Victoria Square, Woking, London GU21 6DG
Victoria Square Headline Facts:
641 natural stone faced panels, covering 7,600 square meters.
Contractor : Sir Robert McAlpine
Architect : Benoy
Panel Type: Single Skin
Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Kingsbury, Shree Muktajeevan Swamibapa Complex, Kingsbury Road, NW9 8AQ
The Temple Headline Facts :
224 reconstructed stone panels, covering 2,760 square meters.
Contractor : FDL
Architect : LTS Architects
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
Penrose Two, Penrose Dock, Co. Cork T23 YY09
Penrose Two Headline Facts :
179 reconstructed stone panels, covering 2,841 square meters.
Contractor : Hegarty
Architect : Wilson Architecture
The Finer Details :
Situated on the banks of the River Lee in Cork, Penrose One & Two is a commercial development constructed by Hegarty Construction and designed by Wilson Architecture. The buildings enhance the emerging skyline at Cork’s docklands and delivers 250,000 square foot of sustainable, Grade A office space. Situated in close proximity to the historical Penrose House, the buildings designs are based on classical proportions with the intention of embracing and enhancing their historical neighbour.
Techrete was awarded the tender to design, manufacture and install the architectural precast concrete cladding façades for both buildings at Penrose Dock.
Penrose One is organised in three distinct vertical modules with Techrete’s double height vertical mullions elongating the building’s appearance. Structural precast concrete columns rise from ground level to the third floor, cast in three parts and stitched together, creating a grand entrance to the building and further elongating its appearance. The precast concrete façade of Penrose Two also consists of mullions and spandrels and the consistency of both façades provides a framing approach to the original Penrose House.
The chosen mix for the project was Techrete’s C190 with an acid etched finish, with provides a warm soft appearance to the façades.
Cast-in lettering was used on panels for Penrose One and Two providing elegant signage for the two entrances.
Watch Penrose 1 & 2 Video Here :
Video Credit : JCD Group
Penrose One, Penrose Dock, Co. Cork T23 YY09
Penrose One, Penrose Dock Headline Facts
376 reconstructed stone panels, covering 3,603 meters.
Contractor : PJ Hegarty
Architect : Wilson Architecture
The Finer Details :
Situated on the banks of the River Lee in Cork, Penrose One & Two is a commercial development constructed by Hegarty Construction and designed by Wilson Architecture. The buildings enhance the emerging skyline at Cork’s docklands and deliver 250,000 square foot of sustainable, Grade A office space. Situated in close proximity to the historical Penrose House, the buildings designs are based on classical proportions with the intention of embracing and enhancing their historical neighbour.
Techrete was awarded the tender to design, manufacture and install the architectural precast concrete cladding façades for both buildings at Penrose Dock.
Penrose One is organised in three distinct vertical modules with Techrete’s double height vertical mullions elongating the building’s appearance. Structural precast concrete columns rise from ground level to the third floor, cast in three parts and stitched together, creating a grand entrance to the building and further elongating its appearance. The precast concrete façade of Penrose Two also consists of mullions and spandrels and the consistency of both façades provides a framing approach to the original Penrose House.
The chosen mix for the project was Techrete’s C190 with an acid etched finish, which provides a warm soft appearance to the façades.
Cast-in lettering was used on panels for Penrose One and Two providing elegant signage for the two entrances.
Watch Penrose 1 & 2 Video Here :
Video Credit : JCD Group
Duncan House, Stratford, London E15 2JB
Duncan House Headline Facts:
1,487 reconstructed stone panels, covering 18,500 square meters.
Contractor : Watkins and Jones
Architect : Hodder and Partners
The Finer Details :
Duncan House in Stratford, London is a mixed-use development which offers residential apartments, student bedrooms, academic space and has a roof garden and sky lounge. Designed by Hodder and Partners and with Watkin Jones as the main contractor, this development completed in September/October 2019.
The 9-storey podium block of the development defines the street edge and responds to the lower rise buildings surrounding the site. The podium’s right-angle arrangement within its site allows a significant piece of public realm to be formed at the junction of High Street with Lett Road. The composition of the tower with its fins creates a striking silhouette against the sky.
