Whether preventing the spread of dust due to manufacturing processes or the reverse of this, to prevent dust getting to stored and finished goods, Westgate are regularly contacted by manufacturing and warehouse facilities who are looking to enclose existing mezzanine floors.

However when enclosing a mezzanine area there are always a number of additional complications to consider;

There are lots of penetrations and services

A variety of different ducts and services could run through the area, especially as a mezzanine floor is by nature much closer to the ceiling. Traditional building materials have difficulty accommodating multiple penetrations, whereas Flexiwall is easily manufactured to take these penetrations into account and can create a dust seal around them. This is achieved because Flexiwall is a pliable material until it is tensioned, giving much more flexibility during design, manufacture and installation.

There are structural loads to consider

Many mezzanine floors were likely installed calculating the expected weight of goods to be stored or processes that would take place on them. When the new need arises to enclose the space, building an additional heavy wall might not be an option!

Flexiwall is manufactured from lightweight materials which are suspended from the building’s existing steel work, so adding very little weight to the overall floor itself. To be exact when hung, Flexiwall can weigh as little as 500 grams per m2.

Maximising the floor space

It’s fair to assume that a mezzanine floor has been installed due to one of its main features, to provide more space within an existing floorplan! Therefore the last thing that you will want to do is reduce this space, by installing a wall that takes up lots of floor space. Due to the materials and installation methods used, Flexiwall requires no load width at the base, therefore the final wall is only 10’s of millimetres wide.

Retention of light and vision

Enclosing any area comes with the disadvantage of reducing light. To prevent the need for costly additional lighting Flexiwall comes with two key features. Firstly, it is available in a range of material options, which are translucent and allow light transit. Secondly, Flexiwall can be designed with any number of clear vision panels installed.

Minimising disruption to the current operation

All major projects come with an element of downtime and generally creating a full enclosure or partition is up there as one of the most disruptive. However with Flexiwall, installations are much quicker and cleaner when compared with building masonry or stud walls.

Panels are pre-manufactured offsite to design and once onsite are quickly suspended and tensioned. Recently over 600m2 of Flexiwall was installed in less than a week.

In summary it’s clear to see just how easy it can be to enclose a mezzanine floor using Flexiwall. Crucially, using Flexiwall is incredibly time-efficient in terms of installation and overcomes issues with weight, space and light.

WESTGATE

www.westgatefactorydividers.co.uk

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