UNITE choose Advanced Showers for major refurbishment project

When the UK's number one student hospitality company UNITE decided to undertake a major refurbishment project involving the upgrading of 360 shower cubicles Advanced Showers were pleased to be considered for the project.

It was clear from the outsets that UNITE, catering for over 35000 students in 125 properties across the UK, know the industry inside out and that their requirements would be exacting.

Advanced Showers were confident that they had the right solution on two counts. Firstly the product range had been developed and patented by university professors in the early nineties specifically for student residences and secondly thousands of cubicles in hundreds of institutions have been fitted since.

Following initial discussions it was agreed that Advanced Showers would be given the opportunity to fit a trial cubicle with an appropriate door fitted in one of the residences at Orions Point Southampton.

As James Childs of UNITE advised:-
"The previous solution being used at Orions Point in Southampton was a combination of a shower tray and wall boarding, which we decided to upgrade to a superior finish. Any new solution had to be guaranteed leak proof, fit into the space available, cause no disruption and be capable of being installed over a short period of time during student holidays".

A trial unit was duly installed after which there was much discussion about the solution.

UNITE and their contractors had to satisfy themselves that the solution could be installed quickly, easily and most importantly met customer needs over the long term. In fact a guarantee of ten years was required.

There was one other critical issue - space was at a premium and how would the installers manoeuvre the product up to the eighth floor, through the shower room entrance and into position. Fortunately it was Advanced Showers unique patented sectional design that provided the solution.

As Andy Quoi of Olympic Heating and Plumbing highlighted:-
"The cubicle came in 3 sections allowing the plumbers to take each of the sections to the shower room and with minimum disruption fit the new cubicle without removing the old wallboard".

Having ticked the necessary boxes and following subsequent negotiations to ensure that the timescales were realistic an order was placed to fit 180 cubicles over an eight week period. The 650DXT was chosen with above floor access and a pivot door fitted with a lifetime guarantee. Advanced Showers designed a unique access panel to ensure a perfect finish. The work was planned to ensure that four clusters of six rooms were completed on a weekly basis. Delivery space was at a premium around Orion point but as Andy highlighted:-

"The vehicle arrived first thing every Monday morning, the cubicles were unloaded, unpacked, and taken directly to the rooms - the packaging material was put back on the truck for disposal. Within half an hour there were no signs that a delivery had taken place".

The first phase has now been completed and the rooms occupied by UNITE`s customers.

Leaving the last word to James:-
"We are delighted with the product and finish achieved and we look forward to considering Advanced Showers for future projects".

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