(35) Xh

2002

Healthcare

Healthcare
Systems
 The benefits of experience

SAS International is a World leader in the design and manufacture of precision engi- Blackpool Hospital
neered metal systems for suspended ceilings and interiors. Formed in 1968, SAS has
built a solid reputation for high quality building products by applying innovative and
original ideas to suspended ceiling design. Backed by a continuous programme of Doncaster Royal Infirmary
research, development and capital investment, the SAS Group is currently the largest
supplier of metal suspended ceilings in Europe. Kidderminster Hospital
Design
Royal London Hospital
SAS had pioneered the use of CAD technology by transferring information
directly from architects’ CAD systems to the SAS design offices.
Once design solutions are finalised production details are transferred to the manufacturing Whiston Hospital
plant, where integrated CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) facilities are utilised.
SAS’s commitment to total design can be measured by their involvement in the ‘Chek Stepping Hill Hospital
Lap Kok Airport’ project in Hong Kong, where a team of 16 on-site personnel and
Reading based design staff were operating 14 AutoCAD stations over a three year
period.
St. Bartholomews Hospital

Charing Cross Hospital

Manufacturing
SAS have four UK manufacturing plants, each specialising in particular aspects of
product and application requirements all of which utilise the most advanced technology Central Middlesex Hospital
of its type. With a production area in excess of 30,000m² SAS manufacture both high
volume standard products and unique bespoke systems to the most stringent quality Wythenshaw Hospital
standards.

SAS Ceilings in Healthcare

SAS has manufactured and supplied metal ceilings for many healthcare projects over a
number of years. Examples of which are listed below:

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 Investing in the future

The healthcare building of the future

The Private Finance Initiative (P.F.I.) - to build and operate
health care establishments for periods in excess of 25 years
has created the need for criteria to be set for the
performance of interior systems and products.
In the future building materials will be required to meet the
demands of the continuously developing health technology,
whilst minimising operating costs.
The changing property needs in healthcare are not dissimilar
to current tenant specifications for commercial office space.
The monthly published ‘Connaught Report’ by the Royal
Institute of Chartered Surveyors indicated that two thirds of
the UK’s second hand property, will not meet modern
specifications by the year 1998. Yet many of these properties
are less than 20 years old.
In the last 5-10 years the life cycle costing in the office sector
has played a significant part in product specification. Within
that same period metal acoustic ceilings have taken a 70% +
share in the suspended ceiling market.

Cost effective solutions must not increase

maintenance costs!
Historically the emphasis on low capital cost specification has led to,
in many cases, unacceptably high maintenance costs.
There has been much debate and concern in regard to; Health &
Safety, life-cycle costs and the suitability of certain mineral fibre and
This Brochure addresses the following:
short fibre products, within the United States, Germany and other
parts of Europe.
Durability
When investing in Private Finance Initiatives, life cycle costing must
be the key to all decisions. The capital investment in low maintenance
products will progressively increase savings during the life of the Life cycle costing
building.
SAS metal ceilings are now inexpensive, and with simple Ceiling accessibility
maintenance give a minimum of 25 years service. Within the SAS
range there are a number of easy access solutions to keep maintenance
and operational costs to a minimum. Acoustic absorption

Acoustic attenuation

Clinical separation

Partition head integration

Building cost benefits

Applications

Non contribution to hydroscopic and fungal growth

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 Investing in quality

Durability & Life-span

SAS offer a 25 year product life performance for their paint finishes in normal interior operating conditions, the need for maintenance is
minimal over the life cycle of a building.

Life Cycle Costing

SAS, in conjunction with a recognised quantity surveying practice for a major national retailer, have quantified the overall costs of a metal ceiling throughout
its expected life cycle. The metal ceiling solution was compared with a mineral fibre ceiling system and the associated costs identified. Whilst this report
does not address the suitability of products for healthcare it does highlight the significant capital cost benefits in the context of the total long term costs of a
building.

The costing exercise was based on a 20 year period and concluded that projected real cost
savings of some 47% are achievable using an SAS metal ceiling compared with a mineral
fibre ceiling. The consensus within the industry is that it is not likely that a mineral fibre or soft
fibre ceiling would be considered serviceable after 10-15 years.
When comparing other metal ceiling products with SAS metal systems, aspects such as the
thickness of the metal, the grade of steel or aluminium, priming, the method of painting, the
thickness of paint finish and the final surface performance are critical factors to the aesthetic
appearance and long term performance of the installation.

