The Gate, Meadowside, Irk Street, New Cross, Manchester, M4 4JT
96 brick look-a-like reconstructed stone panels, constructed off-site and covering 1,242m2
Contractor: Westfield Construction
Architect: Jon Matthews and Chapman Taylor
Grace House, Lodge Road, London NW8 7HN
1,025 precast concrete panels, covering 7,675m2
Contractor: PCE
Architect: Ryder Architecture
Osiers Road, Wandsworth, London, SW18 1NL
773 reconstructed stone and brick-facing panels, covering 9,916m2.
Contractor: Hollybrook Homes
Concept Architect: Rolfe Judd | Delivery Architect: Burwell Architects
Pool St. West, Montfichet Rd, London E15 2JE
1136 precast concrete panels constructed offsite, covering 16,530m2 of the 3 towers and podium base.
Contractor: Vinci Construction
Architect: Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Wood Wharf G3,100 Preston’s Road, London E14 9SB
28 storey residential tower with 307 reconstructed stone panels constructed offsite, covering 3,857m2
Contractor: Canary Wharf Contractors
Architect: Allies and Morrison
Orchard Wharf, Silvocea Way, London E14 0JJ, United Kingdom
928 brick-facing panels covering 8,009m2
Contractor: CJ O’Shea Contracting
Architect: BUJ Architects
Altus House, Tower House St, Way, Leeds LS2 8GH
1,273 reconstructed stone panels constructed offsite, covering 12,139m2
Contractor : RG Group
Architect : O’Connell East
Athlete’s Village No. 3 & 4, Victory Parade, East Village, London E15 2ER
2,065 reconstructed stone and brick faced panels, constructed offsite and covering 17,199m2 of the facades.
Contractor : Lendlease
Architect : Patel Taylor Architects
Athlete’s Village No. 2, Victory Parade, East Village, London E15 2ER
1,035 precast concrete panels constructed offsite, and covering 8,866m2 of the facade.
Contractor: Ardmore
Architect : Lifschulz Davidson Sandilands and KDS Associates
10 The Broadway, Westminster, London SW1H 0DJ
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
Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London NW1 9UQ
2,228 reconstructed stone panels, covering 19,734 square meters.
Architect : PRP
Contractor : Sisk
Handley House, Sovereign Court, Hammersmith, London W6 0BT
382 reconstructed stone panels, covering 3,060 square meters.
Contractor : St. George (Berkeley Group)
Architect : Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Victoria Square, Woking, London GU21 6DG
641 natural stone faced panels, covering 7,600 square meters.
Contractor : Sir Robert McAlpine
Architect : Benoy
5A Kensington Church St, Kensington, London W8 4LD
469 natural stone faced and brick faced panels, covering 6,760 square meters.
Contractor : Mace
Architect : Squire & Partners
Wembley Park, Wembley, Brent, London
1,610 brick faced and reconstructed stone panels with punched windows and Juliette balconies, covering 17,500 square meters.
Contractor : Sisk
Architect : PRP
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.
Duncan House, Stratford, London E15 2JB
1,487 reconstructed stone panels, covering 18,500 square meters.
Contractor : Watkins and Jones
Architect : Hodder and Partners
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
500 reconstructed stone panels, covering 6,124 square meters.
Contractor : Canary Wharf Group PLC
Architect : Squire and Partners
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
643 reconstructed stone panels, covering 7,876 square meters.
Contractor : Canary Wharf Group Ltd.
Architect : Squire and Partners
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.
Local Blackfriars, Salford, Manchester
484 reconstructed stone and terracotta faced panels, covering 5,574 square meters.
Contractor : Domis Construction
Architect : Jon Matthews Architects
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.
Spencer Dock, North Wall Quay, Dublin 1
1,600 reconstructed stone panels, covering 11,700 square meters.
Contractor : CMP
Architect : Scott Tallon Walker
