"concrete frames"

Bespoke Sliding Over Roof Rooflight For Concrete Frame House Building Case Study

A requirement in Corstorphine Wright’s design brief was to avoid horizontal movement joints in the finished façade, which would have been the result had a traditional SFS Infill to concrete frame approach been taken. Working with Willmott Dixon at the early design stages of the contract, Metsec’s in-house design team proposed a continuous walling solution formed from SFS to support glazing and rendered elements that would form the external skin of the façade. Metsec’s solution included the use of fixing cleats to connect the SFS continuous walling to the structure’s concrete frame.

Project: Manufacture and installation of bespoke 3D GRC cladding panels in Tempest Grey colour and Silk finish Client: Morgan Lovell Materials used: Panels were produced using BTX GRC high performance concrete in 3 meter length and only 20mm thickness. Bespoke 3D BTX GRC high performance concrete cladding panels were installed by Living Concrete to the famous 10 Old Bailey entrance. The panels were 3 meters in length each but only 20mm thick. Panels were double fixed to a steel frame and sealed in a Silk finish.

The Assembly Rooms is a new office block development on a site of a former 1870’s cinema situated on Werter Road, just off Putney High Street.Living Concrete team used an innovative concrete application technique to create ultra-sleek custom-built reception desk for Morgan Cox at Assembly Rooms. A special mix of spray concrete in Mist colour was applied onsite to MDF frame, seamlessly achieving a very complex and detailed design.In addition two large planter units with sitting benches were constructed and finished in the same style.

The Lift 109 viewpoint designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates has opened within the rebuilt chimney of Battersea Power Station in London. We manufactured and installed a concrete reception desk for the Lift 109 Experience reception area which is located in the Power Station’s magnificent Art Deco Turbine Hall A.Living Concrete team used an innovative concrete application technique to create custom-built reception desk for our client Beck Interiors. MicroConcrete fluted tiles in Willow Green colour were cladded onto MDF frame, seamlessly achieving a very complex and detailed design. Hand cast and hand polished oval shape concrete worktops in Ivory were assembled onsite. By using the best of modern technology, we have created a modern and robust design that demonstrates how concrete can be both good looking and functional.

As part of a mixed-use commercial development in King’s Cross, Ambar Kelly have supplied bespoke riser flooring system. The rise flooring is providing to an ideal riser flooring solution for a complex construction project involving reinforced concrete frame and steel frame buildings, to improve buildability and safety.

Cann Hall Skate Park in Waltham Forest, East London had been closed after the steel frame and plywood structure had fallen into disrepair. A refurbishment proposal was put together with funding from the Council’s Greenspace department, government funding secured by the Council’s youth service team and a donation from the local police Safer Neighbourhood Team. The designer chose TOPTINT coloured concrete as part of a high contrast design that would emphasise the bold geometric shapes used. Available in a wide range of colours, TOPTINT would deliver the smooth, durable finish required for the skate park surface in the bright, contrasting colours that the designer was looking for.TOPTINT coloured concretes use liquid colour pigment which is UV stable meaning that the colour will not degrade over time from natural sunlight. Also, because this liquid pigment is evenly mixed throughout the concrete, the colour resists surface wear, even in busy locations like skate parks.Read the full story at: https://tarmac.com/case-studies/coloured-concrete-for-london-skate-park/

Project: Manufacture and installation of 200m2 of oversized bespoke GRC GAP wall panels. Client: Harris Partnership Architects, Kirkland & Bowmer, Muse Developments, Nexus, STC Project scope: Installation of 200m2 of 20mm x 3500mm x 1500mm GRC BTX concrete wall cladding panels in Tempest Grey colour to new and existing masonry walls and steel frame. The oversized bespoke GAP concrete panels with mitred edges were manufactured using GRC concrete, which is lighter and stronger than traditional concrete. The panels were fixed with anchor bolts and specialist adhesive to ensure extra secure installation and later polished and treated with specialist anti-graffiti coating.