SAS, with their principle supplier British Steel, are totally

committed to providing enhanced real value to their
Healthcare customers and can prove this to be a fact under
the most stringent analysis.
SAS exposed paint finishes have a 25 year product life
given appropriate care and maintenance. SAS quality
control procedures ensure consistency of performance.
The full life cycle costing calculations are included
as an appendix available from the SAS marketing
department at Reading.

Experience of the User

In 1970 very few retailers used metal ceiling finishes to
their stores and the use of metal ceilings was first pio-
neered by companies such as Boots the Chemist and
Mothercare with some installations in use for 20 years
plus.
In 1997 90% of all the larger high street retailers: Tesco;
Sainsbury; Safeway; Waitrose; Marks & Spencer; John
Lewis; Iceland; C & A are committed to the use of metal
ceilings.

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 Maintaining building services

Ceiling Accessibility
The maintenance of services requires the ceiling void to be regularly accessed in numerous positions resulting in high demands on the
durability of the ceiling. As SAS metal ceilings are polyester powder coated they are not susceptible to paint chipping, and have a high
level of scratch resistance.
These features allow SAS ceiling tiles to be frequently removed without the damage normally associated with conventional mineral fibre
ceiling systems.
The range of SAS ceiling systems offer a number of different access methods. The three most popular options are described below:

1. System 130 - a lay-in tile with a tegular edge. The tile is demounted by using the ‘lift and tilt’
method.

2. System 150 - a downward demountable solution with a hinge and slide facility to retain the tile within the ceiling plane. The main benefit is that
ceiling tiles are not required to be physically removed from the supporting grid and therefore, are less susceptible to damage during maintenance
work.
Each tile (except perimeter tiles) have hinge down access and a slide along feature to gain access to larger areas of the void.

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 Maintaining building services cont

Ceiling Accessibility

3. System 330 - a lift and tilt system where the ceiling tile is
supported on two edges only. This system can also be supplied
with a hinge down mechanism where required.

In most suspended ceiling installations there is a void space behind the

ceiling. This plenum space may have a drop in differential air pressure
to the room space below - the room space’s ambient temperature being
higher than the void space. This normally causes air movement between
the two spaces thus generating unsightly pattern staining at the various
interfaces of a mineral fibre ceiling. A quality metal ceiling, properly
detailed, will not suffer from this pattern staining or air movement defect.
Where air conditioning supply grilles provide lamina air flow pattern
staining may occur adjacent to discharge grilles. SAS metal ceilings are
washable with light detergents and therefore this type of staining is easily
removed.

Acoustic Absorption, comfort and control

In general areas of hospitals there is a need to have a degree of
acoustic absorption to reduce the reverberation time and soften the
acoustic environment. The practical use of hard surfaces for dura-
bility extends reverberation times and increases general noise lev-
els as a result of unwanted reflection of sound.
SAS metal ceilings include a wide range of perforated tiles contain-
ing acoustic absorbers. These tiles offer similar acoustic perform-
ance to textured mineral fibre products, typical figures are given
below:

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 Precise division of space

Acoustic Attenuation
All SAS demountable ceiling systems can be specified to achieve a room to room acoustic attenuation performance of 35-40dB DNCW when calculated
in accordance with BS2750 Part 9, whilst still retaining total practical demountability by maintenance personnel. The detailing of electrical and mechanical
items incorporated in the ceiling plane should be discussed and agreed with the SAS Technical Department to ensure that the acoustic performance of the
ceiling is not compromised.
Traditional methods of room separation have involved full height partitioning to achieve acoustic privacy. Assuming background noise levels within hospital
complexes of around 45dB(A) with a 40 dB(A) separation achieved by a party wall then noise levels in excess of 85dB(A) will be required to be generated
before acoustic privacy is compromised.
Although clinical separation is recognised as an issue, there are large areas of hospital accommodation that do not have an acute clinical need for biological
separation, such as administration, consulting rooms and storage facilities. Full height partitioning which is normally used for this application is essentially
inflexible and necessitates the reintroduction of wet trades in future refits. Demountable partitioning systems give long term cost effective flexibility for future
space planning, thus accommodating the need of changing healthcare operations. Correct specification of the partition system and suspended ceiling
system will result in achieving the necessary acoustic separation without incurring costs in rerouting services or forming apertures for services in full height
partitions.

