstacles hanging from the ceiling, such as signage and air circulation systems. We did this twice! There was a second installation visit when the two sections were re-connected, and the building was whole again, signs installed. We managed to do all this in 3 days.

The Reward

Happy to say our client was extremely pleased with the finished product and we received a second order for the next challenge…..see ‘Dublin City Centre’

We did think at one point when the second storm hit that we were being persecuted by the weather gods - but we really do love a challenge, our teamwork and joy of problem-solving sustained us!