Exploring the use of low carbon concrete columns instead of steel ones.. Façade: Opportunities to improve the embodied carbon of facades, including finding alternatives to unitised and curtain walling systems, and their materiality.. Cladding: Elongating a material or components’ lifespan may increase the day one carbon but over the lifetime of the building the whole life carbon can be minimised, where replacement cycles are reduced.. Aluminium procurement: Minimising transport miles is important for materials.
The St James Centre is a project which uses a natural stone façade.We are providing structural engineering design for all precast panels including the design of bracket connections as well as all stone design and detailing (partly handset and partly panelised).
We have led the interface detailing between the different façade packages and have carried out all the façade performance engineering and detailing, including: structural, thermal and condensation risk, waterproofing, air tightness, fire and acoustics.. We work with:.main contractors who are interested in innovation and exploring the benefits of alternative construction systems or DfMA conversions; and looking to de-risk certain packages, eg facades.Specialist subcontractors for facades, M&E prefabrication etc.
particularly on complex projects.Fabricators and suppliers of precast, GRC, GRG etc.. Clients who understand the benefits of special or modern methods of construction and want to guide their contractors to adopt them; especially clients with geometrically complex projects who want early proactive input to make sure that architectural ambition can be made practically deliverable for their contractors.
The key benefits we bring to contractors and projects are:.
Adjust role to fit actual project needs (integration and gap filling).We must highlight the fact that new technologies are possible in construction, and make sure that such technologies play a key role in how we design and construct..
The construction industry should be a place where young digital natives can come and use their skills and passion for technology to do something meaningful to help tackle the climate crisis.However, if we don’t make this evident to them, they’ll go to work for pure technology companies instead.
Construction and the wider built environment will miss out.But it doesn’t have to be that way.
(Editor: Quick Doorbells)