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The spectacular Council House, located in Victoria Square, is the home of Birmingham City Council providing office accommodation for council officers and elected council members alongside the council chamber, Lord Mayor’s Suite, committee rooms and a large and ornate banqueting suite, complete with minstrel’s gallery. The first-floor’s exterior balcony is used by visiting dignitaries and victorious sports teams, to address crowds assembled below. The side of the building that faces Chamberlain Square is the entrance and façade of the Museum and Art Gallery.The Grade II listed building was designed by Yeoville Thomason in 1871 and features a central section with a huge hexastyle Corinthian order porte-cochere carrying a balcony with an arch and tympanum high up above, flanked by piers and columns which, in turn, carry a large carved pediment. Construction began in 1874 when the first stone was laid by mayor Joseph Chamberlain and was completed in 1879 at a cost £163,000 (equivalent to £16,700,000 in 2019). The Council House was extended almost immediately, to house an art gallery, museum, and the corporation’s Gas Department. It was extended a second time in 1911–19 with a new block to the north connected to the original building by an intricately designed archway. That extension contains the Feeney Art Galleries.As with so many listed buildings, ensuring they meet today’s Health & Safety standards can be quite the challenge and this one is no exception. However, the Step on Safety design and installation teams are more than qualified for the task and are installing GRP Riser floors around the services in place.Using glass reinforced plastic open mesh grating and pultruded profiles is quicker and easier than metal options. It’s lighter, so easier to manoeuvre where space is limited, and easier to cut – so can be fitted closely around pipes and cables, closing any gaps in the riser voids that people or objects could have fallen through.Step on Safety believes in providing superb customer service and treats every project – no matter the size – with care and attention to detail.

DUCO contributes with sun protection to the £78m project for The University of Manchester. The architectural sun control DucoSun Ellips 200 mm, supplied by Contrasol, was chosen for the Fallowfield campus. The solar shading is so much more than decoration.About the Fallowfield CampusThe Fallowfield is a student accommodation with 8 multi-storey blocks including a Warden’s flat and Energy Centre, amenity hub, landscaping and external works. Each residence will have 10 bedrooms per floor with ensuite bathroom pods and a shared kitchen. 1,122 student rooms are spread over the blocks with a combined floor area of 32,020m2. The Fallowfield Campus is the main residential campus of the University of Manchester. It’s a vibrant place where thousands of students live alongside residents – creating e a real sense of community. The mix of shops, cafes, bars and a frequent bus service to and from the city centre makes it an ideal location to live.Construction detailsThe blocks are constructed using pre-fabricated lightweight steel framing system panels which provide structure to the building when used along with composite concrete floors. External materials are predominantly buff brickwork with feature elevations picked out in charcoal fibre cement slate roofing and cladding. Study bedrooms incorporate built-in storage and furnishings and a high specification pre-fabricated GRP en-suite shower pod.  Solar shading is much more than decorationThe vertical solar shading system DucoSun Ellips was chosen for this project and supplied by Contrasol. This solar shading system, in which a blade with of 200 mm was chosen, guarantees not only maximum daylight, thanks to the optimal inclination angle and number of louvre blades. At the same time, DucoSun Ellips 200 ensures that the sun’s rays do not get a chance to heat up the Fallowfield interior spaces directly. The vertically installed solar shading system offers maximum privacy while maintaining the view outside.

The JG Graves Woodland Discovery Centre is being constructed in the Ecclesall Woods Sawmill as part of the Sheffield Woodlands Environment Enhancement Project.The centre runs craft courses all through the year from cider making to wood work skills. Public events in the autumn and spring celebrate Sheffield’s rich woodland heritage and demonstrates the unique facilities of the centre, as well as providing activities such as story telling, discovering nature and traditional uses of wood in the home and garden.The SolutionThe project entailed designing a center that harmoniously blended with the enchanting surrounding woodlands. The main building featured a grand ‘ski slope’ style roof, initially planned to be waterproofed using metal sheets. However, the client quickly realised that this approach would be prohibitively expensive.To meet the client’s requirements for a cost-effective alternative that maintained the intended appearance, they turned to Charlesworth Contractors—a Polyroof approved contractor with a proven track record of excellence. Recognizing the need for a swift and efficient waterproofing solution, we recommended the BBA Approved Polyroof 185 System with Lead Roll Effect trims.The first step involved fixing high-quality plywood boards onto the roof’s support beams to create the ski-slope shape. This foundation was then enhanced with GRP trims meticulously applied to replicate the appearance of traditional lead rolls. Finally, our renowned Polyroof 185 System was expertly installed, swiftly forming a seamless and highly durable waterproofing membrane.The implemented solution not only met the project’s time constraints but also exceeded expectations in terms of performance and aesthetics. With a 20-year insurance-backed guarantee, our Polyroof 185 system provided the client with peace of mind, assuring long-lasting protection for the roof. Furthermore, not only did our solution prove to be an attractive alternative to metal sheets, but it also offered significant cost savings.The successful collaboration between Polyroof, Charlesworth Contractors, and the client resulted in a waterproofing solution that seamlessly blended into the natural surroundings of the woodlands. Our advanced liquid roofing system, coupled with expert craftsmanship, delivered an outcome that was both visually appealing and economically viable. With the Polyroof 185 System, we demonstrated once again our ability to provide efficient, durable, and cost-effective solutions for even the most challenging roofing projects.

