Vranch House is a centre for the treatment of over 2,000 outpatients with physical difficulties, a provider of various therapies throughout Devon and an independent Day School in Exeter for children with significant physical difficulties.

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Last updated: 27/03/2024

New Children's Assessment Centre: January Update

New Children's Assessment Centre: January Update

Date added: Wednesday 12th January 2011
Latest updated: Thursday 23rd February 2023

We start a new term here at Vranch House with the children returning from the most extraordinary period of Christmas weather in recent memory. The first significant snowfall came on the last day of term, which became the unofficial first day of the holiday break, when those children who had managed the journey in were sent home because of the forecast! However this was minor compared to the snowfall that followed over the weekend.

Not surprisingly, this caused significant problems for the construction work on the new building. Following the stormy conditions in November and the exceptionally cold start to December, and now unusually heavy rainfall in early January, it certainly feels like the elements are conspiring to challenge the project.

The freezing conditions in early December postponed the scheduled bricklaying, and the more recent snow has done the same for the tiling. Now the weather has at least warmed up, both are under way. If we have no further hold-ups they should be completed around the end of January. Currently; much of the brickwork is up to damp-course level (the darker bricks in the photos), and the tiling coverage is perhaps 15%.

Initially, it was possible to rearrange some of the other work to compensate, but with such an array of difficulties, delays to the schedule are now inevitable. In addition, there are secondary delays caused by the fact that many tasks are reliant upon other work being completed beforehand. For example; the window installers are scheduled to start work as soon as the brick walls are finished. If the brickwork is delayed by the freezing weather, the windows are delayed. The window fitters predictably have other work in their diaries, and further delays are incurred.

Originally, the building was planned for completion in April. Owing to the compound delays caused by the adverse conditions, this has been pushed back to June.

Although the weather has affected the external construction, the internal work has continued largely unhindered. All of the timber frame work is now completed and the timber wall panelling has also been installed. As you will see from some of the pictures, the internal ‘first fix' work: electric cabling, data and communication cables, and the plumbing for the under-floor heating is nearing completion.

The first floor heating pipes are now fully installed. They are fixed to the bottom of the timber flooring and insulation fitted below. Plasterboard sheets are then nailed to the timbers to form the basis of the ground floor ceiling. Some of the first floor plasterboard walling (or drywall as it is sometimes known) is also in place. This work will continue on both floors over the next few weeks.

Between Christmas and New Year, preparations were made for the ground floor concrete screed which was pumped in last weekend. A thick polythene layer was fitted to the entire ground floor, followed by a 65mm foam layer and a thinner polythene sheet, conforming to the exceptional environmental standards of the building design. During the first week of January the PVC ground floor heating pipes were clipped to the top of these layers prior to the screed installation.