The Park Hill Estate in Sheffield was built as a council estate between 1957 and 1961. It was designed by Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith in a brutalist architectural style and has always divided opinions.Described as revolutionary for its time, the concept was `Streets in the Sky` with wide deck areas and distinctive concrete frame.  Whilst demolition of the site was being considered, in 1998 the estate was listed by English Heritage and given Grade II* status which was considered very controversial and attracted much criticism.  It is the largest listed building in Europe and, with its protected status, it was decided to renovate and redevelop the site as a joint venture between Urban Splash and English Heritage.The future of the scheme was to develop the site into desirable upmarket apartments, business units and social housing and the success has been widely publicised, including features in almost all architectural and concrete magazines, with a shortlisting for the 2013 RIBA Stirling Prize & 2023 RIBA Yorkshire awards, as well as winners of the AJ Retrofit Awards 2023.The key involvement for KEIM Mineral Paints was renovation of the extensive concrete frame. The discoloured concrete gave a drab and dirty look to the building – not the desirable, upmarket effect that the designers were looking for. The first consideration was to paint the frame in its entirety but this would have led to the loss of what is considered to be the most iconic feature of the building. So the challenge was to renovate the frame, improve the colour and finish without creating a painted effect.The answer was to use KEIM Concretal Lasur. This innovative paint system is a colourwash or stain which is applied onto concrete to cover blemishes and enhance the appearance, whilst, most importantly, keeping the look of natural concrete. KEIM Concretal Lasur has all of the features integral to KEIM Mineral Paints such as a permanent and highly protective chemical bond, complete UV stability and resistance to mould and fungal growth.KEIM Concretal Lasur is diluted with a complementary product using differing ratios and opacities to achieve the required colour and coverage, whilst still enabling surfaces to look like unpainted concrete. The system can also be employed to minimise any unsightly repairs to concrete. The versatility of the system allows almost complete coverage of repairs, or slight coverage, if preferred, which enhances the natural look of the concrete but gives the effect of a more visually appealing finish.

A complete rework of a postmodern office building (60 London Wall), situated in the heart of the City of London. The project aim was to extensively refurbish, reconfigure, reinvent and reposition the building.Due to the addition of a composite metal deck floor extension and additional steel frame for the top floors, Tarmac’s Toplight C lightweight structural concrete was seen as the perfect solution as it could be pumped and ensured a weight loss of 30% whiel maintaining the necessary structural performance.

The Canaletto residential tower at 257 City Road in London is located halfway between Old Street and Angel Stations in Islington, alongside the regenerated City Road Basin. It comprises a 31-storey tower with 190 luxury one, two and three bedroom apartments built to the standards of Code 4 Sustainable Homes Level 4.The tower is concrete frame and has a curving facade of metal and glass that breaks the volume into a series of three-to-four storey clusters. In turn, each cluster contains grouped balcony terraces, which are a striking feature of the building. The balconies are of steel construction connected to the concrete frame and as always with cantilever construction elements of this nature, one of the early design considerations had to be the prevention of thermal bridging.For the high specification Canaletto project the Schöck Isokorb® T type SK offers the ideal solution. It is a concrete-to-steel connectivity module that sits between the outer and inner structural connection points and blocks the outflow of heat through the use of high quality polystyrene insulation foam. The Isokorb® T type SK provides a clean and unobtrusive connection detail, minimises on-site assembly time and enables a high level of prefabrication.

The Royal College of Pathologists have relocated their London Headquarters to the rapidly changing area of Aldgate, on the Eastern fringes of the city. The new seven storey structure replaces an existing office block, providing a flexible and environmentally efficient building to house their growing needs. The building design includes major conference facilities, meeting rooms, offices, a multi-function auditorium, exhibition space, restaurant facilities and accommodation. Cordek were asked by the specialist concrete frame contractor Oliver Connell & Son to devise a formwork system to allow the construction of ribbed concrete floors.

