Before we entered the site we got a safety briefing of our class tutor Ruairi Hayden.He emphasised the importance of hard hats, high visibility jackets and general site safety.We split our team into two separate groups for two separate site tours.
Group 1
When our first group entered the site we signed in at the site office. The first point of interest we came across was the cavity wall layout. It was unusual to us as it was not the typical cavity block layout that we had seen before. The inner leaf 215mm shuttered concrete wall with wall ties and a 110mm cavity with 60mm insulation and 100mm outer leaf brick. This type of cavity wall is used due to the number of floors in the building.
The next unusual design detail we seen was the plaster finish. It is a monocuse plastered finish which comes pre-mixed, so water is just added to it on site. It comes in several different colours which is seen throughout the building. It saves on maintenance i.e. it never needs to be painted.
A soil retention system had to be used at the face of all the buildings.This is to prevent the road in front of the building from ever subsiding.The basement walls were used as a barrier to stop soil movement.As well as the piles driven beneath the basement wall.
Group 2
Once the first group were finished on site, the second group from every ones team entered the building and signed in at the site office.
On this tour the first new type of technology we came across was the fibre-mesh concrete.This is used to reinforce concrete poured in shuttered concrete walls and slabs as an alternative to steel rein-forcing.It's main function is to eliminate the labour costs involved with steel rein-forcing on a large scale.It cuts down on time as the concrete itself contains the synthetic fibres so it reduces the labour necessary.Upon extra investigations we found out that it also addresses early age cracking problems during the plastic settlement phase by between 80-100% which is precisely when most cracks occur.
The site engineer then spoke of the flood defence system installed on site to prevent a flood of the main storm water drain in times of heavy rainfall.It works by collecting all surface and down pipe water in the usual way, but when the water flow is high an automatic flow meter installed on the entrance to the main storm water drain kicks in an diverts all the water to the attenuation tank.When the water level falls, the flow meter gradually releases the stored water into the main storm water drain therefore preventing floods.
The last technology we were introduced to by the engineer was the trespa rain screen cladding.This relatively new technology protects the building from weathering and has a very long life spam with little or no maintenance.There is a cavity between the cladding and the inner leaf wall which is used to prevent moisture and for your 60mm insulation, that keeps the heat in the building from escaping.
