5 minute read
Quietly does it
When The Floatation Sanctuary in New Plymouth was looking for a complete renovation, Climate & Plumbing jumped at the chance to be involved in this highly technical, out of the box project.
AUTHOR: NICK WALKER
The Floatation Sanctuary owners Eleanor and Phillip Dally (right) approached Climate & Plumbing for their renovation project. Onsite manager Paul Matuku-Daly (front left) and operations manager Heath Sheather are shown here in one of the float pod rooms holding Climate & Plumbing’s 2022 Outstanding Project Award.
W
hen the architect behind a business renovation calls the plumber before they talk to a builder or engineer, you know it’s going to be a technical job.
That’s exactly what appealed to Operations Manager Heath Sheather at Climate & Plumbing when the company was approached to work on The Floatation Sanctuary in New Plymouth.
“These are the kind of jobs we love to do—the out of the box jobs that aren’t mainstream,” says Heath. “When they came to us, it was like, ‘Yeah, we wanna do this; it’s different, it’s challenging.’”
Silence is golden
The Floatation Sanctuary provides a sensory deprivation experience for clients in state-of-the-art float pods. Its new premises needed complete renovation, which meant plumbing for three float rooms—each with a float pod, shower, toilet, handbasin and filtration plant room—as well as a sauna, client and staff toilets, laundry, kitchen and drink station.
“In a lot of other projects, someone else designs it and the plumber just installs it. But for this one, because the plumbing was so crucial, we worked with the architect to design the system to meet their needs.”
There were strict requirements around noise and water pressure. Floating in silence allows the brain to get into a deep state of relaxation, and any noise from pipes, showers or drainage would ruin the experience.
The client was adamant there should be no pressure drop across the system. It needed to handle clients showering simultaneously without them noticing any difference in pressure.
The system had to be retrofitted into an 87-year-old building where the only access in and out was through one narrow hallway. On top of all that, the water in the float pods was saturated with a unique mix of magnesium sulphate and other minerals that needed to be filtered and UV sterilised between uses.
“There was so much we had to consider,” Heath says. “We had to raise part of the floor, so the drainage was up to code, and we also had to cut the concrete floor in places. There was no adequate water feed, and there was hardly any room to take services through the roof space.
“If I went into the intricacies of the job, we’d be here forever. We did all the ventilation and heating as well, which required a separate specialised team.”
The plumbing team spent a long time working on noise control measures, double insulating and oversizing all pipework and coming up with some novel approaches to keep things quiet.
There were no elbow bends in the pipes because they create too much noise.
The float pool room is designed for couples, with showering, toilet and handbasin for two.
The plumbing system for The Floatation Sanctuary was retrofitted into an 87-year-old building with access through one narrow hallway.
Instead, everything was swept into gentle curves, which has the added benefit of less frictional pressure loss.
“For the hot water, we used welded copper through the roof because it’s better suited to higher temperatures. Then, when it hits the tempering valve to bring the temperature down, we specified a plastic pipe that’s much quieter.”
Climate installed its first demand rapid commercial water heater to cope with the water demand. All six showers can be used at the same time without any noticeable drop in pressure.
“Even the way the water hit the ground from the showers—you couldn’t have a huge splashing shower because it would be too noisy. We got right in the detail of how the water fell and went with a showerhead with a fine spray pattern, so it’s much quieter when it hits the ground.”
The job was completed in three months, which is no mean feat considering all the extra work that went into it. The pods had to be disassembled to fit into the building, then put back together once inside.
Every time someone went in or out, they had to clear the hallway. Plumbers would often work early mornings or late nights to get things done without being constantly interrupted.
Winning design
While hitting the functional requirements for the job, the finishing needed to be slick too. Visible pipe covers were powder coated black to blend in with the walls, and new concrete was matched to the existing floor. They had local fabricators make one-off shower channel drains with The Floatation Sanctuary laser cut into them.
The main plant room near completion.
“Everything had to be perfect and high end. People are going there for an experience, and everything would be noticed if it was off. You can’t hide anything.”
Their efforts were recognised at this year’s New Zealand Plumbing Awards, with Climate & Plumbing winning the 2022 Outstanding Project of the Year Award. Business owner Sam Tyson credits the whole team for rising to the occasion, particularly Heath and project manager Paul Matuku-Daley.
“It was such a huge team effort; everyone in the company was a part of it. Everyone knew about it and talked about it. Even people who weren’t involved in the project made allowances for the people that were.
“When little things come up, you just ask everyone and you’ll get the best result because you’re taking all these ideas into consideration. We have five generations in our team, so we get ideas from the 17-yearold to the 67-year-old. That’s our culture— we collaborate and put forward ideas and thoughts to come up with a plan. It’s how we deal with the tricky jobs that others can’t do.
“We feel pretty proud that a little provincial company like ours won a national award,” adds Sam. “It’s still sinking in because you’re back at work the next day and onto the next job.”
