"ancon"

The latest architectural wonder to rise from the banks of the Thames is Switch House, the highly anticipated extension to Tate Modern, which opened in June 2016. Ancon’s contribution to this landmark project was the fabrication of 12,000 special stainless steel corbels and over 600,000 stainless steel pins which now support and restrain the stunning brick façade, helping to turn this unusual design concept into a reality. With construction now complete, Ancon’s critical structural components are completely hidden from view, leaving onlookers to simply marvel at the overall effect and the ingenuity at work.

Ancon designed and manufactured the complex stainless steel brick support and restraint system behind the complicated façade of the award-winning LSE Saw Swee Hock Student Centre. The attractive masonry façade uses 175,000 handmade bricks to form both solid and perforated areas. The Ancon stainless steel system comprises special inclined MDC type brick support angles fixed back to 30/20 cast-in channels and bespoke rolled hollow section Windposts, featuring surface-fixed channels to accept wall ties, positioned at mullion locations strategically hidden within the perforated brickwork.

Over 100,000 Ancon Rebar Couplers were used to support the concrete of one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world. Reinforcing bars which strengthen the concrete deck, towers and end piers had to be reliably, mechanically connected end to end throughout the structure. To perform this hidden, but vital structural task, Bartec Plus Parallel Threaded Couplers were selected from the comprehensive Ancon range. Various types and sizes, to match rebar diameters from 12-40mm, were supplied, with the three largest sizes being used to join reinforcement running the full height of the three 680ft support towers.

Ancon TeploTie, the innovative low thermal conductivity Wall Tie, has been used in the UK’s first retrofit to achieve zero-carbon Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes. TeploTie wall ties are ideal for retrofit projects as they can be resin-fixed into existing walls. The project involved the refurbishment of a semi-detached home, built in the 1840s with solid brick walls. The front elevation is internally insulated to preserve the original brickwork. The U-value of the walls is now 0.11W/mK2, 16 times better than before.

The Lakhta Center is a large mixed-use non-residential development featuring the first supertall skyscraper in St. Petersburg. The 87 floor, 462 metre superstructure consists of a cylindrical reinforced concrete core. Due to exceptional reinforcement volumes, Ancon reinforcing bar couplers and headed anchors were used extensively in the construction of the foundation raft to avoid unnecessary overlapping of bars and minimise congestion. Nearly 80,000 CXL32 couplers were used for the splicing of 32mm horizontal reinforcing bars, and over 45,000 CXL32HA and 6,000 MBT ETHA32 headed anchors were used at the extremities of the reinforcement at the edges of the raft.

Salamander Street is a mid-market rent initiative that provides high quality affordable homes in the heart of Leith, Edinburgh. It comprises 199 flats and maisonettes across six storeys of accommodation, constructed over a basement car park.It was designed by 7N Architects, which specified Knauf Insulation’s 50mm Rocksilk® RainScreen Slab to insulate the ventilated façade. They chose this product because it met the brief’s two critical performance factors: thermal performance and fire safety.It is a Rock Mineral Wool insulation slab with a thermal conductivity of 0.034W/mK, so it delivers the required U-value of 0.16 W/m2K. It is non-combustible with the best possible Euroclass A1 reaction to fire classification and is BBA certified for use in a wide range of build-ups in high rise buildings. This means it complies with Building Regulations in Scotland that restrict the use of combustible materials on most buildings over 11m.The Salamander Street development was overseen by main contractor Cruden Building East with sub-contractor Soundtex responsible for installing the insulation.It was constructed using an Ancon Brick Restraint System. Ancon has undertaken independent third-party tests to demonstrate that its restraint system does not require a compression sleeve when used in conjunction with Rocksilk® RainScreen Slab under 180mm thick. This provided a huge saving in labour costs for Soundtex as fasteners are usually inserted into compression sleeves by hand.Throughout the build, Knauf Insulation’s Specification Team attended regular project meetings and conducted site visits to check the quality and progress of installation. Rocksilk® RainScreen Slab is optimised for ease of installation and improved robustness, making it easy to manoeuvre into position. At Salamander Street, the Specification Team noted the uniformity of installation and perfectly staggered joints. This is important because it ensures there are no gaps, which could reduce thermal and acoustic performance – a common issue with rigid foam board insulation.Rocksilk® RainScreen Slab is manufactured with ECOSE® Technology, Knauf Insulation's unique bio-based binder that contains no added formaldehyde or phenol. It is made from natural raw materials that are rapidly renewable and is 70% less energy-intensive to manufacture than traditional binders, so it is more environmentally friendly.Products made with ECOSE® Technology are soft to touch and easy to handle. They generate low levels of dust and VOCs and have been awarded the Eurofins Gold Certificate for Indoor Air Comfort.The Rocksilk® RainScreen Slab insulation was installed in conjunction with Knauf Windliner sheathing board for maximum performance.Thanks to Knauf Insulation, the residents of Salamander Street will enjoy warm, cosy homes that meet the highest standards of fire safety.