Downer Designer helps contractors and specifiers design and cost rainscreen framing systems.A next-generation, dedicated, free-to-use platform for the real-time development, creation and costing of rainscreen cladding framing designs has been launched by leading UK manufacturer Downer Framing.Downer the original Helping Hand framing solution was one of the first rainscreen cladding framing systems on the UK market. BBA approved, tested to the extreme and officially Made in Britain, in its factory near Hastings, it set the benchmark in 1988.Now the company has launched Downer Designer – a free-to-use online tool which enables contractors, installers and specifiers to outline their project-specific rainscreen requirements to generate optimised framing designs. All of which is stored and managed in their own personal online account.Users simply enter the information they know, along with any detail-specific needs for new build or refurbishment projects in the commercial, education, healthcare, retail, leisure and transportation sectors. The technical team at Downer Framing will then provide: static and thermal calculations (up to 10 static calculations per project element), relevant costs, optimised component and fixing configurations, and NBS specification. All of which can be printed off or saved as a pdf. The user process can take as little as 10 minutes, and the Downer Technical team aim to have a Project Pack ready within just 24 hours.The interfacing software which Downer Designer connects with is created by a team of specialist structural engineers. The user-friendly platform enables contractors, installers and specifiers to optimise even the most complex rainscreen framing projects from the very first instance, saving the design team not only money, but time and inconvenience.Information required ranges from building height, cladding area, wind load references and construction type, through static calculations such as product type, panel thickness and weight, horizontal fix centres, and facade/soffit, to cavity depth, rail lengths and cantilevers, substrate, stud grade and centres, wall build up and target U-values.Juan Barato, Downer Framing’s Technical Manager (part of Architectural Panel Solutions - a leading UK manufacturer and supplier of rainscreen systems and solutions) reflected: “While we focused on building our framing systems portfolio, we also realised we needed to help our customers design and price those systems, so Downer Designer was developed to do just that in the quickest and easiest way possible. Trials have proved we have got the balance just right.”Downer Designer enables framing specifiers to access a dedicated space to cost their framing projects quickly and easily. Downer Designer brings everything a customer could potentially want into one place. All new Downer Framing systems can be selected and costed in real-time, with optimised quotes aimed to be returned by our technical team within just 48 hours!

Langley Academy Primary School, is a modern 2 storey development which will house 630 nursery, reception and junior pupils in Slough Berkshire. To carry out the main works of this project, the sub-contractor was appointed to construct the building using a concrete frame and cement particle board, then wrapped in high quality external wall insulation and render materials from SPSenvirowall. Working collaboratively, this saw the installation of 1100 meters of 200mm insulation, which met the desired thermal performance of the building as well as contributing to the fire and acoustic requirements.

The three-storey structure designed by FaulknerBrowns, includes library and exhibition space, IT suite, 3D printers, and café. The development, completed in October 2016, is part of a £100 million regeneration masterplan which partners South Tyneside Council with Muse Developments. Creating a curved structure can pose a challenge, but the Kingspan TEK Cladding Panel was successfully engineered to provide a smooth, highly insulated exterior envelope. To achieve this, the structural insulated panels (SIPs) were designed and factory cut into narrow widths. This allowed them to be quickly and easily fixed to the concrete frame.

Manufacture and installation of bespoke white concrete kitchen worktops and concrete cladded central island. The large format concrete panels were wrapped around the central island with 3D concrete tiles completing the design. All worktops and tiles were fitted using mechanical and chemical fixings.

On this fast turnaround project we worked closely with Apteriors; Interior Design and Furniture Specialists and McLaren Construction to manufacture and supply outdoor concrete furniture for new multipurpose recreation and study area for New Regent’s College in London. Living Concrete supplied 4 large Let’s Dine Concrete Tables and 12 concrete cube seats with oak cladding which were assembled on site and finished with a specialist sealant. Product Spec: Let’s Dine Table Size: height 70cm x length 200cm x width 100cm Finish/ Colour: Mist Hand-cast GRC concrete Indoor and outdoor use

On this fast turnaround project we worked closely with Clarke Penman Architecture to manufacture and install polished concrete kitchen worktops and splash-backs.Concrete worktops are extremely strong and durable and designed to withstand busy family use. These were cast to the client’s individual and unique specifications using our BTX Ultra High Performance Concrete mix with a hydrophobic agent to limit moisture absorption. The worktops were cut to fit various kitchen appliances and then treated and sealed to make them stain proof.Spanning over 6 metres, separate large BTX concrete panels were carefully assembled on site and fitted with brass sink and taps by our experienced team. The finished effect is a modern, industrial look that complements client’s design style and blends perfectly with the raw plastered walls and concrete floors, which together create a truly unique and highly functional kitchen.

