Cpac Modular Marketing & Bid Manager Alan Boyce talks to Irish Building Magazine about the SAFEGATE Hygiene Pod which will provide clients with reassurance and peace of mind during the COVID years.

Meath based Cpac Modular is Ireland’s leading modular building company, providing innovation and the highest quality space to meet clients’ needs, covering schools, hospitals, private business, and the pharmaceutical and technology sectors.

Cpac Modular

Cpac Modular has evolved from the well renowned Cabinpac, who have delivered temporary accommodation units for schools and offices for over 40 years, to the hi-tech modular building company it is today. In recent years Cpac Modular has expanded with the recruitment of new highly specialised and qualified personnel. New processes have been adopted and BIM has been introduced with a new professional design team. Cpac Modular is at the cutting edge of innovation in modular building design and production, delivering volumetric units, separate to the traditional buildings. While, COVID-19 has increased demand and interest in modular units in general, Cpac Modular have also found that their innovative SAFEGATE Hygiene Pod is in great demand.

SAFEGATE is a direct response to clients’ needs, an extension of Cpac Modular work, to enable clients to do theirs. In an unsafe world, the SAFEGATE Hygiene Pod delivers controlled access management, giving clients reassurance and peace of mind. The Pod encompasses Temperature Monitoring, Hand Sanitation, Traffic Management, Face Mask Detection and Remote Monitoring. There are four models: BASE, BASE PLUS, ADVANCED, ADVANCED PLUS. The system is fully

adaptable to the needs of the client and can integrate with existing wayfinding and access systems.

Beginning R&D, Alan says the concept was simple, the goal: helping people safely return to work. “Our technology partners were very helpful, and we coordinated closely with the project team members in developing the Hygiene Pod. It was designed by professionals working in isolation. We used BIM and 3D volumetric construction in designing and building this unit.”

Features

People entering are managed by a green/red traffic lighting system – automatic locking functions on the entry doors can also be provided. Temperature monitoring technology is provided to scan individuals in one second increments; classification is Green – SAFE or Red – STOP. The temperature is set locally and is relayed in real time to monitoring personnel.

Management predicted that there would be changes over the course of COVID, however temperature remains the main COVID indicator. Pods are available fully plumbed with infer-red hand washing & drying facilities together with infer-red sanitiser dispensers. An intelligent CCTV system auto-detects the wearing of face masks and gives an alert if no mask is worn together with an audible instruction to put a mask on for entry. An intelligent CCTV system can be fully integrated with a variety of options. The Cpac Modular team also offer secure Wi-Fi enabled monitoring via tablet devices.

Management was monitoring COVID-19 long before the Taoiseach addressed the nation on 17th March. They had conducted research and were preparing to return to work in a safe manner, pushing ahead to develop the Pod for their clients. “Cpac Modular only lost two days to COVID-19 as we used the SAFEGATE Hygiene Pods to monitor staff entering our facility. We were able to produce Pods for healthcare facilities, Saint Vincent’s Hospital and Mayo General Hospital. The

Pod allowed 4,000 people to return to work and we won the ConstructSecure Platinum Safety Award for our response to COVID-19.”

Assurance

Cpac Modular want people to feel safe when they pass through the gateway Alan says. “Everybody that passes through has their temperature checked, they have a mask entering, and have washed their hands. The unit talks to COVID security on the other side of the gate and they are alerted if you do not comply. It will be advised that the person in the unit not be allowed enter the site. There is a high level of assurance, all backed up by fully accessable IT databases which can be used to refer back to at a later date if assurance of entry or exit is an issue or where contact tracing needs to be verified.”

The Hygiene Pod is designed for rapid install. “It has a quick-connect power solution on the side. The Pod is highly durable. It can be unloaded from a lorry and set up with power and a water supply within an hour. Inside it has drains and is easily cleaned. The technology is easily updated. There can be additions, QR code reading, ID and facial recognition. This is a smarter way of accepting people into your site,” Alan adds.

Alan believes that, while advancements in vaccines are being accellerated, the challenges that COVID has brought employers, educational and medical establishments, hospitality and venue owners are not going away anytime soon. “We will have to live with COVID for at least the next 18 months or maybe more. The key consideration is that when a vaccine does become available next year, employers and venue owners will not be able to identify who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t. By having a Cpac SAFEGATE unit they can have the reassurance of an efficient, hi-tech monitoring system at all times until the virus is eradicated. For now it provides controllable

access.” SAFEGATE can help people live with COVID restrictions and get on with their lives; clients are asking ‘When can we have it?’ “We are presently working on production for a large number of orders,” Alan says.

