Trent Concrete produces GRC benches for new gallery at The Imperial War Museum
Trent Concrete is currently producing a series of GRC (glass reinforced concrete) benches for a new ‘Crimes Against Humanity gallery, designed by Casson Mann, at The Imperial War Museum, due to open on 25th November.
The sole focus of the gallery will be a half-hour film on a continuous loop. Casson Mann has designed a space in which to watch this harrowing footage that has no associations with any places of entertainment such as cinemas or theatres. The entirely white gallery is designed to be seamless so that all emphasis is on the screen itself.
Visitors to the gallery will sit on 30 informally arranged, white GRC benches produced by Trent Concrete. A high-quality mix incorporating Spanish dolomite to achieve a sparkling pure white effect was used, and the units feature an acid-etched finish. GRC was specified as it provided a cost-effective alternative to white granite, whilst retaining a sense of weight and gravitas.
Weight was also an important consideration, as the gallery is on the third floor of the museum. The benches measure 480mm high by 480mm deep and are up to 2 metres in length, weighing circa 60kg. In conventional concrete or natural stone the benches would have weighed around a tonne. GRC therefore made for easier handling and installation by contractors Devonshire House Associates, but still has the presence and aesthetics of a weightier material.
This project is the third in a series of recent Trent contracts with designers Casson Mann. The first was a white reconstructed stone GRC display plinth at the Manchester City Art Gallery. The gallery focuses on the city itself, and GRC enabled the designers to incorporate a genuine urban material in the gallery whilst keeping the plinth relatively light in weight. The second project involved rubbed white reconstructed stone GRC cladding panels for the entrance portal at the recently opened Visitor Centre at Sellafield.
GRC was specified here as the designers wanted to use materials that were relevant to the nuclear industry (concrete, stainless steel and glass) in a new and innovative way.
"We visited Trent Concretes works and were inspired by the possibilities of GRC and the quality and service provided by Trent"explains Roger Mann, Director of Casson Mann. "We had two projects in close succession where GRC could be applied, and are keen to exploit the medium further, and explore the creative opportunities beyond recto-linear units, in future."
Notes
Trent Concrete is a specialist precast concrete contractor, producing high quality spoke architectural cladding and structures.
Providing a complete solution from detailed design development through skills-based manufacture to on-site erection using its own teams, Trent Concrete partners with leading developers and specifiers to ensure that their projects gain maximum benefit from prefabrication.
Trent Concrete's precast solutions make a major contribution to improved quality, certainty, sustainability, safety and efficiency in the UK construction industry today.
The company has worked on some of the most prestigious projects of recent years, including The Scottish Office and the Toyota GB Plc and Thames Water headquarters buildings, and the quality of its work is consistently recognised in the form of industry awards. Trent Concrete was founded in 1917 and employs more than 200 people.
Editorial contact: David Walker
Tel: 0115 987 9747
Email: lmason@trentconcrete.co.uk
Trent Concrete Limited - e-mail: quality@trentconcrete.co.uk