Apr 27 2004
Teamwork played a crucial role in the recent development of an eight storey, commercial office block situated on Aldersgate Street, London, where Thermalite offered the assistance of its Business Development Team and Technical Advisory Service (TAS) to project architects, Sidell Gibson.
The once derelict site, formerly host to a local authority fire brigade, has been redeveloped making extensive use of Thermalite aircrete blocks for virtually the entire, above-ground blockwork of the building.
Architects Sidell Gibson, approached Thermalite’s Technical Advisory Service for specialist advice on U values and subsequently specified Thermalite as the principle material for wall construction. “We decided to use aircrete blocks for the internal shell of the Aldersgate development after consultation with Thermalite’s technical team,” comments Peter McMunn of Sidell Gibson. “It was found that Thermalite enabled us to achieve the required thermal insulation for the development, achieving a U-value of 0.18W/m2K.”
Samples of the product were sent to Sidell Gibson for approval and the Thermalite Business Development team visited the architects to assist in detailing the location and formation of movement joints as well as other structural elements to the project.
Thermalite supplied almost 4,300m2 of aircrete for the development, with 1,700m2 of Smooth Face used for the internal corridors and Shield applied as internal lining between the offices. For the inner leaf of external walls Hi-Strength products were utilised to meet the architects requirements for a high density product.
Being extremely lightweight in formulation, the blocks are easy to handle, which speeds up the build process and allows regulations on safe handling to be met. Thermalite blocks are also made from up to 80% recycled material and are energy saving in production and use, all of which contributed towards a positive environmental profile for the Aldersgate development.
Source: Communique PR