Brick Faced Archives - Page 2 of 2

Barton Square

Barton Square, Stretford, Manchester M17 8BN

Barton Square Headline Facts:

470 brick faced and reconstructed stone panels, covering 3,300 square meters.

Contractor : Lendlease

Architect : Leach Rhodes

Dublin Landings

Dublin Landings, North Wall Quay, Dublin 1

Dublin Landings Headline Facts:

470 brick faced panels, covering 5,805 square meters.

Contractor : Walls Construction

Architect : ARROW Architects & 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

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

Molesworth St

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.