The tallest Metframe light gauge steel framed building to date has been constructed in London.
Tallest Metframe steel structure.
Minimising weight whilst maximising usable floorspace and build speed were the principal reasons why Metsec was chosen for the superstructure of the eight storey, two wing student accommodation block at Crispin Street near Liverpool Street station.
Designed and detailed by Metsec engineers to comply with Building Regulations for resistance to progressive collapse, achieving floor to floor heights of 2.625m allowed developers to incorporate eight storeys within the overall planning height constraints of the new wing of the 5,614m2 building. Metframe’s design, suspending joisted floor cassettes between loadbearing steel frame wall heads, eliminates the need for downstands within the floor support structures and can save more than 400mm per floor over a typical concrete or timber frame structure.
Metsec was able to factor in an additional benefit from reducing the overall building height. By keeping it below 18m, a fire rating of 60 minutes was acceptable, saving on materials costs and erection time. The development is positioned over the proposed Crossrail route, limiting additional loadings on the site. Installing floating floors both minimised the weight of the building and reduced noise transfer whilst the use of 70mm section for corridor and incidental walls maximised usable floor space.
Metsec supplied over 180 tonnes, approximately 50km, of light gauge steel sections for the superstructure, pre-fabricated into Metframe wall panels which took just 17 weeks to erect, less than half the overall construction programme. The fast track, early dry envelope build benefits of Metframe were enhanced by craning in pre-loaded, room specific pallets of wall and ceiling boards and bathroom pods as soon as the joisted floor cassettes and plywood finish were installed.
Metframe complies with modern methods of construction guidelines not only through pre-fabrication into panels but by minimising deliveries to a site in a congested area with restricted access. The light weight of the steel sections also helped reduce craneage requirements and made handling easier on the tight site.
Peter Watkins, a director of Metsec’s framing division, said: “This is the first time we’ve created an eight storey Metframe building but the advantages the system has in terms of light weight, minimal floor to floor heights and fast track installation, made it ideal. Structurally, it could have been a storey or two higher but we had to design within planning constraints.”
Main contractor on the project was Galliford Try working for Shaftesbury Student Housing, one of the main providers of independent student accommodation in London.
Holiday Inn Express - Cost study - Building
Pad foundations to support steel frame. Frame Metsec steel frame with loadbearing internal walls. Upper floors Composite decking of concrete and Metsec ... (This is an interesting cost and process study on the speed and flexibility of Metsec..)
Metsec SFS is a highly versatile building solution, first introduced in the UK in 1985, which allows the designer complete freedom of choice. To date the system has been specified in over a thousand projects – a track record that speaks for itself.
Examples of projects that have successfully utilised:-
Health Sector.
- Aintree Hospital ·
- Law Hospital ·
- Edinburgh Royal Hospital ·
- Bishop Auckland Hospital ·
- Royal Bournemouth Hospital
- Nuffield Hospital, Hull ·
- Hope Hospital,Manchester ·
- Prospect Park Hospital, Reading ·
- Corbett Hospital, Dudley ·
- Maidstone Hospital
EDUCATION:-Glasgow Caledonian Students Union • Brantridge School, West Sussex · Fife Schools • Middlesborough Academy · Westerhope School, Newcastle • Llancarfon Primary School · Bournemouth School • City of Bristol College · University of Portsmouth • Throckley School, Newcastle Metsec Framing
Make the right choice.....Contact Mansell Project Team:- 0161 491 6277
Metsec SFS fast track building systems
Metsec SFS fast track building systems are specified to construct infill and continuous walling, low-rise stand-alone buildings and high bay separating walls.SFS has all the benefits of cold-rolled sections; versatility, buildability, high speed construction and significant reductions in dead loadings. The warm frame approach achieves excellent thermal performance and the system is ideal for lowground bearing pressure situations.The precision-engineered components facilitate reduced building maintenance and reduce site material wastage. The net effect is a reduction in programme timescales and project costs.
High precision, loadbearing system.
Proven record in ‘fast-track’ construction.
Warm frame achieves excellent thermal performance.
Reduced maintenance.
Ideal for low ground bearing pressure situations.
Less material wastage.
Sustainable construction friendly.
METSEC PLAYS KEY ROLE IN AFFORDABLE HOMES DEVELOPMENT
Metsec plc. 31/07/2007
Metsec is playing a key role at a prestigious affordable homes development, in Birmingham.
The cold roll-formed steel manufacturer’s Lattice Joists Division has produced and supplied tapered roof trusses for a four-storey apartment block at a showcase Park Central project.
The trusses will sit atop precast load bearing walls erected by building systems manufacturer Structherm.
The two companies have already worked together at developer Crest Nicholson’s Park Central scheme, which is making affordable new homes available to qualifying buyers as part of the Government's new First Time Buyer Initiative.
As part of the Lattice Joist Division’s free, in-house design service, Metsec designers – using StruCad 3D modelling software – worked closely with Gardner Stewart Architects to develop roof support steelwork ahead of producing the trusses and delivering them to the site.
This pre-production work also helped provide solutions for the V-shaped roof, which features a curved cantilever, and a complicated valley condition where the two roof sections join.
The 530 square metre roof was supported on Metsec trusses, which comprised mostly 10.8m spans, tapering from 300mm deep to 1,625mm. The trusses were spaced at 3.435m to carry a metal, structural roof deck system, with approximately 1m long cantilever ends to the top and bottom of the slope.
The trusses were supplied painted, with cantilever feature steel supplied hot dipped galvanised.
Lattice Joist Division sales director Darren Bird said: “We’re developing something of a partnership with Structherm, where it provides the shell, and we put the lid on it.
“That, coupled with the fact that we are able to produce and supply the required lightweight, long-span trusses, backed with a free design and detailing service, means that together we’re able to give developers like Crest Nicholson exactly what they want.”
Crest Nicholson is a leading developer of sustainable communities whose mission is to meet customers' expectations through the provision of environmentally sensitive and well-built developments.
Manufactured from high yield steel, Metsec’s lightweight lattice joists and trusses offer a high strength to weight ratio, and their open web nature allows for the simple passage of services.
They are supplied finished with zinc phosphate primer as standard, with other finishes available on request.
Make the right choice.....Contact Mansell Projects :- 0161 491 6277