Clinical Separation/Isolation
The use of any perforated material is limited in the guide lines set
out in HTM60. SAS metal ‘plain’ ceilings tiles are unperforated.
SAS has developed two systems which address increasingly rig-
orous hygiene requirements whilst still maintaining access to the
void.

2. Alternatively if full clinical separation is required the

use of Arbosil 1081 High Modulus Sealant will
create a tile to tile seal, a tile to trim seal or a trim to
wall seal and offer a robust solution with an access
capability.

Partition Head Integration

Alugrid-Q comprises an aluminium threadform extrusion on a galvanised steel carrier to allow partition head fixing to the ceiling without creating holes in
the ceiling grid or tile. The partition head track is secured to the ceiling grid using an M6 threaded bolt. This arrangement, when combined with appropriate
tiles, can give room to room acoustic separation of up to 40dB.
The grid will satisfy the amended paragraphs in HTM 81 which require one hour grid stability in the event of fire and enable either evacuation or unrestricted
access for emergency services.
Specific areas can be designated to allow partitions to terminate on the underside of the ceiling plane, thus creating significant savings in installation costs.
Partitions can also be relocated to suit changing space planning needs, thus reducing long term refurbishment and maintenance costs.

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 Efficient building solutions

Building Cost Benefits

Traditionally partitions are taken through the ceiling plane to achieve an acoustic separation, forming small cells of
discreet ceilings rather than a single ceiling for a suite of offices.

Ceiling Height - 2.7m

Void depth - 1.2m
Partition above ceiling - 1.2m
Total partition - 3.9

1.2/3.9 = 30% of partition framework is unnecessary.

Fixing costs of such a partition to the underside of a structural floor are a lot more expensive than to the underside of a suspended ceiling.
The cost per m² for installing an identical ceiling system in twenty 12m² rooms is considerably higher than that for installing a ceiling in one 240m² room.
Typically the difference would be in the order of £5m² less for the latter instance. This is due to the lower wastage in tiles and grid, less requirement for
perimeter detailing and reduced labour to cut perimeter tiles.
There is often a requirement to take up non-regular perimeter detailing with plasterboard margins and allow the suspended ceiling to be maintained as full
access tiles. 300mm plasterboard margins typically have a budget installed cost of £25 per linear metre. This means that corridors and small office
installations come at a premium.
A fully accessible metal SAS ceiling system possibly with a perforated face, can replicate plain perimeter detailing by the use of plain faced metal tiles at
the perimeters. It is considered that plain metal tile margins would halve the cost of plasterboard margins.
In the example above (twenty 12m² rooms) the perimeter detailing (assuming the rooms are square) would be;

253m x £25 per metre = £6,325 (Plasterboard perimeter)

253m x £14 per metre = £3,542 (Metal tile perimeter)
this equates to a saving of £17 per m² over the total area.

All of the following factors also contribute to high maintenance costs.

Cleaning

Replacing damaged tiles

Replacing water damaged tiles repainting of tiles

General replacement of ceilings due to revised space planning requirements

Planned maintenance to the aesthetic appearance of the ceilings

Changes in face pattern, colour variation and accidental damage can contribute to the deterioration of ceilings over their life-span. SAS metal ceilings
transcend these challenges by providing a robust solution in terms of the base material, paint finish and engineered perforation options which result in
extremely low maintenance.
Without the inclusion of any other factors other than planned maintenance it has been shown that life cycle costings of an SAS metal ceiling will result in
a saving of 47% when compared with an average mineral fibre ceiling.

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Solutions for specific requirements

Applications
In this section various ceiling solutions will be proposed to cover a range
of ceilings encountered in hospital buildings.

Corridors & Hospital Streets

By their nature corridors will house many of the hospital’s mechanical
and electrical services in the ceiling void. Accessibility, therefore is of
prime importance.