Techrete were engaged to design, manufacture and install the 1,487 panels, covering the 18,500 square meters of cladding which makes up the façade of Duncan House. The reconstructed stone mix chosen for the project was C280 with a light pigment and an acid etched finish.
The structural precast columns to the first floor were manufactured by Techrete and create right angle public colonnade.
Approximately 2,500 windows were fitted at our factory to the panels and the combination of these panels, together with the concrete infill as well as louvres which were also fitted in our factory, make up the façade of the structure.
Creating the moulds for the 1,487 panels with high repetition was always going to be a challenge. Steel moulds were developed to facilitate this, and bespoke steel cassettes were vital in speeding up the process of casting the window panels in particular.
Three Techrete teams installed the panels using three tower cranes and due to the high-rise nature of the building, the Bomecon counter-balance rig was utilised to assist with the installation while the core structure was still being completed over-head.
Duncan House is mainly a student residence, and it is a prestigious project to add to Techrete’s student residence portfolio, particularly in the city of London. Following on from the successful completion of the project, Techrete entered talks with the main contractor, Watkin Jones for the tendering of several other projects.
Duncan House won ‘Best Tall Building – Facade Engineering Project of the year’ at the Tall Building Awards in December 2020 and has achieved a ‘BREEAM Excellent’ rating.
4b Southbank Place, York Road, Bishop’s, London SE1 7LZ
4b Southbank Place Headline Facts:
500 reconstructed stone panels, covering 6,124 square meters.
Contractor : Canary Wharf Group PLC
Architect : Squire and Partners
Watch our video here :
Video credit : Gary Britton Photography
The Finer Details :
The redevelopment of Southbank Place in central London comprises 8 new buildings surrounding the quarter’s centrepiece, the Shell Centre Tower. The overall redevelopment once completed, will be home to a mixture of offices, residences and retail space and will integrate with open public areas and pedestrian routes. Techrete were engaged by Canary Wharf Group PLC to design, manufacture and install the precast concrete panels for three of the buildings within the quarter and these were Building 1, Building 4A and Building 4B.
Self-compacting concrete using Techrete’s C190 mix for a warm off-white colour, was finished with acid etching to lightly expose the aggregate, giving the panels a soft slightly textured appearance. Granite plinths were also utilised in a Kurum Grey finish and these were supplied to Techrete by Savema.
On buildings 4A and 4B Techrete’s C190 reconstructed stone mix was also used with an acid etched finish. Two storey height panels were manufactured with a vertical indentation in the panels up to levels 10, elongating the structures and creating an elegant ribbed effect.
3D modelling was vital for all three buildings from a Techrete perspective as the extensive steel work of the frames had to be co-ordinated throughout the building. Two bridges on levels 4 and 8 linking buildings one and two, handrail interfaces throughout the building and the interfacing canope described below, all added to the complexity of the design work. Some clashes with the mechanical and engineering work were detected at an early stage and rectified by our design team before any delays were incurred.
GRC soffits were used to clad the over-head areas of the public colonnades on buildings 4A and 4B.
The open structures on the roofs of buildings 4A and 4B were tricky as there were 4 sided columns and beams to negotiate and additionally the steel frames were being built over-head as we were cladding the mid-levels which required a high level of co-ordination and the use of our Bomecon counter balance rig.
4A Southbank Place, York Road, Bishop’s, London SE1 7NW
4a Southbank Place Headline Facts:
643 reconstructed stone panels, covering 7,876 square meters.
Contractor : Canary Wharf Group Ltd.
Architect : Squire and Partners
Video Credit : Gary Britton Photography
The Finer Details :
The redevelopment of Southbank Place in central London comprises 8 new buildings surrounding the quarter’s centrepiece, the Shell Centre Tower. The overall redevelopment once completed, will be home to a mixture of offices, residences and retail space and will integrate with open public areas and pedestrian routes. Techrete were engaged by Canary Wharf Group PLC to design, manufacture and install the precast concrete panels for three of the buildings within the quarter and these were Building 1, Building 4A and Building 4B.
Self-compacting concrete using Techrete’s C190 mix for a warm off-white colour, was finished with acid etching to lightly expose the aggregate, giving the panels a soft slightly textured appearance. Granite plinths were also utilised in a Kurum Grey finish and these were supplied to Techrete by Savema.