The Living Concrete team provided design consultancy and were selected to project manage the delivery of a new kitchen for a celebrity chef.The glass fibre reinforced concrete central island, table-come-workbench was manufactured using our special GRC BTX concrete, which is lighter and stronger than traditional concrete. We used our unique eco concrete mix technology with a hydrophobic agent to limit moisture absorption. The individual elements were precast in our workshop for assembly on site and then hand polished and treated with a specialist sealant. Large format GAP wall panels with concrete caps in Mist Rough finish completed the design.Living Concrete’s worktops and tables are extremely strong and durable and can be used indoors or outdoors. By using the best of modern technology, we have created a contemporary and elegant space that demonstrates how concrete can be both good looking and functional.

Project: Manufacture and installation of 10 bespoke concrete pendant light fittings for newly refurbished London gym and changing rooms. Materials used: Hand-cast concrete sphere shaped lamp shades with hand applied metallic internal finish and stainless steel fittings. We were asked to manufacture 10 bespoke extra large sphere-shaped concrete pendant lamps with hand applied metallic internal finish and stainless steel fittings. Product Spec: Size: diameter 47cm, shade height 28cm, maximum suspension height 120cm Weight 6.25kg Finish/ Colour: Rough finish – GREY Cable / cord : Herringbone brown linen Ceiling rose : Concrete GREY Colour temperature: 3000k LED WARM WHITE

Project: Manufacture and installation of concrete worktops at the office canteenClient: Everybody’s Music ManagementMaterials used:  Bespoke BTX GRC 2500 x 65 x 30 mm precast and hand polished concrete worktops in Silk Mist finish.Three large concrete panels; each 2500 mm long and 650 mm wide with side returns; were installed by the Living Concrete team in the communal office space at Everybody’s Music Management offices in North London.The worktops were cast to the client’s individual and unique specifications using our BTX Ultra High Performance Concrete mix with a hydrophobic agent to limit moisture absorption. The worktops were cut to fit various kitchen appliances and then treated and sealed to make them stain proof. Concrete worktops are extremely strong and durable and designed to withstand high level of use.

The 'HOOLA' in Tidal Basin Road in East London, gateway to the soon-to-be regenerated Royal Victoria Docks area, has transformed a brownfield site into two rippling 23 and 24 storey glass towers, that offer 360 apartments with a mix of studios, along with one, two and three-bedroom units.The buildings are super-insulated and the concrete frame will act as a heat sink – absorbing heat on warm days and releasing it back into apartments when it cools. An innovative link-up with the neighbouring ExCel Exhibition Centre will also see excess heat piped directly into the two towers. This will provide all the necessary heating and hot water requirements and significantly reduce maintenance costs by doing away with the need for individual boilers. A critical design requirement for such a super-insulated building was the avoidance of any risk of thermal bridging at the many concrete-to-concrete balcony connectivity points – so highly efficient structural thermal breaks were required throughout. The preferred solution was the Schöck Isokorb® T type K for cantilever balconies.Luke Smerdon-White, Technical Director at Thorp, takes up the story: "We had to design, manufacture and deliver 1410 precast concrete balcony sections that had to then be cast integrally with the in situ concrete structure." "The exposed front-face is curved, with almost 50 different dimensional configurations, while the internal face has a facetted line that had to correlate with the glazing line and opening doors."

Project: Cast GRC concrete bespoke floating steps and concrete tiles for private residence in CobhamMaterials used: GRC concrete with hydrophobic agent and stain proof finishThe Living Concrete team were commissioned to design and create 180 square metres of large format exterior concrete tiles to surround the pool area, patio and paths of an exclusive private residence in Cobham.Working closely with the client, we drew up plans which also involved a cascade of floating steps to create seamless access on what was quite a difficult tiered site. Having assessed all the practical and logistical issues, we worked out a tight schedule of measuring, landscaping, pre-cast and on-site casting and, finally, staged installation of all the elementsas well as laying the pool area and surrounds, we undertook on-site casting of fair-faced concrete garden walls in our Storm-coloured plain Rough finish.This project had many challenges in its design and execution and covered a large external area on different levels incorporating very heavy concrete elements – creating this stunning feature.