SAS System 150 hinged ceilings provide downward demountable ceiling access for all full tiles, allowing the tiles to hinge down from a supporting grid.
The tiles continue to be supported by the grid and by sliding the tiles along the grid allows the tiles to concertina together enabling access to large areas of
the ceiling void.

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 Solutions for specific requirements
By using plain tiles at the perimeter and full sized central access tiles, a traditional plaster margin can be simulated.
Diagram Section wall to wall shadow trim/plain cut tile/full perforation 1500 x 300 /plain cut tile shadow trim
Aluminium Solutions MRI/X-ray
SAS manufacture a range of ceiling systems which are specifically
designed to meet the requirements of non-magnetic applications.
The system consists of aluminium ceiling tiles, extruded aluminium
grid and aluminium support components and bracketry. All the
visible exposed surfaces are polyester powder coated normally
to RAL 9010 (painting of concealed metal is optional) and conform
to the corrosion protection requirements.
Sterile environments
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Dust Free Rooms/Dermatology
Metal ceiling tiles can meet the most stringent of ‘clean room’
requirements. Where acoustic absorption is required the inclusion of
mineral wool pads encapsulated in cassette form with reinforced
aluminium foil, mean that there is no air movement through tiles.
During normal maintenance there is also no release of particulate
matter as a result of handling the tiles.
Operating Theatres/Wet/Clean rooms/
Hydrotherapy/Food handling areas
Humid environments offer a range of design challenges because of
the damaging effects of moisture. SAS ceilings are painted both sides
and have been tested to satisfy the most stringent corrosion tests.
SAS ceiling tiles have also satisfied a ‘1000 hour Salt Spray Test‘
(certification available on request from the SAS Technical Department
at Reading).
The exposed surfaces of SAS ceilings are designed and manufac-
tured to satisfy a 25 year life cycle in humid environments.
As well as being corrosion resistant, which will enable the ceiling to
maintain its high aesthetic appearance, the ceilings can be readily
cleaned to remove most soiling by using mild industrial detergents.
Care should be taken when cleaning not to use hot water as tempera-
tures in excess of 35°C can coagulate proteins which may result in
immoveable stains.
solutions for specific requirements

Ward areas
These areas need to offer patience a calm and clean environment in which to recuperate. The wards need to have a pleasant
aesthetic appearance, the suspended ceiling offers this by concealing services and by introducing high sound absorption to soften
an otherwise hard area.
Secondary to these primary requirements there is also the long term practical appearance of the ceiling plane. When different
components are included into a ceiling, there is the likelihood of differential ageing and the possibility of dust and dirt adhering
to the inverted edges. This must be avoided as part of GMP Design in the Pharmaceutical industry.
Using a flush concealed suspended ceiling system, SAS System
150 can offer sound absorption, a smooth or textured paint finish
and long term durability in order to maintain the aesthetic appear-
ance of the ceiling.
The positive twin pip location of the tile within the suspension
profile ensures precise tile alignment overcoming the problem of
lipping that is associated with traditional clip-in ceiling systems.

Accident Emergency Suites

These areas require high sound absorption, high acoustic attenuation and
minimal void compartmentalisation above partitions.
Traditional methods of design have involved full height partitions to provide
a degree of acoustic separation between examination rooms. Modern
commercial ceiling design can now achieve acoustic attenuation perform-
ance in excess of 40 dB DNCW and offer resilient flexible partition head
fixing.
The SAS system 330 metal ceiling can incorporate the Omega ‘C’ profile,
an integral threaded partition head fixing for use with fixed or variable
partitions. This offers the ability to remove and relocate partitions without
having to compromise the acoustic and aesthetic appearence due to holes
in the ceiling. Increased acoustic attenuation is achieved by a factory fitted
backing plate which is located within the ceiling tile.
The acoustic infill is manufactured from a mineral wool pad sealed into
perforated tiles with reinforced aluminium foil to soften what would otherwise
be a hard acoustic environment.

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 SAS International
31 Suttons Business Park
London Road Reading
Berkshire RG6 1AZ

Tel: 0118-9491092 Fax: 0118-9351219

www.sasint.co.uk enquiries@sasint.co.uk
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