Trent’s terracotta-faced panels selected over traditional rainscreen for residential development
Trent Concrete has developed a prefabricated solution that combines the aesthetic design appeal of terracotta rainscreen tile systems with the benefits of precast concrete. This solution was chosen instead of traditional rainscreen for a high quality residential development on Susannah Street in London.
Developers Furlong Homes Ltd. selected the terracotta-faced precast concrete panel system because it enables the construction process to be speeded up considerably. Traditional rainscreen has to be set out from the top of the building once the frame has been completed. The precast panels can be fixed from the bottom up as the frame is being built, and does not require scaffolding.
This in turn allows for the rapid enclosure of a weather-proof envelope, and releases the lowel levels to be fitted out at an earlier stage than would otherwise have been possible. A further advantage accrues from the ability to insulate the panels in Trent’s factory, enabling greater control and accuracy over the process whilst the rear of the panels is readily accessible and saving time on-site.
Trent’s £450,000 contract covers 250 terracotta-faced pre-insulated storey-high cladding panels, varying from 800 to 3300mm wide. The units will be released sequentially and delivered to site over five phases between November 2002 and Summer 2003. The 12-14 storey up-market development will house 86 apartments.
Developer: Furlong Homes Ltd.
Architect: Grafik Architecture Ltd.
Engineer: Alan Baxter Associates
Notes
Trent Concrete is a specialist precast concrete contractor, producing high quality bespoke 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