Walkways Community Centre, Belfast

Background

Belfast City Council designed Walkways Community Centre with the local community in mind, providing them with places to both work and play.

In this £1.37m project, the original portable modular building was demolished and replaced with a new 575 square metre build.

The two storeys include a creche and soft play area, a 250sqm sports hall and a series of multipurpose rooms for meetings and courses aimed at the local people.

Main contractor, McKelvey Construction led the project and worked alongside Michael Whitley Architects to design and deliver the most appropriate solution for Belfast City Council and the local community.

K Systems provided on-site technical support and installation guidance throughout the build which resulted in delivery of a modern, aesthetically pleasing facility that achieved the target U-value of 0.18W/m ² K.

Our Service

Having originally specified rainscreen cladding, K Systems technical team worked with the architect to design a bespoke engineered system with the drained cavity to suit the metsec frame. Regular site visits from our team ensured support was available throughout the build.

The Centre is located on a busy street with limited surrounding space, so we had to manage a very congested, condensed site with deliveries planned and arranged by appointment only. We worked closely with McKelvey Construction to manage such challenges and ensure that local access for residents was uninterrupted, as well as ensuring the overall safety of the site area.

From design advice through to installation, we offered a partnership approach which ensured a smooth installation process with minimal disruption, and the delivery of a fantastic community centre for the local area to enjoy. 

Technical Project Details

Originally rainscreen cladding was specified for the Walkways project. However during the construction process, due to spiralling material costs and budget restraints, this was deemed too expensive so alternative solutions had to be sourced. It was decided an external insulation system would be used and a ventilated cavity system was required, as this provides a secondary defence in commercial buildings like Walkways.

The K Systems Exicco E drained cavity façade system was specified as it ticked all the boxes. Exicco provides excellent protection and can offer an excellent fire rating of up to A2-s1,d0, providing high levels of fire resistance and non-combustibility. The drained cavity behind the insulation in the Exicco system will ensure that any interstitial moisture will escape without detriment to the performance of the system.

As EWI was not originally specified for the project, no metsec frame had been designed. This is a crucial element for the Exicco system, which meant a bespoke metsec frame had to be designed specifically to suit our system.

The Exicco E system for Walkways used Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) insulation boards that were mechanically fixed and attached to 12mm BBA Approved sheathing boards to create a 25mm drained cavity. EPS boards are extremely light-weight and the system offers a great fire rating of B-s1,d0. It is a high performing, economical system that generates high levels of thermal performance and ensured the target U-value of 0.18W/m ² K. was achieved.

For the finish, Silkolitt+ silicone renders ensured a clean, crisp contemporary finish that offers protection to the exterior of the community centre. The flexibility of this finish provides resistance against cracking and increases the durability, ensuring a long-lasting finish for Walkways.