REHAU’s PROFILA data trunking has been specified for a high-quality student accommodation development in Portswood, Southampton.
The Vita Student residence – being delivered by the Select Property Group – will provide convenient, city centre accommodation for students attending the University of Southampton and Solent University Southampton. Built on the site of a former bus depot, the 435-bed residence will also include an impressive communal area, a large social hub, movie room, gym, private dining and dedicated study areas.
Select Property Group currently operates 10 student residences across the UK, and each one has been designed and built to meet increasing demand for high-end student living. The company has a standard design for its student bedrooms to streamline costs, installation and maintenance.
The chosen constructor for the Portswood project is Morgan Sindall, who appointed local firm J&B Hopkins to deliver the electrical services within the building. This included the data cabling required for each of the 435 bedrooms.
Andy Hindley, project manager at J&B Hopkins, said: “Select Property Group has a set design for each of the student bedrooms, including the cabling requirements. The data trunking specified by them was very minimal; in each room they wanted a 1m section of trunking which would house the HDMI for the television, a data point, a USB charging point and a double socket. This would be mounted on the wall underneath the desk, around 400mm from the floor.”
Although the specification was very prescriptive, Select Property Group were happy for the contractors to choose their own products to deliver the design vision, so Andy began researching suitable trunking solutions. He had used REHAU products in previous roles and was keen to see what they had to offer.
Andy continues: “We looked at the REHAU PROFILA Data range and it was perfect for what we were doing. It is a good quality product, which would fit in with the high-end spec of the development, but it was also competitively priced.”
REHAU’s high capacity PROFILA data trunking has been designed to meet the requirements of the latest power and data cables. With a depth of 65mm, it is the deepest trunking in its class, able to handle modern data cabling and power cables with ease.
Andy said: “Installation of the PROFILA was very quick and simple. It comes with holes pre-punched into the base, which saves time on install, plus it has an open design so once its on the wall, we can just run the cables in and fit on the front cover. REHAU were able to supply the PROFILA in 1m long sections for us, so there was no cutting required on site which meant it was less time to install, less mess and less waste too.”
The PROFILA is a robust, hardwearing trunking with discreet and effective rivet fixings to ensure the PVC-U trunking stays securely in place – ideal for high traffic areas or rigorous use.
Andy concluded: “PROFILA was the right product for the Portswood project and our installers have been more than happy to fit it, with no complaints. We are very confident this product will be a fit and forget for us, and we won’t be getting call backs about it.”
Steve Richmond, Marketing and Technical Manager, Building Solutions at REHAU said: “On a big job like the Portswood student residence, time saving features soon add up. Our PROFILA trunking is very quick to install but by going the extra mile for the contractor and delivering the product in a custom length, we’ve saved them even more time on site, helping them to work more efficiently and stay on schedule.”
The installation of the PROFILA trunking at the Portswood scheme is due to complete later this year, with the accommodation opening to new students towards the start of October this year.