What are curved and cantilevered pergolas?Curved and cantilevered pergolas are intricate designs of raised structures that can be free standing or fixed to an existing building or structure.They are complicated elements of a project and aren’t usually something designed on site. Manufactured in a workshop by skilled professionals, then taken to site in kit form for a rapid installation.Depending upon the design, the curves are manufactured from simple fins or box section and curved to a radius during manufacture. The design may call for the curved arrangement to be manufacture from straight pieces, this does reduce price but can look facetted.Cantilevering raised structures and pergolasFor years, these raised structures have been designed with a cantilevered design. This causes complications for the structure due to the weight, bending moments and behaviour of solid or laminated timber. The solution has been to create flitch plates and stiffening beams in steel which would then be wrapped in the timber. This is a costly affair and required Structural Engineers to provide detail and calculation for these structures. They then take excessive time on site to install and can sometimes be cost prohibitive.Technowood solves pergola problemsThe use of Technowood for complex pergolas is now an integral material for modern structures. Technowood can span up to 7.5 metres in the normal production of these structures, this would be for an unsupported form. If design requires dimensions over this then Technowood can use GRP to then create lengths of up to 12.5 metres.“There are also other benefits by using TechnoWood”It can be A2 fire ratedMuch lighter than solid timberUp to 60% quicker on installationNo flitch beams nor unnecessary reinforcingNo visible fixingsWarranted for 20 yearsFSC and Environmental Product DeclarationAnd it looks like timber … because it is wrapped in real timber veneer.How to design a perfect PergolaOf course, designers and Architects don’t need us to tell them what to design… We do help with the connections and advise on how the whole package is assembled. Do give us a call and we can send over the DWG’s, DXF’s and SKP’s, these will have all of the elements on the Technowood portfolio of you to use in your design.Technowood do have in-house designers that offer solutions should you require. You can visit their office and showroom which is based in the Sky House design Centre, Amersham. Top of the Metropolitan line on the tube…

Our purposeOn behalf of Amye Defence Services, Acclaim Contracts Ltd was commissioned to address the aging roof of the building, which was leaking despite receiving patch repairs over the past 20 years. The Ministry of Defence’s Project Allenby/Connaught demonstrates the Government’s commitment to maintaining defence estates.The £1.45bn scheme is a 35-year commitment to providing modern, high quality, fully serviced, purpose built living and working accommodation for 18,700 soldiers. It involves the new build and refurbishment of more than 550 buildings across Salisbury Plain and Aldershot, including upgrading Allenby’s Building 51, otherwise known as the Sports Pavilion.Our solutionAcclaim turned to Langley to provide all the material necessary to complete the work. After stripping the original roof to the existing plywood deck, the team fitted new treated timber around the perimeter and new uPVC fascia. The current edge trims, perimeter check kerbs, and extended flues were removed to ensure regulatory 150mm clearance was achieved once the new roof covering was installed. Langley’s HT180 attachment layer was loose-laid and nailed into place to provide appropriate protection to the timber deck while the “hot works” above were undertaken. Langley’s TA-20 Flat Roofing System was installed across the roof area, with insulation to achieve the regulatory requirement of 0.18W/m2K. SA-20 Flat Roofing Detailing System was used in fire risk areas, in line with Safe2Torch guidance. The range of Langley’s TA systems complies with Broof(t4) classification and has a Local Authority Building Control (LABC) assured accreditation. Under MOAT 31, Langley’s Parafor 30 GS (cap sheet to the TA system) achieves a ‘resistance to damage” rating of R4. It is independently certified by the BBA to deliver a life expectancy of at least 40 years, one of the longest available in the UK.Acclaim fitted Langley’s ParaFurb Refurbishment Outlets to upgrade the internal outlets where possible, cleaning and priming those where the design precluded the use of ParaFurb. We installed New Code 5 lead pipe sleeves to flues and hot pipes to a minimum 150mm above the waterproofing. In addition, Langley’s ParaTrim GRP Edge Trim was fitted to all the kerbs.“It carried great weight with us that Acclaim worked in partnership with Langley, who offers an independent insurance-backed guarantee. That is indicative of pride and confidence in its work, giving synergy with Amey. It also gives us, and our client the Ministry of Defence, that the refurbished estate at Allenby will serve and be fit for purpose for decades to come.”Will Loates, Service Delivery Area Manager, Amey