Cpac Modular are proving to be a faster, greener and smarter way to build.

With increased focus on turnaround and sustainability for mid to large scale construction projects, many are now looking towards modular and hybrid modular methods as effective solutions. Cpac Modular, with over 30 years heritage in modular construction development, have recently re-branded and re-focused their efforts to several new and innovative products and longer lasting modular construction techniques. Cpac Modular boast that they can assemble 90 units into a three story building in just three days.

“Modular is more cost-effective and can be up to 50% faster to complete than traditional builds.” says Alan Boyce, Marketing and Bid Manager with Cpac Modular.

“From a concept sketch or an architects proposal Cpac Modular can develop a full end to end, design and construction programme. We have the one of the most expert teams in the UK or Ireland and they can guide you through the process that can bring even the most ambitious ideas to life.”

Cpac Modular, have indeed been working on a wide range of innovative and challenging projects over the past number of years and in particular during 2020 when apart from major projects to tackle C19 with a number of Test Centres, increased hospital projects and a major facility at St. Vincents University Hospital, as well as their own Safegate Hygiene Pod, they also completed Ireland’s largest welfare and catering facilities for one of the country’s biggest tech employers.

This multi story building not only facilitates employees in terms of welfare and shower rooms, but also houses Ireland’s largest restaurant which feeds up to 4,000 employees daily. In addition, the company boasts that it has built enough educational space for over 4,000 school children and enough healthcare projects to accommodate over 1,150 bed spaces in the last 2 years alone.

Cpac Modular act as an agent for planning and building regulation approvals where required and in general will manage a project from building design through site investigations, services design, planning permissions, building regulations and also recommend any additional sustainable features to the design.

Their construction division manage the entire build programme and a dedicated contracts manager oversees the construction phases from the foundations and services to the factory build and installation of the building. To complete the site Cpac Modular can also take care of parking facilities, landscaping and internal fitout too.

While the site and foundations are being prepared, the Cpac building is already being manufactured in their large facility in Dunshaughlin, County Meath where they employ over 70 specialist workers as well as a full design team focused on BIM. Factory manufacture means a more dependable build programme that is not subject to weather or site conditions.

Manufactured under controlled factory conditions by skilled workers, to strict tolerances and to a stringent ISO quality control programme means the highest quality of build is achieved. As much of the build program is done in a controlled factory environment, waste is minimized and nearly all materials used are recyclable. So next to nothing goes to landfill.

“With up to 80% less activity on site. Modular constructed buildings cause less disruption and damage to the local environment and to wildlife whilst improving safety and security. In addition, with a faster production time you can occupy your building earlier and start getting a return on your investment sooner.” says Tadhg Twomey, MD of Cpac Modular.

Maintained correctly, Cpac Modular buildings have the potential to last for over 60 years. Cpac Modular buildings can also be relocated making them an even better long-term investment than traditional buildings.

“Short term space provision, especially in the in the Education and Healthcare sectors, has traditionally seen the provision of “Grey Box” style pre-manufactured units. This type of product, although purposely designed to suit a limited lifespan, can often lack relevance and optimal performance if used past the limited lifespan resulting in possible costly maintenance and much higher operational costs particularly in regard to heating and cooling.” Says Alan Boyce.

“We have recently introduced an enhanced product, ‘Cpac Hybrid Modular’ which achieves the look, feel and performance of an architecturally designed, traditionally built, structure but is delivered utilising Modern Methods of Construction and is manufactured off site to the highest quality and building standards delivered in less than 50% of the time taken to build from the ground up”.

The actual time on site can be up to 80% less than traditional build. While the benefits of considerably longer use in optimal performance together with prolonged cost savings on maintenance, heating, and cooling.

Architecturally finished exteriors can be tailored to conform to the local vernacular, a higher specification internal fit out with identifiable architectural features and steel frame structure, as opposed to grey box timber frame. This gives a longer lifespan and their modern heating and cooling systems also achieve NZEB (Near Zero Energy Building) standards.

