RAF Hadleigh

Name: RAF Hadleigh Estate

Location: Hadleigh, Suffolk

Size: 250 home estate

Activity: PFI MoD Personnel - Refurbishment

Quick and simple to install

The modular Mira Flight wall panels helped contractors shave a year off a five year programme of refurbishment, at 250 home estate whilst boosting tenant satisfaction. This was part of a PFI project providing homes for Ministry of Defence personnel the estate at Hadleigh, Suffolk which offered several types of accommodation ranging from three to five bedroom houses.

Designed for showering, bathing and hand basin areas, the Mira Flight Modular Wall panels are a range of tiled, waterproof wall panels. The wall panels achieve high quality professional installations with greater ease and speed of fixing than traditional tiling – a point appreciated by Tom Humphries, project manager for Cocksedge Building Contractors. Manufactured from acrylic-capped ABS for high impact resistance, Mira Flight Wall products incorporate BioCote® antimicrobial technology that keeps the panels looking like new by keeping mould at bay, eliminating the risk of grout discolouration or grout porosity.

A 'fit and forget' product, Mira Flight Wall Panels are low maintenance with a stylish appearance making them ideal for applications in social housing, hotels and student accommodation to name a few. Available in gloss white to offer a stylish contemporary finish, makes this product appealing to contractors and consumers alike. George Harvey, contract administrator for the Flagship Group, which operates and maintains the houses on behalf of the owners, Brookgate commented how "The tenants love the wallboards because they are so much easier to keep clean and looking smart than tiles."

The 2.1m high shower panels come in a choice of three notional widths – 760, 800 and 1200mm. Actual panel dimensions are: 735, 775 and 1175mm – tolerances being provided for by the complementary 25mm corner profile, which is inclusive in the panel's package. The bath splashback is 500mm high, while that for basins is 250 x 600mm.

Challenges & Requirements.

• Timeframe – there was a very short timeframe for this project, both tiles & Mira Wall Panels were considered for this project
• Large-scale x250 home estate
• Easy installation and maintenance

Benefits.

• The wall panels are a realistic alternative to tiles when compared to current wooden substrate or plastic alternatives (that remove the need for grouting and/or any visible silicone sealant when used with upstand shower trays or baths)
• A leak proof corner profile ensures complete integrity where the panels meet
• Manufactured from acrylic-capped ABS for high impact resistance, Mira Flight Wall products incorporate BioCote® antimicrobial technology which reduces bacteria and mould by up 99.9%

"We would never have been able to cut a year out of the programme if we'd opted for tiling," he comments. "We found that the panels are very quick and simple to cut and fit using diamond disc blades – so much so that we used them as bath panels to get a really colour co-ordinated appearance."

Tom Humphries, Project Manager of Cocksedge Building Contractors