Manufacturers offer a range of off-site solutions to suit projects of every size, from the modular building complexes at Hinkley nuclear power station to luxury bespoke panels featuring gold-printed wool

Medite Tricuya Extreme


Water-resistant cladding

Medite Tricoya Extreme acetylated wood products from Medite Smartply have been chosen as water-resistant cladding for a set of beach huts in Mudeford, in order to retain their exterior despite the climactic rigours of a seaside location. The company says the product was chosen due to its long-term performance, weather-resistant features and the ease of its installation. A total of 342 planks were used for the cladding. The finished beach huts, which include verandas, kitchens, living rooms and upstairs sleeping areas, were manufactured offsite and once finished, delivered to the seaside location.
Medite

Movers and Makers

  • Acoustic GRG and designer Anna Gravelle have collaborated to produce a new bespoke modular acoustic panel featuring tufted wool, gold foil-printed wool and a laser-etched leather design. Anna Gravelle, a textile and surface pattern designer, produces printed and embellished fabrics and products for domestic interiors and public spaces. She has created the laser-etched leather acoustic panel, providing a robust feature wall through a soft, curved form with added surface pattern and texture.
  • A new brochure from Helifix provides details of how its Dixie micro-pile system can be used to provide reliable and economical structural support for new permanent and temporary buildings. Helifix circular hollow section piles can be simply screwed vertically into the ground, to the required depth, and then topped with an engineered steel plate. This plate is then either cast into reinforced concrete pile caps/ground beams, for traditional new build construction, or connected directly to the base of modular or temporary steel structures. Once a temporary building is dismantled, the piles can be ‘unscrewed’ and removed from site.
  • Schlüter-Systems has released a new range of thermostat and control modules for its water-based system Schlüter-BEKOTEC-THERM. This system can be used in new-build, modular and renovation projects. The product has a modular underfloor heating assembly. The core of the system can be connected to a timer module for energy-saving temperature reduction. The connection modules for wired or wireless room sensors can be freely combined with the base module, which enables the flexible expansion of existing systems, and wireless and wired room sensors allow for individual room temperature control to suit requirements.

Abbeyfield Winnersh


Exterior panels

The Knauf Aquapanel® Exterior panels were chosen for a 60-bed care home in Winnersh, Berkshire, as a substitute façade system to brick and completed with a rendered finish. The product was chosen due to its characteristics as a directly applied render carrier board. Much of the external façade system was assembled offsite. The company says Knauf Aquapanel® Exterior provides a solid, dry base that can withstand the harsh weathering effects of wind, rain and snow.
Knauf

Modular building complexes
Premier Modular Limited has been specified to produce a series of modular building complexes at Hinkley in Somerset. The complex will deliver offices and site welfare facilities required for the construction phase of the new nuclear power station. The 38,000m2 of office space is the largest modular project in the UK, according to the company. Around 1,000 steel-framed modules are being constructed offsite in a process that will take 16 months from manufacture to handover.
Premier Modular

Bespoke offsite panels
EOS has designed and manufactured a bespoke solution of offsite panels with built-in wind posts for the Hendon Operational and Training Centre. The bespoke product was chosen because the large ribbon curtain walling windows required robust reinforcement. EOS designed and manufactured the unique offsite panels, which could be temporarily pinned, released, fixed down and then re-secured back to the pre-assembled panels.
EOS

Prefabricated single ply roofing system
A 26-module school extension has been designed, manufactured and installed using IKO Polymeric’s prefabricated single ply roofing system, fitted with its premium PVC membrane Armourplan P. The products were chosen because the Parish C of E Primary School in Bromley needed to quickly increase the number of entry forms from two to three by building an additional 12 classrooms, a toilet block, a group room and an entrance lobby. Bespoke single ply roofing sheets in a specific RAL grey were chosen for the project, which was completed in 30 weeks.
IKO Polymeric

Offsite balcony system
Sapphire’s offsite balcony system with glide-on connectors was chosen for north London’s Woodberry Down project. A total of 20 balconies for one of the new apartment buildings was delivered and installed in a single day. The pre-assembled balcony units, complete with glass balustrades and sub-deck, were transported to site ready for fixing to the facade. Sapphire designed special first-fix bracketry to suit the apartment building’s timber frame construction.
Sapphire balustrades

Brick-faced soffit units
Fixings specialist Ancon’s range of Nexus brick-faced soffit units and lintels from Ancon were specified for a major regeneration project by the Silchester estate in London. The large, suspended brick soffit at the main entrance was too heavy and complex for a traditional precast concrete solution. This required a bespoke a two-part solution combining a high integrity stainless steel MDC brickwork support system, which was fixed directly to the structural frame, with brick-faced soffit units to produce a lightweight solution.
Ancon

En-suite pods
Showering products manufacturer Taplanes has provided its Linfield en-suite pod for a student accommodation project at Durham University. The units are manufactured in sections, with each being easily manoeuvred on site through existing access and doorways. The shower is then constructed using the company’s patented joint design, which the company says requires no silicone sealant to produce a water-tight pod.
Taplanes

John Lewis


Silicone adhesive

Sikasil SG-500, a two-part, high-modulus, neutral-curing structural silicone adhesive from Sika, was chosen for the installation of nearly 200 windows in a new John Lewis’ structurally-glazed facade. The steel frames that house the windows are manufactured offsite, with two glass supports and an anodising strip used to affix the windows to the frame before Sikasil SG-500 is applied. Once the adhesive cures, the completed frames are transferred to site for installation. CE-marked and fire-rated (EN 11925-2 / DIN 4102-B1), Sikasil SG-500 is UV- and weather-resistant.
Addagrip

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