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Shopping around: Royale’s contribution to a stunning new-build project

It’s been another busy period for Royale, and we wanted to take the time today to share another interesting and challenging project!

Country Food and Dining, a long-standing client of Royale, owns and operates a range of farm shops and garden centres across Berkshire. They came right to us once more for a new build project with some seriously specific requirements. Let’s take a look.

What did Royale do?

November 2018. It doesn’t seem so long ago!

A new farm shop – Cobbs Farm Shop and Kitchen - was being built. This project was in progress upon our arrival, with the overall construction spanning several months.

Working amidst existing equipment and structural elements is always a challenge. It’s often as much a task of removal and disposal as it is installation and respecting the time and space of other teams is a delicate process made better out of years of knowledge and experience.

So, what did these lovely people need? Simple – ish.

- Brand-new Daikin Air conditioning units
- A custom heating and cooling solution
- A tailor-made dry-aged beef room
- A general-purpose refrigeration room
- A delicatessen room & display unit
- A butchery area
- Butchery display fridge cabinets

Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? It becomes even more intricate when you consider the fact that these units operate at different temperatures – no one size fits all on this one.

An extensive job with varying components needs a team to match. We selected four of our best engineers (we’d say senior, but they might protest!) to ensure the right blend of experience and manpower to complete our work within the agreed schedule.

Pipes and planning

The process of installation in our line of work is about more than placing and plugging in; there’s real expertise behind the positioning and hiding of equipment.

This new build was a ground-floor affair. What that means, as you might imagine, is the pipework that feeds into the Daikin AC and ISA refrigeration units positioned through the build need to work around other piping in the floors and, where necessary, the walls.

The ideal result? You barely see it, but it works. Understandably, most clients don’t want exposed pipework snaking around their lovely new structure, and this task was no exception.

The real skill here is in blending newly installed units neatly while still retaining optimum performance. The length and positioning of pipework – and its proximity to other items or temperatures – can directly impact a unit’s efficiency and operation.

This means the Royale team needed to know exactly what was going where, and how the final building would be used and maintained.

A different approach every time

Jobs vary – we know it from experience. Some are easy, and others most certainly aren’t!

It takes experience to know how to appraise complex tasks accurately, and it requires more than a little elbow grease and skill to provide a great finish that does what it should.

Listed buildings are no exception here; strict requirements on renovation and rebuilding mean a team like ours must respect and retain the existing structure by working around important areas – and documenting that work along the way. The challenging mezzanine floor in our last article on a listed building project is another great example of this.

Modern buildings can be just as complex, with new builds bringing tight deadlines and extensive requirements. Over the years, we’ve earned quite the reputation for this kind of work!

A fine finish

We’re proud to say the team did a fantastic job.

As we’re sure our readers can appreciate from their own respective careers, the kind of comprehensive understanding and foresight needed for a project like this is only earned one way – experience. We’ve got a great bunch here at Royale, and we’re fortunate to employ teams which boast that valuable blend of specialist knowledge and practical understanding.

County Food and Dining, with a little helping hand from Royale, now enjoy an excellent heating and cooling solution for their newly opened store. Another local business supported and a happy result all round. Great job team!

We’re here if you’d like to chat

We’re genuine experts and we’re passionate about our craft. If you have a plan you feel we’d be able to help with, or would like general advice at no obligation, send us an email at [email protected] or call us direct at 01635 551446.