Prefabricated construction – whether an entire building, home or plumbing pipe system – is beginning to increase in popularity and use. Modularity, speed of installation, cost savings, and sustainability are just some of the key benefits that are attracting customers and developers to prefab solutions. So when Unica, the installer on the new Amphia Hospital project at the Molengracht site in Breda (The Netherlands), needed a soil & waste drainage pipe solution, they decided to go with a prefab pipe system.... from Wavin.
The Amphia hospital is one of the largest clinical hospitals in The Netherlands. Amphia is part of an esteemed network of hospitals with a variety of sites, each reflecting different medical specialities. The Molengracht site will be home to this new construction – a state-of-the-art hospital that will offer emergency and complex specialised medical care, as well as some elective care. Designed by architects from the Dutch firm Wiegerinck, Amphia at Molengracht commenced construction in 2016. Unica is the installer for all sanitary installations whereas Wavin is the supplier for the waste water drainage system. The progression of the construction can be seen via the live webcam – posted on Amphia’s website.
Because a new hospital is much more than some walls and a roof. Amphia Hospital
Unica hired Wavin to produce, supply and deliver a prefabricated (prefab) waste water drainage solution that will service all bathrooms in this new hospital (total of 514 single person rooms each with a private bathroom). In the meantime the supply has extended to also include all prefabricated PE pipes for crawl spaces and PP/PE parts for the concrete slabs or floors.
We have chosen Wavin because of their ability to produce prefab systems together with their know-how on drainage and sewer. On top of that, we like the interaction and communication with Wavin. Piet Looij , Manager Sanitary Engineering at Unica
The prefab piping system consists of Wafix PP (polypropylene). Pieces are not longer than 5 meter in length, 2 meters wide and 1 meter high. So, the total prefab installation must be cut in 3 or 4 pieces. It should be noted that prefab is not restricted to welded materials. Push-fit can also be prefabricated (like here with the Wafix PP).
The prefab for the bathroom (PP) was to be delivered at a later stage, so Wavin commenced with the PE (Polyethylene) – for the soil stack and beneath or inside the concrete floor. As far back as the 1970s, Dutch hospitals have been using mostly PE because since it’s welded, it doesn’t require a rubber seal and also, it is completely chemical-resistant. In countries outside The Netherlands, PVC is more commonly used in hospitals.
The complete waste water drainage prefab design (31 items) for 1 bathroom looks like this:
Building components of a project off-site is becoming increasingly common in construction, simply because there are so many benefits to prefab. For Unica, the most compelling argument in favour of prefab is cost. Prefabricating materials is more efficient, saves time during installation and uses up less of the labour force. Four to five times more welds can be made in a prefab welding factory, compared to on-site.
When faced with the choice of welding/connecting pipes and bends in a repetitive way or having it all prefabricated at an external welding factory, the installer will inevitably take the prefab option! Important to note is that – in the tender phase – these large construction and installation projects are strict when it comes to costs.
Having a solution that guarantees efficient installation, will definitely give the contractor/installer an advantage in the bidding process.