Orchard Wharf, Silvocea Way, London E14 0JJ, United Kingdom
Orchard Wharf Headline Facts:
928 brick-facing panels covering 8,009m2
Contractor: CJ O’Shea Contracting
Architect: BUJ Architects
Material Finish: Brick Faced
Wolverhampton i9 Interchange, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LD
Wolverhampton i9 Headline Facts:
239 brick-facing panels, all constructed offsite and covering 2,358m2
Contractor : Grahams
Architect : Glenn Howells
Athlete’s Village No. 3 & 4, Victory Parade, East Village, London E15 2ER
Athlete’s Village No. 3 & 4 Headline Facts:
2,065 reconstructed stone and brick faced panels, constructed offsite and covering 17,199m2 of the facades.
Contractor : Lendlease
Architect : Patel Taylor Architects
Mount Oswald, Durham University, Leazes Road, Durham, DH1 1TA
Durham University Headline Facts :
1,500 brick-facing and reconstructed stone panels, constructed offsite, covering 12,500m2.
Contractor : PCE
Architect : Willmore Iles Architects
Watch Drone Footage of this Project here:
Video Credit : Interserve
73 – 77 Commercial Road, London E1 1RD
Commercial Road Headline Facts:
223 sandwich panels, constructed offsite, covering 2,562m2.
Contractor : PCE
Architect: Dexter Moran Associates
Grangegorman Lower, Arran Quay, Dublin 7
Grangegorman Central Quad Headline Facts:
611 brick faced panels covering 9,439 square meters.
Contractor : Sisk / FCC JV
Architect : FCB Studios
5A Kensington Church St, Kensington, London W8 4LD
Lancer Square Headline Facts:
469 natural stone faced and brick faced panels, covering 6,760 square meters.
Contractor : Mace
Architect : Squire & Partners
Wembley Park, Wembley, Brent, London
E05 Wembley Park Headline Facts:
1,610 brick faced and reconstructed stone panels with punched windows and Juliette balconies, covering 17,500 square meters.
Contractor : Sisk
Architect : PRP
The Finer Details :
Wembley Park is a transformational urban regeneration scheme in the heart of London, renewing the long-neglected space around the national stadium in London. It is creating a vibrant new district which will be home to the UK’s largest single-site build to rent scheme, with over 7,000 residential units, helping to address the UK’s shortage of affordable homes. Since 2004, a range of impressive projects have been delivered at Wembley Park, however the E05 project is the first time that precast concrete has been selected as the preferred facade at Wembley Park. Techrete were awarded the contract and works began in December of 2018.
E05 comprises 458 residences and associated amenities over three blocks, ranging between 10 and 21 storeys. Located immediately adjacent to the stadium, it also provides a linked basement car park for residents, a ground level coach park and two levels of accessible parking for Wembley Stadium. Sisk are expected to complete all works onsite by October 2020.
Within 18 months (December 2018 – May 2020), Techrete had designed, manufactured, and installed 1,610 architectural precast brick-faced panels, incorporating 2,000 windows and covering 17,500 square meters of the buildings facades.
Watch Installation Progress Video Here:
Video Courtesy of Quintain. Video Credit : Site Eye
University College London Hospital, 235 Euston Rd, Bloomsbury, London NW1 2BU
UCLH Headline Facts:
1,381 brick faced panels, covering 17, 227m²
Contractor : Mace
Architect : Pilbrow & Partners
The Marq, 32 Duke Street, London SW1Y 6DF
The Marq, Duke’s Court Headline Facts:
157 brick faced, portland stone faced and gold gilded panels, covering 2,511 square meters.
Contractor : Skanska
Architect : Rolfe Judd and John McAslan & Partners
The Finer Details:
Duke’s Court is a mixed development of retail and office space on the corner of Duke Street and Jermyn Street in St James, London. Designed by John McAslan & Partners and Rolfe Judd Architects and delivered by Skanska, Duke’s Court features beautiful gold gilding on the corner façade panels and a brass frame around the windows, all adding a touch of glamour to this particular corner of London’s West End.
Techrete were appointed by Skanska to design, manufacture and install 157 panels in total. This included insulated Portland Stone faced panels, brick faced panels with factory fitted punch windows. The mixture of Portland stone, two variations of brown and white brick and a Belgian blue limestone plinth were all developed to create the overall effect of Duke’s Court’s façade.
