Two Awards for Penrose Dock at the Building & Architecture Awards 2021
Penrose Dock won two awards at the Building and Architect of the Year awards 2021 – ‘Building of the Year’ in the Large Office category and ‘Overall Building of the Year 2021‘. Penrose Dock has also achieved the ‘Gold LEED’ standard for its environmental credentials. LEED is recognised as the benchmark for green building standards globally.
Martin O’Brien of JCD Group said ‘This award was only achieved by the dedication and attention to detail from a committed Design Team, Main Contractor and the many subcontractors that were involved in the project.’
Techrete’s Wellness Team Challenge the Company to Walk 1.25 Million Steps in April.
April is ‘Stress Awareness’ month and it’s no surprise after a full year of the pandemic that the theme around the initiative is ‘Regain Connection, Certainty & Control’.
Walking is low-impact and one of the most effective stress busting activities we can do so we’re hoping that we can collectively walk the 1.25 million steps from our facility in Brigg to the HQ in Balbriggan to Leicester in April!
We will send a weekly ‘steps’ update to all who have registered for extra motivation!
Willmott Dixon Hands Over Low Carbon Techrete Project
The below press release details how Willmott Dixon delivered this low carbon project for University of Warwick. Techrete are proud to have manufactured and installed the precast façade – a major contributor to the sustainability of this project.
Willmott Dixon has completed the construction of the £33m Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB), which has been assembled with components manufactured offsite, at the University of Warwick
The new research building on the university’s Gibbet Hill campus will bring together up to 300 researchers who will be working to understand the origins and mechanistic basis of diseases of the body and brain, intending to find new ways to extend healthy life spans.
The facility will also house research in neuroscience, microbiology and infection, cell biology, and disease models, supporting and facilitating interdisciplinary biomedical research of the highest quality.
The development, which was project managed by Turner and Townsend, is 7000sqm and includes a 400-seat lecture theatre and five-storeys of laboratories, as well as various social and collaboration spaces.
Alongside housing a team of researchers, the development will also enhance the student experience, facilitate the growth of undergraduate schemes and foster interdisciplinary collaboration enabling life-changing biomedical research.
The building – designed by Hawkins Brown Architects and Fairhurst Design Group – has been completed to a standard with 50% of the development made up of PMV (pre-manufactured value), comprising of several offsite manufactured components, such as a pre-cast frame, mega-riser, timber frame, and cladding.
Net-Zero Carbon Strategy
This approach simplifies the project’s logistics and improves its sustainability credentials by reducing the carbon footprint.
The project, which was supported by cost consultants Mace, has also maximised opportunities to improve sustainability, including the installation of over 390 vertical PV solar panels; these offsets approximately 46,00kg CO2 emissions.
Willmott Dixon’s Energy SynergyTM process will also be applied to the building to bridge the performance gap and drive down energy costs.
Throughout the project, the contractor has also studied the project’s embodied carbon lifecycle which is supporting the university’s net-zero carbon estates strategy.
With a £750,000 grant from the Wolfson Foundation, the IBRB includes the Wolfson Tissue Mechanobiology and Human Disease Laboratory, where researchers will investigate how cells and tissues perform mechanical functions.
Their work will impact our understanding of a wide range of diseases, from cancer to brittle bones and heart conditions, positively impacting our ability to fight human diseases.
Advancing Health and Fighting Diseases
Nick Preedy, project lead at Willmott Dixon, said: “Following the successful completion of the award-winning University of Warwick Sports Hub, we established sustainable working practices with the university that could be replicated throughout the build of the IBRB scheme.
“These innovative practices included a blend of onsite and offsite manufacturing, which allowed us to cut down on product waste for both schemes, reduce build time, ensure better quality control and minimise our carbon footprint through fewer site deliveries.
“Our Energy SynergyTM process also played a large part in the sustainability of both projects. Initially launched during the construction of the university’s Sports Hub; the innovative service offering enables us to accurately estimate the energy consumption of each build.
“As a result, IBRB is now one of the most environmentally sustainable space on the University of Warwick’s campus to date, aligning seamlessly with the university’s targets to be carbon net-zero by 2030.”
Techrete are proud to publish the first ever company specific Environmental Product Declaration for Architectural Precast Concrete Cladding.
Our bespoke Environmental Product Declaration has recently been verified and published by EPD Ireland. Our EPD confirms that we are currently 20% less carbon intensive than the industry standard.
The publication of our bespoke EPD marks an important milestone in our carbon reduction journey to be 50% less carbon intensive than the current standard panel by 2025 and net zero by 2030.
Duncan House Wins ‘Best Facade Engineering Project’ in the Tall Building Category
Techrete were delighted that our project Duncan House in Stratford won the ‘Best Tall Building Facade Engineering’ Award in December 2020 at the Tall Building Awards.