Project:  Refurbishment and restoration of 6 flights of concrete stairs and landings at Pennybank Chambers, London     Client: Emrys Architects, DDC LTDMaterials used:  MicroConcrete coating in Grey colour and Satin finishThe Living Concrete team were commissioned by Emrys to refurbish and restore an old concrete staircase. This was followed by hand application of Microconcrete coating with Anti-slip agent around the cast iron step threads which were cast in brass finish.  MicroConcrete coating is especially suitable to this type of artisan restoration and it is ideal for tougher environments such as stairs, shop and office floors, bars, hotels and exteriors with no need for joins or breaks. It can be applied over existing materials which reduces the time needed for application and maintenance.

On this redevelopment project we worked closely with McLaren.Excell Architects to manufacture and supply bespoke concrete kitchen worktops and concrete cladded central island in a newly renovated penthouse flat at a warehouse in Shoreditch.The glass fibre reinforced concrete central island, splash backs and worktops were manufactured using our special GRC BTX concrete, which is lighter and stronger than traditional concrete. We used our unique eco concrete mix technology with a hydrophobic agent to limit moisture absorption. The individual elements were precast in our workshop for assembly on site and then hand polished and treated with a specialist sealant. Living Concrete’s worktops are extremely strong and durable and can be used indoors or outdoors. By using the best of modern technology, we have created a sleek contemporary look that demonstrates how concrete can be both eye catching and functional.

Dura Grating Riser Installation | Case StudyShard Place is the third phase of the £3.5 billion redevelopment of the estate next to London Bridge station, known as Shard Quarter. Reinforced concrete frame and groundwork specialists Getjar were appointed as the formwork contractor by the principal contractor Mace and chose the Dura Composites Riser Install team to take on some of the complex install challenges of the service risers.Dura’s unrivalled expertise and full install capabilities meant they could deliver a bespoke solution for a large triangular shaped riser on all 26 storeys that required the use of galvanized steel supports and bracketing in conjunction with GRP Dura Grating to allow for cutouts to be performed whilst maintaining the integrity of the riser.

The Living Concrete team are highly experienced at working with leading designers to create bespoke furniture for beautiful spaces. That’s why Charlotte Crosland came to us to discuss the design, manufacture and installation of this stunning outdoor kitchen and entertainment space, housed in a purpose built oak building at her client’s Great Missenden home.We cast a number of items including work surfaces, kitchen cupboards with shelving and drawers, fridge enclosure, BBQ, cast in sink with copper fittings and seatWe used a unique eco concrete mix with a hydrophobic agent to limit moisture absorption and the smooth Silk Mist finish was treated and sealed with Satin Stain protection to make it damage proof. Our high-performance concrete doesn’t corrode or degrade, making it a long-lasting, practical choice that will keep its good looks. It’s fireproof too – a major advantage inside the home, but equally so in an outdoor oak-built structure such as this.

On this high profile development project the Living Concrete team worked to very tight deadlines installing 580m2 of self-levelling FluidConcrete flooring throughout the house. FluidConcrete has a smooth, Polished-Concrete-like finish, that makes it perfect for a modern, minimalist design that can be easily combined with materials like wood and ceramic and it is also suitable for under-floor heating. It can be applied to interior surfaces, with no need for joins or breaks.The large format bespoke Plain and Corner concrete panels were cast to the client’s individual and unique specifications using our BTX Ultra High Performance Concrete mix with a hydrophobic agent to limit moisture absorption. The panels were cut to fit around the staircase and walls and then treated and sealed to make them stain proof.The finished effect is a modern, spacious look that complements client’s design style and creates a truly unique and highly sophisticated space.

