A1 Flues
A1 Flues

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A1 Flues featured in Channel Five documentary

Everyone at A1 Flues was glued to Channel Five to watch the documentary about the construction of The Leadenhall Building in London.

The skyscraper, which has affectionately come to be known as The Cheesegrater, is one of our highest-profile projects. Although our team of installers weren’t interviewed, they can clearly be seen, as the programme focused on the last stages of construction with the installation of the heating and boiler systems.

We reckon they saved the best ’til last, as the unusual design of the building means that the mechanical and electrical services – including the central heating and power (CHP) plant – actually occupy the top four floors of the skyscraper.

It’s usual for all these to be housed in the basement, but the architects wanted to maximise the rentable offices in the wedge-shaped building, and the top floors have the least amount of space.

This was described as an ingenious idea, but, as the documentary showed, installing such a lot of plant equipment into such a small space was fraught with challenges. We know full well what a challenge this was, as part of the design had a self-supporting steel structure to support the flue system. The challenge was compounded by the fact there was a 10° angle between floor levels, as it could not be attracted to window frames.

The last ten minutes of the programme made for compelling viewing as the generators were craned into position. Once this was done, all the contractors could crack on finishing the CHP. There were a few times when we spotted Robbie and the rest of the team wearing their A1 high visibility vests as they installed the flues in lightning quick time.