The submission was entered by Hodder + Partners and they said of the facade:
‘The building structure is reinforced concrete. The envelope is a robust framework of precast concrete with infill concrete panels, bronze anodized aluminum windows and vent panels set behind bronze anodized louvre blades.
The precast cladding panels were manufactured offsite by Techrete with glazing and vent panels pre-installed to minimize working at height.
The building facades are formed primarily from precast concrete by Techrete, insulated and fore-stopped with mineral fibre and lined internally with plasterboard.
The aesthetic qualities of the precast concrete are linked to its physical and technical characteristics – enhancing resistance to fire, air, water, wind and improving acoustics. It is a material that lends itself to modern methods of construction, but also has a timeless quality that references key buildings within the local heritage.’
In Lieu of Corporate Gifts, Techrete Donate to Charities Local to Facilities in Balbriggan & Brigg
As always, we donated to charities such as The Crumlin Children’s Hospital Tiny Hearts Foundation, in lieu of corporate gifts.
Alison Reynolds of the foundation said :
“We are blown away by the continued generosity and support of Techrete this Christmas. It has been a difficult year and having supporters like you in our corner makes such a huge difference.
Donations like yours mean that we can continue improve the lives of children all around Ireland by funding various patient experience programmes such as music and play therapies, purchase state of the art equipment and invest in world class research in the National Children’s Research Centre to name a few.
These changes are only made possible by donations like yours.”
Other charities we donated to in Dublin and Brigg include :
Kingston University Townhouse Wins ‘Highly Commended at the 2020 Concrete Society Awards
Although sadly there was no party to attend this year, we were delighted that Kingston University Townhouse won one of the four ‘Highly Commended’ awards. The judges had this to say “an excellent example of extensive exposed internal and external precast concrete, complemented by polished concrete floors.”
Our work on Kingston University Townhouse is outlined here.
Opus 6, Hanover Quay and Capital Dock Win Awards at Irish Concrete Society Awards 2020
Although the Irish Concrete Society Awards were very different this year, we were delighted nonetheless to win ‘Highly Commended’ in the Elemental Category for Opus 6, Hanover Quay and ‘Highly Commended’ in the Main Category, for our our work on Ireland’s tallest residential tower, Capital Dock .
PJ Hegarty Present Techrete with Two Awards for ESB
Last week as part of Health and Safety month, PJ Hegarty and Sons awarded Techrete with ‘Contractor of the Month’ for our work on Project Fitzwilliam / ESB and ‘Site Supervisor of the Month’ was awarded to our very own Phil, for the same project. We were delighted to be recognized by PJ Hegarty for the care and attention taken by the whole team on ESB and we’re looking forward to our continued collaboration on this and future projects.
Kingston University Townhouse Wins Award at the Off-Site Construction Awards 2020
We are delighted that our project, Kingston University Townhouse has won the award for ‘Best Use of Hybrid Technology’ at the Off-Site Construction Awards. This is a superb win for our partners PCE, for Techrete and for everyone involved in this fantastic project.
Chris Billyeald, PCE Senior Project Manager said ‘This award has PCE’s name attached to it, but without the hard work, dedication and commitment of our supply chain partners, it would make it extremely difficult to achieve these results.
We’ll continue to push the boundries of what our industry can achieve together to ensure that the next award isn’t too far away’
Techrete Piece Highlighting the Benefits of Precast in High-Rise Construction Published in Concrete Society Journal.
With an extensive ‘high-rise’ portfolio and current high-rise projects at various stages of production, we are well placed to discuss the benefits of precast in ‘high-rise’ and to contribute to this edition of the Concrete Society Journal.
“There’s little in construction that is more conducive to the building of high-rise structures than the off-site manufacturing and the installation of precast concrete cladding. For many developers, designers and contractors, precast is the obvious choice for high-rise, due to its unique versatility and overall cost-effectiveness.…”
The inaugural ‘Yoga @ Techrete’ class took place on the grounds of our Balbriggan facility in August. The Wellness team were delighted with the response and bi-weekly classes are planned for any Techrete employee who would like to join in.
A strip of grassy land at the Techrete perimeter with trees either side was created as part of our Sustainability programme and now doubles up as the perfect, peaceful location for our classes.
The benefits of Yoga practice are numerous – the postures are a form of strength training, making practitioners more resilient and flexible, which in turn relieves physical tension. Yoga promotes mental focus which is key to stress management.
Our Yoga class is just one element of our overall Wellness Programme which was launched early in 2020. With the unprecedented events of 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic, this programme is vitally important to ensure that we are supporting our employees in every possible way.