Passive Purple used here on timber frame as a waterproof airtight liquid vapour control membrane

The Chiswick Point development, at Bollo Lane, in West London, is a £20m contemporary mixed-use residential scheme offering 124 one, two and three bedroom residential apartments, including three penthouses. A sustainable approach was important, with all of the units designed to meet Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, and the Lifetime Homes code. Constructed in two blocks of six and nine storeys, the frame is mainly reinforced concrete, with the concrete frame floors and cladding providing thermal mass, which absorbs energy and slowly releases it to help reduce temperature fluctuations.Long continuous ribbon balconies provide solar shading to the two blocks and provide the residents with a very pleasant outlook across the London Wildlife Trust nature reserve at the rear of the development. The continuous balconies are a major feature of the scheme and with several hundred metres of them winding across the two blocks, effective thermal insulation was imperative if thermal bridging is to be avoided. To minimise any condensation problems and subsequent mould growth as a result, plus the avoidance of thermal outflow, Schöck Isokorb® T type K heat-insulating load-bearing elements are installed at various strategic positions along the large expanse of balconies. The Schöck Isokorb® T type K provides high thermal resistance by using stainless steel bars to act as tension and shear reinforcement, plus high-strength HTE pressure bearing modules.

Project: Design and manufacture of 2 reception desks and browser in GRC cast and sprayed concrete with brass finishes for ROMO GROUP. Materials used: Hand cast and sprayed GRFC concrete in Silk Mist finished with brass detailing. For Romo’s flagship store in London’s Chelsea Design Centre, the Living Concrete team were faced with the challenge of converting complicated geometrical designs into two precast reception desks and a browser. The single casts were made offsite, with each being over four meters long. They were treated and sealed to make them stain proof.

Project: Bespoke concrete-cladded reception desk for a workspace in South London. Client: K2 SPACE / Glenstone Materials: Large BTX Concrete 3D panels (overlays) in Mist colour and Smooth finish. The panels were cladded over a hard wood carcass. To create an impressive raw industrial look, we used special large format BTX concrete precast 3D panels that were made to K2 Space’s specific design and carefully assembled and finished by our team on site. The results speak for themselves in this stylish modern office space where this stunning 6m long and 1.2 m tall reception desk takes centre stage.

The project comprised of a large scale installation of Square GRC concrete floor tiles in two contrasting colours. Large Hazelnut tiles with Anti-slip Sandblast finish were laid around the main reception are. The remaining floor areas we resurfaced with Silver and Hazelnut tiles in Silk finish to emphasise the predominantly neutral colour palette of the interiors and the existing concrete structures which were left exposed.The tiles were manufactured using our special GRC BTX concrete, which is lighter and stronger than traditional concrete. We used our unique eco concrete mix technology with a hydrophobic agent to limit moisture absorption and staining. The challenges for this project were working with such large tiles that were pre-cut and only allowed for minor adjustments on site but the project was completed to a high spec for the client.

Project: Manufacture and installation of bespoke concrete cladding in a high-tech media room. The design comprised of floating 3D concrete seat wrapped around the fire place and individually sized concrete panels for chimney breast, wall, floor and ceiling. All panels were fitted using mechanical and chemical fixings.Client: Tigg & Coll Architects  Materials used: Large format Plain and GAP GRC panels in Rough Mist finish and sealed with hydrophobic agent and clear sealant.On this challenging project we worked closely with Tigg & Coll Architects to manufacture and supply bespoke concrete cladding for new multipurpose media room.The large format bespoke Plain and GAP concrete panels were cast to the client’s individual and unique specifications using our BTX Ultra High Performance Concrete mix with a hydrophobic agent to limit moisture absorption. The panels were cut to fit around the fireplace, floor, walls and ceiling and then treated and sealed to make them stain proof.The finished effect is a modern, industrial look that complements client’s design style and creates a truly unique and highly relaxing space.

Built in the heart of Birmingham, this building has 18 floors steel frame around 3 concrete cores. Being a very constrained site, close coordination was required with the structural steel frame contractor. Two deliveries a week were required to ensure their programme was met.

Spanning 5,195 sq ft over two floors, the newly opened Kiwa Sushi & Grill offers a taste of the western-eastern fusion within modern East Asian dining setting in the heart of London’s Chinatown.The Living Concrete team were tasked with manufacture and installation of 120m2 of Fairfaced concrete wall panels which were seamlessly cladded over large internal walls. The panels were manufactured using GRC concrete, which is lighter and stronger than traditional concrete and finished in Mist Grey to enhance natural weathered look.The finished effect is a modern, industrial look that complements client’s design style and creates a truly unique and trendy space.