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
Project Category: Mixed Use
10 The Broadway, Westminster, London SW1H 0DJ
10 The Broadway Headline Facts :
1,311 reconstructed stone panels, covering 13,431 square meters of two of the towers and the podiums of all six buildings.
Contractor : Multiplex
Architect : Squire & Partners
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
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.
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
Leeds Central Village (Phase 3) Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 3AB
Leeds Central Village Headline Facts:
526 reconstructed stone panels, covering 8,635 square meters.
Contractor : Downing
Architect : John McAslan & Partners
One Bedford Avenue, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3AU
One Bedford Avenue Headline Facts:
253 reconstructed stone panels, covering 2,614 square meters.
Contractor : Mace Group
Architect : Bennetts Associates
De Vere Gardens, Kensington, London
De Vere Gardens Headline Facts:
168 reconstructed stone panels, covering 1,600 square meters.
Contractor : Sir Robert McAlpine
Architect : David Chipperfield
190 The Strand, Temple, London WC2R 1DP
190 Strand Headline Facts:
313 natural stone faced panels, covering 4,500 square meters
Contractor : Berkley Homes
Architect : Grid Architects
Two St. Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 3NQ
Two St. Peter’s Square Headline Facts:
546 reconstructed stone panels, covering 7,210 square meters.
Contractor : Laing O’Rourke
Architect : Simpson Haugh
Award : ‘Highly Commended’ – Concrete Society Awards 2018.
Judges comments :
“Visual appearance was a key driver in a very sensitive historic area of the city. The building does not look out of place at all, despite the time differences in construction. The decorative façades are very special and could only be done in precast concrete or an army of stone masons. Materials are standard but the complexity and quality of the finish is exceptional. The difficulty in forming these complex and varied units should not be underestimated. They are true three-dimensional concrete sculptures used as office window façades.
External column cladding was complex, multiply curved and feels appropriate for the location. The complexity, level of overall detail and quality is excellent. The joints of the units were lined up to show geometrical symmetry from vertical face to horizontal soffit. The judges were very impressed by this project. The decorative façades are superb and it would not be surprising if this level of decorative façade became more popular.“
The Finer Details:
2 St. Peters Square, is a truly distinguished building with its 12 floors rising majestically over the surrounding streetscape. The gable end faces onto Princess St and the building is adorned with delicate filigree tracery panels. Drawing inspiration from the Lancaster Rose which adorns the county flag and from the Cotton Bud fountain, the tracery panels were designed to incorporate these elements whilst drawing on further inspiration from the Town Hall extension stair turrets. The tracery panels are both decorative and functional and offer natural shading from the full height glazing which is situated behind them.
This choice of mix with a polished finish gives the building a timeless elegance appropriate to its prime location amongst such buildings of historical importance. The panels on the main façades embraced the ethos of off-site construction. The windows were installed at Techrete production facility and were delivered and installed as one complete unit . This resulted in a reduction in programme time and in the amount of trades required on site. This project won ‘Highly Commended’ at the Concrete Society Awards 2018.
Two New Ludgate, 26 Old Bailey, London EC4M 7HW
Two New Ludgate Headline Facts:
1,230 GRC panels covering 5,000 square meters.
Contractor : Skanska / Gartner
Architect : Sauerbruch Hutton
One New Ludgate, 60 Ludgate Hill, London EC4M 7AW
One New Ludgate Headline Facts:
1,850 reconstructed stone panels covering 5,900 square meters.
Contractor : Skanska / Scheldebouw
Architect : Fletcher Priest
The Finer Details :
1 New Ludgate, is a retail and commercial development located two blocks east of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and was named the City of London Building of the Year 2016. The system was designed to be installed without the necessity of external access. The vertical fins were supported by a bespoke unitised curtain walling system and they were installed on-site with the glazing. The horizontal ledges are supported on the concrete fins, acting as the horizontal restraint for the cladding as a whole and without interfacing with the glass cladding weather line.
The ground level columns and upper face of the spandrels are polished, which allows for better weathering and lower maintenance. The vertical fins and bottom face of the spandrels are grit blasted for a homogeneous street view. The mix has been specifically designed using Spanish dolomite aggregates and pigments, to achieve this unique impact in the City of London. Awards for this project include RICS London Award 2016, ‘Best Commercial Building’ and ‘City of London Building of the Year’ 2016.
Jermyn Street, London
Jermyn Street Headline Facts:
100 brick faced and natural stone faced panels, covering 5,510 square meters.
Contractor: John Sisk & Son
Architect : Frederick Gibberd Architects
Fitzroy Place, Mortimer St, Fitzrovia, London W1T 3PW
Fitzroy Place Headline Facts:
1,187 brick-faced, natural stone and reconstructed stone panels, covering 10,176 square meters.
Contractor: Sir Robert McAlpine
Architect : Sheppard Robson