Ormiston Victory Academy

Ormiston Victory Academy is a Norfolk based school project that has recently undergone an expansion to increase pupil numbers to 1,500. Gripple’s rapid trapeze bracket system, Fast Trak, was selected as the ideal solution to suspend electrical containment and pipework throughout the new development.

Due to a growing demand for places, Ormiston Victory Academy in Costessey, Norfolk has undergone a 300-place expansion to increase the school capacity to 1,500 students, which has seen the construction of a three-storey stand-alone teaching block alongside the existing school. The new building will include 16 general teaching classrooms, along with dedicated classroom spaces for art, creative media and food technology.

Gripple’s Fast Trak system was selected for the suspension of electrical containment and pipework throughout the new 2,910 square metre building. With the new school year pending, speed was essential for this project. With Fast Trak being up to six times faster to install than traditional methods, Gripple were able to offer a solution that ensured the contractors working on-site saved 161 working hours from their build programme.

Gripple’s Height Adjustable Universal Clamps were utilised to suspend pipework from below the Fast Trak brackets. Gripple's pipe clamps were ideal on this project as they allowed installers to make height adjustments to suit the exact requirements of the installation. They are installed using a simple quarter turn into the bracket, enabling pipes of different sizes to be installed along the centre axis and condensate pipes to be installed at a gradient for drainage. This was a perfect solution as Sotham Engineering's installation team utilised copper and steel pipes for mains water and hot water flow and return.

Fast Trak marks a significant shift away from traditional methods. Installers on-site at Ormiston Victory Academy commented on how quickly apprentices had taken to installing it. Fast Trak was installed throughout the build within a day, a task that the Contracts Manager at Sotham Engineering noted would usually take at least three days.

Gripple Area Sales Manager, Josh Bloomfield, commented: “Not only was time a big incentive on this project, but health and safety benefits were also critical influences. Fast Trak ticked every box for the job here and feedback from the site has been excellent. We were able to provide a value-engineered solution along with pull test reports to show the safe working load of Fast Trak.”