The pre-formed unitised punch window panels were in some cases, three windows wide and are stacked on Portland stone mullions between the ground and first floor. The footprint of the building was so tight that this system was essential for the project and allowed us to install from inside of the building, thus avoiding scaffolding, which would have invaded public pedestrian zones.
The panel design combines both a stacked and steel corbel system restrained back to the main steel frame. The factory insulated panels, fire stop details and the factory installed windows system were all coordinated via 3D modelling.
The corner façade features specially commissioned artwork on the panels. The gold leaf inlay on the carved stone was to resemble a ‘dropped thread’. Grooves were cut into the Portland stone panels for the gilding of the gold leaf and Techrete provided the drawings for these grooves.
The contemporary design coupled with the touch of classical glamour on the unusual corner façade and its location in such a prestigious area of London, have all been factors in contributing to the high-profile nature of this project for Techrete. The elegant Portland stone, the warm brick and the gold gilding all together demonstrate how a combination of finishes can create a striking, contemporary façade and this will stand to us in the future when architects are considering this element right at the beginning of a projects.
Duke’s Court is one of the first buildings to achieve ‘BREEAM Outstanding’ for both its façade and core.
London Fruit & Wool Exchange, 1-10 Brushfield Sreet, Poplar, London E1 6EN
London Fruit & Wool Exchange Headline Facts:
646 reconstructed stone and brick faced panels, covering 5,232 square meters.
Contractor : Sir Robert McAlpine
Architect : Bennetts Associates
Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, London
Grosvenor Street Headline Facts:
147 brick faced panels, covering 1,378 square meters.
Contractor : Sir Robert McAlpine
Architect : BFLS
Collegelands, Havannah Street, Glasgow G4 0UB
Collegelands Headline Facts:
750 brick faced and reconstructed stone panels, covering 8,500 square meters.
Contractor : Dawn Construction
Architect : Page Park Architects
Bramall Music Building, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT
290 brick faced and natural stone faced panels, covering 4,900 square meters.
Contractor : BAM Construction
Architect : Glenn Howells
Barton Square, Stretford, Manchester M17 8BN
Barton Square Headline Facts:
470 brick faced and reconstructed stone panels, covering 3,300 square meters.
Contractor : Lend Lease
Architect : Leach Rhodes
Dublin Landings, North Wall Quay, Dublin 1
Dublin Landings Headline Facts:
470 brick faced panels, covering 5,805 square meters.
Contractor : Walls Construction
Architect : RKD Architects
The Finer Details:
Dublin Landings is one of two landmark riverfront buildings developed in the historical, heart of Dublin City. Given the historical tone in the docklands it was important that these two buildings aligned with the nature of the area, this meant that RKD Architects and Arrow Architects would have to coordinate their designs. The elevational design was developed to provide a calm foil next to the lively Central Bank of Ireland facades immediately adjacent. Brick cladding was among choices made to refer to and reflect the palette of historical Docklands materials of the area, and also to present an understated elegance in the finished elevations
Walls Construction enlisted both Arrow Architects and RKD Architects to design a building that would be part of Project Wave. A commercial office and residential redevelopment located in the dock lands of Dublin city. Project wave as a whole will deliver up to 65,000 sq. m of commercial offices and residential opportunity. This phase of Project wave is situated on the forefront of North Wall Quay, alongside some of the most prominent office headquarters in Ireland such as the Central Bank of Ireland.
At an early stage in the project it was decided that the facades would be formed in precast elements, partly for programme and cost reasons but mainly to achieve the highest levels of quality and precision in the expression of the brickwork, through meticulous fabrication of the brick façade on the building to the exacting quality demanded for this prime development. Techrete was chosen by RKD due to their proven ability in the industry and the high quality of product which would suit this prime development area. Techrete designed, manufactured, erected and sealed the architectural precast concrete cladding of the façade on the building. The initial task was to find a façade design that would marry the existing tone of the area which already is filled with high rise buildings some with unique façades. It was decided that brick face façade units would be used to both align with the manner of the area and allow the façade to be prominent. The façade covered 5,805 m² made up of 470 nr. of units. These units consisted of brick faced wall panels, mullions and spandrels. The mullion panels were two storey high and although they were difficult to erect the team were able to use less fixtures.
