Zip HydroTap looks after "The one with the BIG BLUE DOORS!"
Monday, 30 November 2009
Lee Jones, Facilities Manager
at "Central Beds HQ" (Central Bedfordshire District
Council Headquaters at Chicksands - Architect: Hamiltons - Consultant: Cundalls) talks about the positive impact the
energy-efficient Zip
HydroTap has had on the daily operation of this busy public
building.
Watch Video Case
Study here. Can't see it? Watch it on YouTube.
Most known as "The One with the Big Blue
Doors", Lee recalls the day the facility's most memorable
features were installed at Central Beds HQ:
"23 feet tall, each one weighs around a ton and a half. I
was here the day they put them up and the crane driver, whatever
they paid him, deserved his money! Hell of a set of hinges on
them!"
"I asked the Architect why - because I'm always going to be
asked the question - do we need 23 foot doors?! And the Architect
said,
"I want someone to remember the building"
"So what're they going to say, 'It's the one with the
glass'? No, people will say, 'It's the one with the big blue
doors'. And now people say to me, 'Oh I know your place - it's the
one with the big blue doors'…"
Completed in 2006, the Central Beds Council HQ is designed to
comfortably house 3-400 staff, and is designed for future
expansion. Lee - not the original FM on the project - talks about
the Zip HydroTap specification:
"The organisation made a commitment to install Zip
HydroTaps, however the product was somewhat unknown; my predecessor
had obviously seen the product and committed for the building. We
had 300 members of staff at the time (we have nearer to 400 in the
building now) who were somewhat concerned having never seen the
product: would they have to queue to wait for the hot water? But
basically the machines do exactly what they say they do - and we
have staff use them all day. They're on six floors - sixty people
on each floor - and they're in use from seven o'clock in the
morning 'til seven o'clock at night."
"Obviously we have the timing facility so we don't have them
working all the time. When the staff go home, the HydroTaps switch
off using the in-built "Sleep Mode" - it's all part of what we've
done to try to increase the energy efficiency of the
building."
"We've been three years in these premises and I can count
the amount of complaints we've had on one hand and they're normally
just some technical problem. Sometimes the Zip HydroTap Safety Lock
- which is there for a reason: it works, it saves you from scalding
yourself - sometimes it's a new member of staff who just needs to
have that explained to them: "press the button". No more complex
than that."
"I wouldn't have any problems recommending Zip HydroTap for
any other property. It's an absolute fact: we don't have problems
with the machines. Full stop"
*****
Visit Hamiltons website here
Visit Cundall website here
Visit Central Bedfordshire City Council website
here
Watch Video Case Study on YouTube
Photos/video © Zip Heaters (Aust, UK) Pty Ltd
Additional photos courtesy Hamiltons