Hepworth Wakefield Art Gallery

The Hepworth celebrates Yorkshire’s unique artistic legacy and was designed by award winning architect David Chipperfield to be formed from a conglomeration of different sized trapezoidal blocks, responding to the scale and rooflines of the surrounding small scale industrial buildings. With water on two sides and visibility from all directions, the building has no front or back elevation.

The building blocks form the rooms of the building, with the galleries themselves on the upper levels and the lower level boasting a performance space, educational workshops, public facilities, and administration and back of house areas. Geberit Mapress Carbon

Steel, Geberit Mapress Stainless Steel Gas and Geberit HDPE piping were all specified, meaning Geberit piping systems feature throughout the building, including the hot and cold water supply, heating system, air conditioning, gas supply and fire sprinkler systems.

The Geberit Mapress system offered the contractor an easy to use, fast and safe alternative to conventional pipe jointing methods such as soldering or welding, as well as enabling them to ensure that all joints were firmly sealed thanks to its innovative pressing indicator. This reliability was a key reason for its specification on the Hepworth Wakefield project, particularly as it was crucial that the temperature within the galleries is kept at a constant level, to ensure that the irreplaceable original artwork is protected.

With so many pieces of priceless art on display, it was imperative that the pipework behind the scenes was completely leak-free, and this is where once again Geberit Mapress proved to be invaluable. Installers could ensure the system was free of slow leaks due to incorrectly pressed joints during the fitting process, leaving the artwork to be enjoyed by visitors to the Gallery for years to come.