When deciding to use brick on the façade two European bricks were ordered, this caused complications during moulding because of brick tolerances. The installation of the façade was undertaken with tower cranes and was a relatively smooth operation with the exception of the ESB substation where panels had to be installed with a mobile crane. This elevation was restricted access use due to the close proximity of the central bank. Separately installation was in an adhoc sequence due to the tight programme, EPDM and installation needed to be applied in advance of the panel installation and cranage needed to be sequenced on relevant days with two separate crews.
Capital Dock, 82 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2
Capital Dock Headline Facts:
1,105 brick facing, punch window panels, covering 8,279 square meters.
Contractor : Sisk
Architect : O’Mahony Pike
The Finer Details :
Completed in 2018 and situated at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Grand Canal Dock, ‘Capital Dock’ is the tallest residential building in Ireland and with 23 floors, it is the third tallest storeyed building on the island of Ireland. Construction began on this 79 meter, landmark residential building in 2015 and took three years to complete.
Designed by OMP Architecture in a modernist style and developed by American firm, Kennedy Wilson, the total Capital Dock development spans 4.8 acres and features more than 1.5 acres of public space. The design intent was for strong simple forms to clearly reference the traditional industrial architecture of the docklands, while at the same time exuding a timeless quality.
At an early stage in the project it was decided that the facade would be formed in precast brick elements, not only for improvement of the site programme, but mainly to achieve the highest levels of quality and precision in the expression of the brickwork, through meticulous fabrication of the brick façade on the building to the exacting quality demanded for this iconic development.
The brick was incorporated during the casting phase of the panels and the resulting product benefits from all of the advantages of precast whilst maintaining the look and feel of traditional materials and techniques. Reconstituted stone was used for the cills which helped the structural make-up of the panels.
Another key feature of this brick faced project from Techrete’s perspective was the fitting of the windows off-site, some of which included Juliette balconies. This helped considerably with the main project programme as the brick-faced panels along with the windows and balconies were erected together onsite. To minimise the vertical panel joints, the panels were designed to sleeve behind one another, helping to achieve the elongated look of the design brief. The sleeving also helped to form a structural surround for the windows to be fitted off-site.
Due to the high rise nature of the build, it was necessary for Techrete to begin installing panels before the steel framework was complete and panels were installed to level 14 with a mobile crane under the concrete frames formwork. This allowed for simultaneous erection of the frame and precast panels, assisting greatly with reducing the on-site programme. The precast cladding seamlessly matched the limited area of traditional brickwork on site. The logistics of manufacturing the panels, followed by co-ordination of window / balcony fitting and finally site installation required in-depth planning and organisation.
Capital Dock won ‘Housing Project of the Year’ at the Irish Building and Design Awards 2019
10 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2
10 Molesworth Street Headline Facts:
262 brick facing, natural stone facing and reconstructed stone panels, covering 3,515 square meters.
Contractor: PJ Hegarty & Son
Architect: Henry J Lyons
The Finer Details:
Techrete were engaged to design, manufacture and erect over 3,500 m² of architectural brick faced precast concrete cladding panels, as part of the façade of number 10 Molesworth Street. Chosen for our speed of erection and Techrete’s ability to provide for quality control of the brickwork and jointing, the architectural precast element consists of mullions, spandrels, parapets and stone-faced wall panels. The carefully chosen mix was Techrete’s timelessly elegant light, warm, off-white mix with an etched finish. To complement the mix, a natural stone-faced wall panel was chosen.
The brick wall panels offered a striking yet complementary contrast to the reconstructed stone mix. The chosen brick is a blended red colour range with off-white mortar joints. To keep with the Georgian tradition, the bricks were laid in a Flemish bond. The building combines both traditional and contemporary design and with careful selection of materials and modern construction methods, the symmetry and overall appearance of the building has managed to adopt the genre of prestige that is synonymous with this area of Dublin.
Griffith College, South Circular Rd, Merchants Quay, Dublin 8
Griffith College Headline Facts:
550 reconstructed stone and brick faced panels, covering 5,700 square meters.
Contractor : PJ Hegarty
Architect : Aidan Powell & Associates
Five Lamps, Amien Street, North Strand, Dublin 1
Five Lamps Headline Facts:
120 natural stone faced and brick faced panels, covering 1,200 square meters.
Contractor: Townlink Construction
Architect : CMP Architects