On buildings 4A and 4B Techrete’s C190 reconstructed stone mix was also used with an acid etched finish. Two storey height panels were manufactured with a vertical indentation in the panels up to levels 10, elongating the structures and creating an elegant ribbed effect.
3D modelling was vital for all three buildings from a Techrete perspective as the extensive steel work of the frames had to be co-ordinated throughout the building. Two bridges on levels 4 and 8 linking buildings one and two, handrail interfaces throughout the building and the interfacing canope described below, all added to the complexity of the design work. Some clashes with the mechanical and engineering work were detected at an early stage and rectified by our design team before any delays were incurred.
GRC soffits were used to clad the over-head areas of the public colonnades on buildings 4A and 4B.
The open structures on the roofs of buildings 4A and 4B were tricky as there were 4 sided columns and beams to negotiate and additionally the steel frames were being built over-head as we were cladding the mid-levels which required a high level of co-ordination and the use of our Bomecon counter balance rig.
1 Southbank Place, York Road, Bishop’s, London SE1 7NW
1 Southbank Place Headline Facts:
563 reconstructed stone panels, covering 7,905 square meters.
Contractor : Canary Wharf Group PLC
Architect : Squire and Partners
Watch our video here :
Video Credit : Gary Britton Photography
The Finer Details :
The redevelopment of Southbank Place in central London comprises 8 new buildings surrounding the quarter’s centrepiece, the Shell Centre Tower. The overall redevelopment once completed, will be home to a mixture of offices, residences and retail space and will integrate with open public areas and pedestrian routes. Techrete were engaged by Canary Wharf Group PLC to design, manufacture and install the precast concrete panels for three of the buildings within the quarter and these were Building 1, Building 4A and Building 4B.
Southbank Place 1 appears to step backwards in three blocks from the ground floor to story 5, from level 6 to level 9 and finally, from level 10 to level 14.
The building features 2 and 3 storey height panels, which were 11 metres long. A major feature of the panels was their extra deep returns on the legs which creates a solar shade and visually achieves the architects design intent.
Self-compacting concrete using Techrete’s C190 mix for a warm off-white colour, was finished with acid etching to lightly expose the aggregate, giving the panels a soft slightly textured appearance. Granite plinths were also utilised in a Kurum Grey finish and these were supplied to Techrete by Savema.
A canopy was created down one elevation of building 1 to create a semi-enclosed space linking buildings 1 and 2. The canope interfaces with the steel work and it was this interface, whilst small in size, was crucial in the overall development of the canope and was incredibly intricate for our draughtsmen to model.
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.
Navigation Square, Albert Quay, Cork City
Albert Quay Blocks 1 & 2 Headline facts:
543 reconstructed stone panels, covering 4,127 square meters.
Contractor : BAM
Architect : Henry J Lyons
The Finer Details:
Designed by Henry J Lyons Architects and contracted by BAM, Albert Quay, Navigation Square, is part of the largest ever office development to be undertaken in Cork. With a prime location in the city’s business district, Albert Quay enjoys panoramic views of the port at the river Lee and the entire development encompassing Navigation Square, provides over 33,000 square meters of office space.
The direction for the project from the outset was for building excellence. As the first Phase of a 2 stage process, a huge degree of coordination was required between all members of the design team, the contractor and Techrete as specialist contractor. Techrete was selected with regard to speed of erection and an ability to provide for quality control of the finishes and jointing which were all obtainable in our indoor factory environment.
The building was required to exist on its own and to then later stitch seamlessly into the larger development. This meant an increased complexity of access, structure and services due to the nature of the highly compact urban site. Regular workshops with Techrete, the full design team and contractor on site meant that a very high degree of coordination was possible.
The installation of this project posed some access difficulties for Techrete and as such, two tower cranes were required to complete the erection process.
The panels had to be lifted over the top of the building using a large tower crane, whilst a smaller mobile crane on the other side used precision handling to manoeuvre the panels into place. The precast element of this project comprised of wedge shaped mullions and rectangular spandrels supported on composite steel deck slabs which are restrained by steel beams. Bespoke steel moulds were created in preparation for the next phase of the overall project, of which Techrete have just completed the installation of the precast cladding.
