Stoke Mandeville Hospital

This healthcare project at Stoke Mandeville Hospital will see the creation of new 3,500 square metre children’s emergency department on the ground floor with a paediatric resuscitation bay and a new overnight observation ward. Not only will the new building provide a dedicated area for children but it will free up much-needed capacity for adult patients in the existing emergency department, reduce overcrowding and improve infection control.

The site utilised Gripple Fast Trak, along with Trunking Clamps and Cable Basket Clips to suspend electrical containment throughout the development whilst providing significant labour, weight and embodied carbon savings.

Back in 2020 the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust was the beneficiary of capital funding enabling the extension of these essential facilities. The Coronavirus pandemic highlighted the need to create more spacious facilities to reduce overcrowding. The need to reduce overcrowding meant that time was of the essence on this project. This made Gripple’s rapid trapeze system, Fast Trak, an ideal solution.

The innovative Fast Trak system by Gripple is made up of a prefabricated slotted channel, whilst a patented 'Track' and 'Cartridge' allows you to safely install a complete trapeze bracket up to six times faster than traditional rod and strut. The benefit of Fast Trak’s time-saving ability was evident here, saving 627 hours of labour when compared to traditional systems. That is the equivalent of nearly 16 weeks of work!

Gripple Cable Basket Clips and Trunking Clamps help to save time and labour, benefitting from a simple attachment to the bracket. These products are fixed by a simple quarter-turn attachment to Gripple brackets. The Trunking Clamp has a significantly faster installation time than traditional methods when it comes to the secure installation of trunking. Both are tool-free and easy for installers to use.

Before work could get underway a pull test was required to verify the suitability of the substrate before installation. Gripple Area Sales Manager Josh Bloomfield explained the pull-test process: “The tests were performed on the concrete soffit on the 2nd floor in the plant room. The Gripple pull test samples were affixed to the concrete soffit before the Hydrajaws pull test machine was attached and operated. It was great to see a return of 4kN when the sample was fixed into the timber joist through the plasterboard."