Queen’s House in Greenwich, built between 1616 and 1635, is one of the first classical buildings constructed in the United Kingdom. The last surviving section of the Palace of Greenwich is of major importance to British architectural history. Therefore, the recent maintenance work on the building had to be conducted with the utmost care.
Since hot works of any kind were not permitted on-site, traditional soldering or brazing of pipework was not an option. Instead, “cold” press connection technology was the chosen methodology for the pipe installation. Mechanical and electrical maintenance specialist Red100 selected Viega’s Profipress system for use on the copper heating pipework while the stainless steel greywater pipe was connected with Sanpress Inox fittings.
Stephen Phillips, Director at Red100, was happy with his decision: “We were familiar with press connection technology, having employed it on a number of similar projects. We had been recommended the Viega systems and were impressed by what we saw when we visited Viega’s production facilities in Germany.”
Highest security for priceless artworks
Due to the historical significance and protected status of the building as well as the priceless nature of the artwork housed within the Queen’s House, which is now a museum, the security of the connections was paramount. Any water leaking from inadvertently unpressed joints had to be avoided. The SC-Contur feature in Viega’s press fittings ensures that any missed connections are reliably identified during the leak test. This avoids expensive and potentially damaging failures once the project is complete.
Stephen Phillips was very satisfied with the project: “We were delighted with the performance of the products. The installation on Queen’s House went very smoothly and as a result we have subsequently used the Viega systems on other projects.”