Our annual BES 6001 audit was completed successfully recently and we are delighted to maintain our ‘Very Good’ rating. BES 6001 is the Framework for Responsible Sourcing which enables manufacturers to attain the responsible sourcing credentials of a wide range of materials assessed and certificated.
The standard is broken down into three sections:
Organisational Management Requirements
Supply Chain Management Requirements
Requirements related to the management of sustainable development
We are proud to have maintained this rating and are working hard to achieve the highest possible rating of ‘Excellent’ next year.
Two Techrete projects have been shortlisted for an award at the 2020 Concrete Society Awards – Local Blackfriars in Manchester (nominated by Techrete and Jon Matthews Architects) and Townhouse, Kingston University in London (nominated by Grafton Architects).
We are proud of the outcome on the projects, which both demonstrate excellence in precast concrete and offsite construction – keeping our fingers crossed for a win on the night!
Techrete Make Front Cover of Industry Magazine in USA
As part of their May/June 2020 edition highlighting three International projects, Techrete submitted an editorial for the National Precast Concrete Association USA, which focused on the Dundee Victoria and Albert Museum.
‘Precast takes Centre Stage Worldwide’ certainly rings true when we consider the success this immense structure has brought for Techrete and all others involved in the project. In addition to winning many awards for Techrete, the V&A was listed as ‘One of the World’s Greatest Places 2019’ by Time Magazine and featured heavily in season two of HBO’s brilliant series ‘Succession’.
This year due to the Covid-19 crisis, for most of our team, the workplace was our home on 1st of May. That didn’t stop us from getting involved and Techrete encouraged our team to either take part in an online mindfulness class at lunch time, or go for a socially distant 2km walk or run to get our daily dose of Vitamin D and get those endorphins going.
Below are just some of the photo’s taken by the team.
Techrete Receives RoSPA Gold Award for Health and Safety Achievements.
Techrete, with operations in Brigg, Leicester and Dublin, is celebrating after landing an internationally-recognised award for demonstrating high health and safety standards.
Techrete has received a RoSPA Gold Health and Safety Award for working hard to ensure its staff get home safely to their families at the end of every working day.
Organisations receiving a RoSPA
Award are recognised as being world-leaders in health and safety practice.
Every year, nearly 2,000 entrants vie to achieve the highest possible accolade
in what is the UK’s longest-running H&S industry awards.
Keith Buckler, Group Health and Safety Manager, said: “We’re proud to win our 9th consecutive Rospa Gold Award, which is testament to the hard work and fundingmm that Techrete continually makes in ensuring the safety of its employees”
Julia Small, RoSPA’s head of qualifications, awards and
events, said: “The RoSPA Awards scheme is the longest-running of its kind in
the UK, but it receives entries from organisations around the world, making it
one of the most sought-after global accolades in health and safety.
“RoSPA wants every employee, wherever they are, to work safe in the knowledge that they will be going home unharmed and healthy at the end of every day. The RoSPA Award winners are vital to help achieve this goal, as by entering they are driving up standards and setting new benchmarks for organisations everywhere. Currently, around 7 million people are directly impacted by the RoSPA Awards, but the scheme’s influence is even wider.”
The majority of awards are non-competitive and mark
achievement at merit, bronze, silver and gold levels. Gold medals, president’s
awards, orders of distinction and the Patron’s Award are presented to
organisations sustaining the high standards of the gold level over consecutive
years.
Competitive awards go to the best entries in 24 industry
sectors including construction, healthcare, transport and logistics,
engineering, manufacturing and education.
There are specialist awards for health at work,
environmental management, safety delivered outside of the workplace, and fleet
safety, and excellence trophies for the best international organisation, new
entry, workforce involvement, leisure organisation, and organisation operating
or based in Scotland. RoSPA’s top accolade is the Sir George Earle Trophy.
Techrete have recently been awarded the contract for 3 projects in London’s East Bank. The 3 projects include the London Victoria and Albert Museum, UAL School of Fashion and the BBC Music Hall. Ground works have already begun and the London Legacy Development Company released this statement recently.
Techrete Win ‘Specialist Contractor of the Year 2020’
Techrete were thrilled to win this prestigious award in Dublin. Collecting their award in Dublin’s Clayton Hotel, Pre-Construction Manager Darren Brown said to host Marty Whelan ‘this is a superb achievement for Techrete, not only for winning Specialist Contractor of the Year, but also seeing multiple other Techrete projects take home various other awards on the night. It feels like we’ve won 3 awards tonight”.
Techrete Train Employees in Mental Health First Aid
As part of their ongoing Mental Health and Wellness Programme, Techrete have trained multiple employees in Dublin, Brigg and Leicester in Mental Health First Aid. Techrete understand the importance of mental wellbeing and are actively promoting wellness within the company.
