The first enquiry for this project came in during August 2020, following a recommendation from the builder. When we went to meet the client our director, Michael realised it was someone he had worked with over 25 years ago when he was repairing fridges. This project was for a new gym called Ignite which was opening up in Cuffley and they wanted air conditioning and ventilation throughout the building. After creating a design, and then pricing up the project, we were delighted to win the work and started on-site four months later.

We have completed air conditioning and ventilation installations in both private and commercial gyms before however, this was the biggest gym project we have done. Like any development of this scale, there were some specific obstacles we had to overcome. This included the showers and changing rooms being situated in the basement which had particularly low ceilings. In fact, the space was just 2.1 metres high, so we had to install specialist units for this area of the building. Other parts of the building needed particularly large units and a lot of work was required to get them up onto the ceiling. However, we worked closely with the wider project team, including builders and electricians, to ensure this happened smoothly and on-time.

The pandemic also caused some additional challenges for us, but it was vital the gym was ready for reopening as soon as restrictions allowed so we had to be flexible with our plans. There have been supply issues within air-conditioning and ventilation equipment over the last year so it meant us looking for alternative suppliers to make sure we could get all the products we needed when we needed them. To reduce the risk of the virus spreading, the owner of Ignite Gym wanted to increase the amount of ventilation in and out of the building, so we installed units that would give additional air flow.

The gym is now open, and the feedback has been really positive. The day we found out we had won the work we had a ‘virtual hug’ to celebrate and thank the owner and we had another when the work was completed. We believe in creating strong working relationships with all our clients.