Midland Heart – Loft Compartmentation Works at Brunel Court

Loft compartmentation works on an extra-care housing scheme - ensuring all allocated loft spaces were compartmentalised and fire safe.
Novus Property Solutions continued their long-term partnership with client Midland Heart at Brunel Court in Wolverhampton where we were asked to complete loft compartmentation works.
About Brunel Court
Located in the West Midlands City of Wolverhampton, Brunel Court was built in 1995 and serves as an extra-care housing scheme for people aged 55 and above.
The building consists of 35 one- or two-bedroom flats, a lounge, dining room, as well as other communal areas such as a hobby room, garden, and hairdressing salon.
Brunel Court is managed by Midland Heart.
Our Relationship with Midland Heart
Midland Heart is a leading housing organisation, delivering homes and services across the Midlands that enable people to live independently.
They own and manage 33,000 homes and are dedicated to providing decent, affordable homes combined with excellent services to over 70,000 customers.
They’re a trusted not for profit organisation whose social purpose drives them to reinvest all surplus back into customers, homes and staff.
Novus and Midland Heart have a long-standing partnership having worked together for approximately 7 years. During that time, we have delivered a wide range of different projects, in numerous buildings, across multiple locations.
What Did This Project Involve?
Our team from the Birmingham office were appointed to complete loft compartmentation works on the building.
The objective was to ensure that all allocated loft spaces were compartmentalised and therefore fulfil all necessary fire safety requirements.
What Makes This Project Stand Out?
This is a particularly large-scale undertaking involving extensive works to the building. This project also represents a particularly rewarding contract for Novus, totalling approximately £3million over the life of the contract.
What Were the Main Challenges Faced on the Project?
The nature of these works required our teams to have access to the loft areas of the building. Both accessing these areas and working within them safely proved to be a challenge. Novus operatives overcame this challenge by creating extra loft entries/exits in the case of a fire.
Additionally, the existing electric services needed to be moved safely and without damaging them.
Finally, working in a live environment such as this one always poses a significant challenge.
Careful scheduling and planning in collaboration with management at Brunel Court was essential to prevent residents from coming into contact with the works.
Novus teams took care to isolate the working area from residents, this was also a key factor in the safe delivery of this project.
Client feedback
These are challenging times but it hasn’t stopped us or our fantastic team of contractors installing loft compartmentation to our buildings.
We’re closely following all the COVID-19 precautionary measures to reassure our customers and ensure they and our contractors stay safe whilst the work is carried out with positive feedback from all involved.