Geberit plumbing fittings helped the developers of Marco Apartments in Melbourne CBD save about $876,000 from space gains as well as reduced labour and time requirement. The developers were able to save 104sqm of usable space with Geberit Sovent fittings, which reduced the number of stacks required for the building’s drainage system.

Designed by the Buchan Group, the Marco development on Melbourne’s Southbank offers 460 luxury apartments across its two towers. At 36 and 40 levels rising up to 130 metres above street level, the tall development posed significant challenges for plumbing contractors, Complete Plumbing Contracting.

Though conventional drainage with secondary ventilation was specified initially for the development, Ben Young from the plumbing company understood the advantages of Geberit’s Sovent drainage system.

In addition to significant economy of scale, Geberit Sovent fittings increase the capacity of the discharge stacks and eliminate the need to install a parallel ventilating stack, resulting in substantial cost savings in terms of both material and labour. By improving the design of the Sovent 110 fitting, Geberit was able to increase the discharge capacity by more than 30 per cent.

Additionally, the reduced number of stacks also increased the usable space in the building, creating substantial value for the project.

“We always specify Geberit HDPE trade waste and drainage system. We’ve installed Sovent and Pluvia on all the high rise developments we’ve been contracted to because of their reliability and cost saving factor. We had the specification on the Marco development updated to include Sovent, Pluvia and Geberit HDPE piping. We trust Geberit products to get the job completed without any problems,” Young said.

The Geberit Pluvia siphonic drainage system reduced the number of downpipes in each tower to just one from the six downpipes required for a conventional roof drainage system. This meant the two towers needed just two downpipes to be installed against twelve that would have been otherwise required.

The reduced number of drainage stacks and rainwater downpipes resulted in fewer floor penetrations and risers being installed. Floor penetrations were reduced from 192 to 32 in the West Tower and from 174 to 29 in the East Tower.

For Young and his team, Geberit offers a safe and reliable solution: “The Geberit drainage systems we’ve installed have worked perfectly. They’ve withstood the challenges of wild weather conditions, operating flawlessly, as they were designed to do. It’s the case with all Geberit piping systems we’ve specified and installed over the last 12 years.”

Geberit also simplifies the process of siphonic drainage design and installation. The plumber has the flexibility to design a site-specific solution using ProPlanner design software. Once pipe runs are co-ordinated and the design process is complete, ProPlanner can prepare a parts list, which is issued to the site crew.

Space saving with Pluvia

Geberit’s Pluvia siphonic roof drainage system was installed at the Marco apartments because, unlike conventional roof drainage systems, Pluvia drains larger volumes of rainwater using fewer pipes of smaller diameter. The smaller pipes are easier to install and handle and require no fall. For the plumber, smaller pipe sizes and the ability to lay pipes flat delivered considerable space gains.

Ease of installation

Geberit HDPE piping solutions are made from flexible lightweight material and feature robust welded joints, making them ideally suited to prefabrication on or off site. Geberit can facilitate custom fabrication of Sovent stack risers to suit the unique requirements of any project.

Geberit can also provide training and accreditation to plumbing contractors and apprentices in the installation of all Geberit HDPE products as well as the operation of the ESG 3 electrofusion welder. Young says, “Our plumbers found it easy to install the Geberit systems and it was a pleasure to watch them in operation. It was also reassuring to know Geberit technical experts were available for onsite training and support if we needed it.”

Architecture & Design Team

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