Building Services Engineer -
Carol Matthews
COMM: To bring a building to life it needs essential systems such as heating, water and lighting which building services engineers design.
COMM: Trainee building services engineer, Carol Matthews, had the opportunity to work on Birmingham’s iconic Bullring Shopping Centre early on in her career.
CAROL: We’re currently at Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham and this was one of the first projects I worked on with WSP. It was just a great project to work on.
The reason I decided to choose building services as a career was because actually WSP gave me the opportunity to carry out two weeks’ work experience while I was still at school and that just opened my eyes to what there is apart from the normal options that you actually think of.
WSP have sponsored me to go through all my qualifications while I’ve been here and that’s right from National Certificate up to degree level which is what I’m studying at the moment. And it’s nice because you actually get to go to uni or college and look at the theory side and then you actually go into the office and you actually put it into practise.
COMM: Carol has indeed put her theory into practise here at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire where her first solo project is a catering unit for their new diagnostic and treatment centre.
CAROL: The design I’ve been looking after for the new DTC Catering Block has been all the mechanical services that consists of heating, cooling, mechanical ventilation, gas supply, hot and cold water. There’s also some kitchen extract canopies.
MICHELLE: Carol and I work together on a daily basis. She will provide me with information on sizes of connections to the pipes into her buildings. Then I’ll produce a drawing to show where that connects into the existing pipework that’s laid on site and she will then carry that forward to produce a drawing of the connection into the building through the building fascia into the plant room and then she’ll do the design of the plant room.
CAROL: I feel in the last 6 months I’ve learnt an awful lot. I’ve really progressed in the knowledge, my confidence, everything basically that has helped me to design a project from start to finish. Being involved with the project team so closely, going to meetings, talking to people on site, it just actually makes you feel part of the project, that it’s your project and you’re the one that’s been involved and responsible for it. It’s your work.
CAROL: When I was involved on Bullring it was right at the end. The main area I was involved with was some of the tenant connection which was going to each outlet and looking at the fire alarm and the lighting and everything