The inverted ‘T’ shaped spandrels at the 2nd floor create a timeless, elegant quality to the facade. The free standing ‘goal post’ to the front of the building, is almost 10 meters high and is supported with a post tensioned 400 millimetres deep spandrel, spanning about 11 meters. This creates an impressive, grand front entrance to the building.
Techrete’s bespoke white polished panels, are aligned perfectly with the structural columns at the ground floor, also with a white polished finish and are connected to the steel structural columns above.
The project completed before its expected delivery date and allowed a partial handover to an occupier early. Overall this is a carefully considered and dynamic development. Whilst realising the full potential of this particular constrained city site, and whilst respecting the historic setting, this project greatly contributes to the surrounding neighbourhood and Cork as a whole.
Local Blackfriars, Salford, Manchester
484 reconstructed stone and terracotta faced panels, covering 5,574 square meters.
Contractor : Domis Construction
Architect : Jon Matthews Architects
The Finer Details:
Local Blackfriars is a beautiful gated residential project, comprising 380 apartments, penthouses and townhouses across two striking towers, in Blackfriars, Greater Manchester. The Blackfriar, a Grade II listed former public house, has been repurposed to act as a gateway entrance for the development. This striking look of the towers was achieved using a combination of finishes. Throughout the buildings, the panels consist of a granite based reconstituted stone, with a polished finish and variations of green tiles cast into the panels.
An acid etched finish forms the base and crown or the top of the buildings, which provides the buildings with an elongated appearance. Techrete were responsible for the architectural precast elements of the project and for the structural columns which sit from the base of the buildings to the second floor. These were also produced in a polished, reconstituted stone. A key feature of this project from a Techrete perspective, was the fixing of the balconies directly to the panels on-site, facilitating much simpler construction and installation.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 748 High Road, Tottenham, London N17 0AP
THFC Stadium Headline Facts:
813 reconstructed stone panels, covering 3,492 square meters.
Contractor : Mace
Architect : Populous
The Finer Details:
Tottenham Hotspur’s new 62,000-capacity stadium in north London has made wide use of precast concrete – including creation of the football club’s famous crest and motto.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’s new stadium set a new benchmark for sporting arenas in the UK, and the construction work was also of the highest quality.
The 62,000-seater venue in north London, the largest club stadium in the capital, is designed to be multi-purpose and features the world’s first dividing, retractable football pitch, which reveals a synthetic turf pitch underneath for NFL London Games, concerts, and other events.
Designed by specialist stadium architects Populous, with construction management handled by Mace, work on the project got under way in 2015.
Precast concrete has been used widely, including the terrace sections in the seating bowl, vomitories, stairways, concourse, and external areas, as well as spectacular visual signatures of the football club’s identity.
Tottenham’s famous crest, a cockerel standing on a football, and the Latin motto ‘Audere Est Facere’ – ‘To Dare is To Do’ – were created as giant architectural precast panels by Techrete and are visible inside the concourse areas under the seating bowl.
Bespoke moulds were designed for the precast letters. The 27 Tottenham lettering panels measured 2,000mm in length and 2,200mm in width, and each weighed a tonne.
Athlone Civic Centre, Monksland, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, N37 W5P9
Athlone Civic Centre Headline Facts:
270 reconstructed stone panels, covering 2,700 square meters.
Contractor : John Sisk & Son
Architect : Keith Williams
XYZ Building, 2 Hardman Boulevard, Manchester M3 3AQ
XYZ Building Headline Facts:
388 reconstructed stone panels, covering 3,836 square meters.
Contractor : McLaren Construction
Architect : Cartwright Pickard
Wick High School, 7 Newton Road, Wick KW1 5SA
Wick High School Headline Facts:
511 reconstructed stone panels, covering 3,420 square meters.
Contractor : Morrison
Architect : Ryder Architecture
Westfield Shopping Centre, Ariel Way, Shepherd’s Bush, London W12 7GF
Westfield Shopping Centre Headline Facts:
970 reconstructed stone panels, covering 5,674 square meters.
Contractor : Westfield
Architect : Sheppard Robson
Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3QA
Theatre Royal Headline Facts:
27 reconstructed stone panels, covering 340 square meters.
Contractor : Sandy Brown Construction
Architect : Paige Park Architects