J & P Building Systems

As with all balcony constructions, the issue of cold-bridging (also known as thermal-bridging) must be addressed and minimised to meet the required building standards - Part L of the Building regulations being of particular relevance. The H-BAU ISOPRO® thermal insulation element from J&P solved this problem by providing structural connection between the internal concrete floor slab, and the external concrete (insitu, or precast) balcony, whilst creating a thermal break to minimise cold-bridging.

JORDAHL® cast-in channel provided the versatility of fixing, whilst J&P provided the quality of support for this prestigious project. Loveld Concrete provided the high-quality precast panels used on both end gable elevations. Unitised glazing was fixed into each panel using JORDAHL® JTA K channel. Each panel was then subsequently fixed back to the concrete structure also using JORDAHL® JTA W 72/48 high-load channel. The pods were fixed using JORDAHL® JTA 53/34 channel, which accommodated the greater loads required.

St George Wharf consists of 750 apartments and offices, cafés, restaurants, a health and fitness centre as well as an international hotel. The project centres around 5 towers ascending in steps up to the 22nd storey. The top levels, directly under the striking wing-roofs, consist of penthouse suites with sea-green glass facades. Due to the fantastic location of St. George Wharf a complex has been created, which offers a high level of exclusivity, convenience and comfort. JORDAHL® supplied anchor channels JTA for connecting the elements of the glass façade.

The Dream is a 20m precast concrete sculpture on the site of the old Sutton Manor Colliery near St. Helens in Lancashire. Created by world-renowned Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, it serves as a memorial to the miners who worked at the site. Because of the sculpture’s exposure to winds of up to 45m/s, all of the elements were connected to form a single monolithic structure. The design required a connection force of 200kN between adjacent elements, both horizontally and vertically. J&P was approached to deliver because of the company’s expertise in working with precast concrete.

J&P was involved early in discussions with several members of the project team, and using its BEAMCON product, provided a coordinated and value-engineered range of solutions to the multiple fixing requirements on the project. These included brackets that could take vertical shear loads of 72 kN, horizontal shear of 270 kN, tension of 495 kN and a moment of 25 kNm. BEAMCON was used to fix the innovative ETFE cladding “cushions” which give The SSE Hydro its distinctive appearance.

J&P explored a number of possibilities with the precast contractor, Border Concrete Products and the main contractor Expanded Structures, culminating in a proposal to utilise J&P’s TSS invisible connectors. The innovative solution involved the TSS units being rotated through 90°, to accommodate the bearer within the slender 125mm rib section (see image above). The additional challenge of the supporting downstand being radiused was easily accommodated due to the flexibility of the TSS units, and the detailed dimensional/setting-out information provided by J&P to the contractors ensured accurate positioning for the varying angles required.