The Chelsea Physic Garden is one of London’s hidden gems, a haven of tranquillity amidst the metropolis. This “secret garden” is not only a centre for horticultural and herbal education and research; it is also a place of great beauty and relaxation for its many visitors. Established in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, it continues to research the properties, origins and conservation of over 5000 plant species, specialising in medicinal plants and those of ethnobotanical interest. This activity makes the Chelsea Physic Garden the most significant historical place in London connected to the study of botany.
Chelsea Physic Garden – London
The Chelsea Physic Garden is one of London’s oldest botanical gardens, established in 1673, and required the removal of any redundant communication cabling and the installation of new fibre optic cables.
But it doesn’t only contain rare plants…
The listed buildings that house the plants – as well as those for laboratories, lecture rooms, a potting shed, offices and a shop – all require attention too. A survey of the communication requirements of these buildings led the Garden to commission ACCL to identify and remove any redundant communication cabling to the front and rear, internally and externally.
Dawn Kemp, the Garden’s General Manager, was impressed with ACCL from the start.
“It was very reassuring to have such detailed plans and method statements supplied well in advance of start of work and even before we had accepted their quote.”
Once the initial work had been completed, ACCL were charged with creating a link between the laboratory and classroom area and the potting shed back to the main building, all via fibre optic cable. This work was required to accommodate a new VoIP PBX system.
Of course, this work needed to be done with no disruption to the day-to-day activities of the Garden. But this wasn’t a problem, according to Dawn Kemp:
ACCL installed new Cat5e outlets in the main buildings, as well as the out-buildings, whilst 90% of the redundant cabling was removed both internally and externally. Not only did all this work improve the communication capability of the buildings, it also improved the overall appearance of them. For the installation of the fibre optic cabling to the classroom/lab access, equipment was used to route the fibre at high level to the rear of the building. This was done because future works to restore the open ceilings prevented any cabling being routed through the building.
A project of this nature doesn’t happen without some problems arising but these were only very minor technical issues which ACCL, according to Dawn Kemp, dealt with quickly and efficiently.
“They were very proactive in dealing with problems, and were happy to adapt if changing circumstances required it and to present solutions where any problems arose.”
Despite these minor problems requiring additional work, ACCL kept to its original price.
Where the Garden demanded additions, these were costed and agreed during the project. And this proactivity even extended to Dawn being given mobile phone numbers for ACCL staff onsite, as well as that of the project manager.
Get in touch today
Have a no-obligation chat with one of our data cabling experts, who can recommend a solution to suit your requirements and budget.