One recent example of Cpac’s Hybrid Modular work is their project for Griffeen Community College. Here, a new 2 storey building was required to sit beside an existing, traditionally built modern three storey school. Cpac’s Hybrid Modular building was constructed off-site and architecturally designed to the highest specification with the look and feel of a ground up build; “this project stands as a best in class example of what modern school space provision can be” says Martin Murray, Sales Manager, Cpac Modular. “Our method of construction stems from our drive to deliver eco-friendly projects.”

The Griffeen Community School project meets all new requirements brought under the Building Directive (recast) 2020, achieving an NZEB standard. Renewable energy is utilised within this build by the use of air-source heat pumps, thus minimising the carbon footprint of the build over its lifecycle.

The building envelope was designed to complement the existing facilities and the local vernacular. A range of façade materials including an architectural micro-rib steel panel system with associated trims and an architectural fibre cement panel system. The windows include a glass spandrel panel which colour matches that of the existing facilities to ensure continuity of design throughout the entire facility.

Maintaining a comfortable indoor temperature was achieved at design stage through detailed analysis of the building fabric, building orientation, natural ventilation considerations and mechanical heating requirements.

BIM (Building Information Modelling) enables this transparent, collaborative approach. An intelligent 3D computer model is designed and shared with the client and all relevant stakeholders throughout the entire process. BIM allows for even the most non-technical stakeholder to fully engage and interrogate all aspects of the building.

“The 3D modular volumetric construction of this building enables a transparent and collaborative approach to design considerations. We engage with clients at an early stage to ensure all their requirements are achieved during the build. “ says Martin Murray.

If you would like details of Cpac’s Hybrid Modular solution or Safegate Hygiene Pod see cpacmodular.com or contact Alan Boyce (087 778 9193) or Martin Murray (087 390 0274).

In a world of chaos, created by a world pandemic, one modular building business, Cabinpac, has been able to transform their work practices through an impressively agile turnaround, enabling them to experience negligible impact on workflows in comparison to many others in the industry.

“We had to complete this project to support the real heroes at the frontline of the fight against Covid-19”

“Like everyone else in the country, the prospect of a lockdown was challenging for Cabinpac.” said Tadhg Twomey, MD of Cabinpac. “Apart from the obvious impact to the business, we were in the middle of delivery of several large facility contracts for which the jobs of thousands of employees were dependent. These clients included a large essential technology company and more importantly a large hospital client. We really had no time to waste as we felt we had to complete this project to support the real heroes at the frontline of the fight against Covid-19.”

Being this highly motivated, meant that the Cabinpac core management team and in particular their QEHS Manager, Deborah Kinsella and their H&S lead, Gerry Fallon needed to swiftly review all working practices and re-write the existing ISO 45001 Health and Safety Management System to effectively make it more robust by incorporating extensive Covid 19 safe practices and pre-empt any hitherto unforeseen challenges,

Over the course of one weekend, the entire production facility was re-engineered to enable social distancing

Twomey’s first action was to create a Critical Management Team and appoint a dedicated Covid-19 Security Officer to ensure all new sanitisation and working practices were followed. Cabinpac, moved quickly to innovate, and over the course of one weekend, the entire production facility was re-engineered to enable social distancing. “We intuitively, re-engineered our existing methodologies to rapidly deploy new work-practices specifically designed to protect our staff and ensure our ‘critical works’ client contracts remained unaffected” says Twomey.

Strict adherence to pre-advised and staggered start times was implemented to facilitate social distancing and was also visually controlled by giving employees in each production process a dedicated Hi-Vis vest colour. Any worker moving outside their dedicated work area can be easily identified by the Covid-19 Security Officer. These early Covid-19 measures meant that Cabinpac had the advantage of operating at full worker capacity before Government enforced a national shutdown.

Early Covid-19 measures meant Cabinpac had the advantage of operating at full worker capacity before Government enforced a national shutdown.

Cabinpac are continuing to enhance their ISO Covid-19 additional working procedures by introducing new ‘working-from-home’ initiatives, facilitating on-line inductions, toolbox talks and innovative smart phone technologies to decrease the sharing of keypads and screens. They have developed their sanitisation units to incorporate clock-in-clock-out devices into their temperature readers and continue to promote a paperless office where possible.

Cabinpac is an exemplar of how to work as an effective H&S team by evolving ISO management systems and processes to ensure agile and appropriate action to protect both staff and client interests, and it is now paying dividends for them.

If you would like details of the supply of a dedicated sanitisation / temperature scanning pods please contact: Alan Boyce (087 052 2995) or Martin Murray (087 390 0274).