C190 Archives - Page 2 of 2

Leeds Central Village

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

Laidlaw Library

Laidlaw Library, University of, Leeds LS2 9JT

Laidlaw Library Headline Facts:

Contractor : Shepherd

Architect : ADP Architects

Glasgow City Campus

Glasgow City Campus, Glasgow

Glasgow City Campus Headline Facts:

1,231 reconstructed stone panels, covering 14,263 square meters.

Contractor : Sir Robert McAlpine

Architect : Michael Laird / Reich and Hall

Glasgow Academy

Glasgow Academy, Colebrooke Street, Glasgow G12 8HE

Glasgow Academy Headline Facts:

328 reconstructed stone panels covering 2,631 square meters.

Contractor : Dunne Group

Architect : Page / Park

Newcastle Labs

Newcastle Labs, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LP

Newcastle Labs Headline Facts:

398 reconstructed stone panels, covering 3,757 square meters.

Contractor : Kier Construction

Architect : Ryder Architecture

Bridgewater Place

Bridgewater Place, Leeds

Bridgewater Place Headline Facts:

1,050 reconstructed stone panels, covering 11,000 square meters.

Contractor : Bovis Lendlease

Architect : Aedas

Titanic Quarter

Titanic Quarter, Queens Road, Belfast BT3 9DE

Titanic Quarter Headline Facts:

1,592 reconstructed stone panels, covering 10,303 square meters.

Contractor : Harcourt Construction

Architect : Todd Architects

One Bedford Avenue

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

Ashington Leisure Centre

Ashington Leisure Centre, Lintonville Terrace, Ashington, Northumberland, NE63 9JY

Ashington Leisure Centre Headline Facts:

158 reconstructed stone panels, covering 4,737 square meters.

Contractor : Carillion

Architect : Ryder Architecture

Abell & Clelland

Abell & Clelland, 32 John Islip St, Westminster, London SW1P 4DD

Abell & Clelland Headline Facts:

4,445 reconstructed stone panels, covering 26,071 square meters.

Contractor : Berkley Homes

Architect : EPR & DSDHA Architects

5 Pancras Square (B3)

5 Pancras Square, Kings Cross, London N1C 4AG

5 Pancras Square Headline Facts:

146 reconstructed stone panels, covering 1,350 square meters.

Contractor : Kier Construction

Architect : Weedon Partnership

The Finer Details:

This unique building has won many accolades for its design including the RIBA London Regional Award 2015, The RIBA London Sustainability Award 2015, and most recently, the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award. Furthermore it has achieved the BREEAM level of ‘Outstanding’.

It was built as the new headquarters for Camden Council and is clad at the lower levels with Techrete precast concrete panels. There were a lot of constraints encountered on site and the ground to 3rd floor cladding had to be installed in advance of the super structure. Due to the site logistics and proposed crane sizes and positons, normal installation hours could not be accommodated on site as these would have blocked deliveries and affected progress on site. There was also site off -loading restrictions.

To avoid these issues, Techrete panels were installed between 7pm and 7am using the site tower cranes. The line and level works were carried out during the day. Another challenge faced was the installation of the circular columns. This proved interesting as they were underslung units and there was reduced headroom available.

As with other projects in the Kings Cross area, there were network rail restrictions which required the downgrading of all craneage by 25%. This problem was alleviated by using mobile cranes where appropriate, although there was some back propping required to the slab during this operation.

A reconstituted stone mix was chosen in an acid etched finish which gives the building a regal finish, allowing it to blend effortlessly with the prestige of the neighbouring buildings and surroundings.

Chiswick Point

Chiswick Point, 1 Bollo Lane, Colonial Drive, London

Chiswick Point Headline Facts:

803 reconstructed stone panels, covering 7,332 square meters.

Contractor : Graham Construction

Architects : John Robertson Architects

Visual Control Tower

Visual Control Tower, Dublin Airport

Visual Control Tower Headline Facts:

115 reconstructed stone panels, covering 2,375 square meters.

Contractor: BAM

Architect: Scott Tallon Walker

The Finer Details :

The Visual Control Tower at Dublin Airport is one of the tallest structures in Ireland and it is Ireland’s tallest occupied building. Contracted by BAM and standing at 87.7 metres high, the tower provides clear views for current and future runways at Dublin Airport. Designed by Scott Tallon Walker Architects, the building comprises a 17-storey shaft with a 4 storey control room sitting on top and to help achieve the design brief of an elegant, modern structure, it was essential that the tower shaft displayed no cold joints and that the surface was of an excellent finish.

Techrete were involved on the project with Scott Tallon Walker from the initial concept and design stage of the tower to ensure that their design intent of this unusual project could be achieved. Techrete were engaged to provide and install the curved precast panels for the shaft with feature knuckles arranged in a triangular shape.

Future maintenance was a key consideration for the project and as such, the shaft facade was designed as a rain screen with open drained joggle joints, allowing rain water to funnel behind the panels and drain out at the bottom of the structure, fulfilling the ‘self-cleaning’ intent of the design.

The unusual shape of the shaft and panels required Techrete to design bespoke structural hanging brackets to support the heavy loads of the panels. Multiple curved timber moulds of varying shapes and radii were designed and manufactured to produce the unusual and varying shapes of the panels. The mix chosen for the panels was our popular C190, white mix and panels were given an acid etched finish. A key challenge for Techrete on this project was the limited time to install the panels before the Control Room steel frame was due to arrive on site and be installed.

The Visual Control Tower won ‘Engineering 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.

5 Hanover Quay

5 Hanover Quay, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2

5 Hanover Quay Headline Facts:

484 reconstructed stone panels, covering 5,574 square meters.

Contractor : Bennett Construction

Architect : RKD Architects

The Finer Details :

5 Hanover Quay stands in an enviable position in the heart of the prestigious South Dublin Docklands, in an area dubbed “silicon docks”. Situated at the impressive waterfront of the Grand Canal Basin and on its northern boundary, it boasts high-tech neighbours such as Google, Facebook and LinkedIn. The aim of this building is to be an instrumental component of Dublin’s Dockland Regeneration.

RKD architects were appointed by APTIV Global Operations Ltd. to design this 161,300 sq ft, impressively, unique building. One of the main elements of the design brief of this seven storey building, was a strong emphasis on quality. One of the design elements decided on was to feature, high quality, reconstructed stone outer frame. With concrete being such an integral part of the design, the façade had to demonstrate an iconic design element. RKD worked closely with Techrete as they deemed Techrete to possess the specialist skill and experience of working with concrete to the highest quality.

With such a strong design element placed on the use of concrete, the mix chosen had to be mindful of the projects location, to ensure it was placed appropriately within the surrounding architecture of this dense urban docklands area. The mix chosen was Techrete’s C190. This light, timelessly sophisticated mix, when lightly acid etched post production, resembles natural limestone. Due to the nature of the columns a steel column mould was used to guarantee a blemish free finish to the three exposed faces. The architectural precast element consisted of reconstructed stone columns, beams, wall panels and mullions .

The installation of the façade was undertaken with two tower cranes was a typical installation operation one would expect from such a project. Due to the nature of the columns which spanned across two floors the mullions were engineered so that they could be rotated on site without the use of any mechanical tilting equipment. The eastern elevation, which is opposite an adjacent site and over an underground car park raised significant challenges including the application of mastic. Techrete’s site team overcame these challenges using a spider MEWP, which allowed the application of mastic to areas that otherwise may have proven inaccessible.