The project

Hastings Hotels acquired Windsor House on Bedford Street in Belfast in 2015 as part of a plan to redevelop the building and turn it into a 300-room hotel. The 23-storey former office block has been transformed and renamed as Grand Central Hotel, which is a nod to a famous old Victorian hotel in the city that was demolished in the late 1980s after standing for nearly 100 years.

A1 started working with contractor Michael Nugent Ltd in early 2017 to design a chimney system that would go on the outside of the 80m tall building. 

Our design 

We designed, manufactured and installed a common flue system to serve both 310/8 and 610/8 Remeha gas-fired boilers. 

The main section of the chimney was a 400 mm diameter twin-wall stainless steel common riser, which was 76m long with a 3m external above the building and included a tapered reducer above the 425mm inside-diameter base tee.

The design also included the following sizes of lengths and bends:

• 250mm and 350mm for branch connections to the side of the common header
• 425 mm to accommodate the connection of the three boiler flue pipes and 90-degree ‘booted’ base tee at the bottom of the riser

As the chimney was fixed to the exterior of the building through cladding, we had to develop specially designed primary and secondary brackets to ensure a secure fixing.

The cladding of the exterior is very striking and colourful, and the full exterior chimney system was powder coated to match the colour of the cladding.

Testimonial

“We have previously worked with A1 Flues and know their capabilities because of projects such as The Shard – which meant we knew they could easily deliver an 80m tall chimney and flue system for such a prestigious project in Belfast. They were able to adapt the design to factor in the cladding on the exterior of the building and manufacture specially made brackets. We were impressed at the speed of the installation – which only took two days!” John Stevenson, Contracts Manager, Michael Nugent Ltd

Facts at a glance

Client name: Michael Nugent Ltd

Project value: £15,000

Time to complete: 24 months

Location: Belfast