REHAU reaches new heights at South Quay Plaza

South Quay Plaza in Canary Wharf is set to be one of the tallest residential buildings in Europe when completed. REHAU’s RAUTHERM PE-xa underfloor heating pipe was chosen by Instacoustic to be specified and installed in a total of 685 apartments across 67 floors in the building, to provide underfloor heating with the Instacoustic cradle and batten system.

With over 25 years’ experience, Instacoustic are well known for providing innovative environmentally friendly products that help specifiers and developers with comprehensive sustainable solutions for effective sound insulation on new build, conversion and refurbishment projects.

Location	Canary Wharf, London
Year	2019
Products	RAUTHERM PE-Xa underfloor heating
Installer	Instacoustics

Instacoustic’s patented acoustic systems are designed and manufactured to the highest standards and exceed, the latest building regulations to provide extremely high standards of acoustic control against the transmission of impact and airborne sound.

REHAU was tasked with engineering an underfloor heating system that would fit within the fixed structure provided by Instacoustic. Together, both brands created a support bracket and a pre-routed support panel for the underfloor heating that created very thermal transfer. In essence they developed a system that provided an effective, thermally efficient and dry installation that delivered on excellent acoustics for the building’s residents.

Matthew Miller, National Sales Director at Instacoustic said: “Close to five years ago we identified that underfloor heating with premium floor systems was something the market desired and we have seen massive success since we decided to venture into this area.

"In this dynamic industry, REHAU’s products and services definitely complement ours and it seemed like the perfect partnership for this project. South Quay is our first big project with REHAU and I am glad to say that it was a massive success.

“REHAU’s technical expertise is second to none and the information and support provided by them helped us to a deliver a system easily and efficiently, especially on a site level. As a brand, REHAU is quite competitive commercially and I believe their quality products at great price helped us win the project overall."

REHAU has been supplying underfloor heating pipe for more than 50 years and uses the high-pressure peroxide method of crosslinking in manufacture, which was pioneered by the company. The pipework can tolerate extreme temperature and impact and will withstand pressure surges more effectively than pipe made from copper, steel or CPVC while also avoiding water hammer.

Renowned for its flexibility and durability, PE-Xa is a crosslinked polyethylene material which is achieved via a change in its molecular structure thereby chemically linking the polymer chains to form a three-dimensional network. Operating temperature and pressure ratings on PE-Xa pipes manufactured for underfloor heating applications include 6 bar at 70°C and short term temperature resistance of up to 110°C in case of malfunctioning safety equipment. All REHAU PE-Xa pipes always have minimum burst pressures way above normal operating pressures.

The product also boasts some environmental credentials which include an overall lower cost to the environment when compared to alternative piping options, with no chlorine being used in its manufacture. With smooth interior walls and excellent flow characteristics, pumping costs can be reduced and energy is saved to provide a faster delivery of hot water. Heat loss is also kept to a minimum and there is no condensation through pipes when compared to equivalent copper products

South Quay Plaza has been developed by Berkeley Group and was designed by Foster & Partners Architects. Consultants for the project were WSP. Situated in Canary Wharf, the building is a mixed use, sustainable waterside development.