Techrete has commenced production at their new factory in Balbriggan after relocating from their Howth base over the Easter. The company’s head office is still based in Howth until the new office building at Balbriggan is complete in the Autumn. Techrete have invested €20m in building their new state-of-the-art production facility on a 15 hectare greenfield site in Balbriggan, North Co. Dublin.

The new factory has been constructed using Techrete’s own sandwich panels in contrasting colours of grey and white with an exposed aggregate finish. The new 10,000sqm facility boasts a state-of-the-art batching plant and highly sophisticated internal and external craneage. A large emphasis has been placed on minimising environmental impact with advanced environmental systems encompassing a rainwater harvesting system and effluent management system.

The factory layout has been built around a continuous production process with all finishing taking place internally. This provides much greater control over all aspects of production and the process is weather independent therefore improving quality and efficiency.

Managing Director Marcus Sweeney, points out that this is a further step in mechanising the production of bespoke prefabricated units and it has involved new innovations in the transportation of panels, the finishing process and especially the environmental control over all processes, so that they can be carried out indoors and in a manner that recycles as much waste product as possible.

Building erection commenced in mid October and production has now commenced four and a half months later. A key factor in the speed of construction of the building has been the use of industrial sandwich panels which were erected at a rate of 1,800m2 per day.

The office block is currently under construction utilising prefabricated vaulted floor units. They incorporate embedded coils for both heating and cooling the building. The building which is totally precast has been detailed so that stability can be achieved without the use of structural screed.

Techrete, the largest manufacturer of architectural precast concrete cladding in Ireland & the UK has just won the British Precast Project Award fo

r its precast cladding on Warwick Court in Paternoster Square. Designed by MacCormac Jamieson Prichard and built by Bovis Lend Lease, this seven-storey office building is located in one of London's most challenging and historic settings adjacent to St. Paul's Cathedral. The facade is dominated by Grove Whitbed Portland stone faced panels at ground level and first floor level, while the upper parts are clad with precast units comprising panels of red sandstone tiles set between window openings and recessed bays, which give rigidity.

Commenting on Techrete's work, the judges described the project as "a stunnung and stimulating project in a prestigious location exhibiting an exceptional standard of precast. Innovative and convincing weathering detail, with a wide variety of finishes, was included. In addition, factory fitting of windows and drainage channels was impressively executed."

The panels are framed with exposed precast spandrels acid etched with a smooth finish to contrast with the Portland stone. The panels span 6m and 9m weighing up to 14 tonnes each. The need for precisely engineered and high-quality units was achieved at Techrete's new state-of-the-art factory at Brigg, North Lincolnshire. Double-glazed window units were fixed to the precast panels before being delivered to site thereby improving on-site speed and efficiency. Integral drainage systems were also incorporated at the factory.

Techrete, the largest manufacturer of architectural caldding in Ireland & the UK, has just completed a £5 million expansion of its manufacturing plant at Brigg, Lincolnshire. The new plant is designed to double production capacity while making it more efficient and more cost effective.

The concept behind the expansion is the creation of a continuous production process, with the activities of preparation, casting and finishing brought together under one roof and a carousel system to allow the panels to be moved from process to process. The automotive industry has used a continuous production techniques can be applied to the architectural precast concrete industry.

In some ways the introduction of a continuous production system to architectural precast concrete manufacture is particularly challenging; this is a bespoke product with very variable preparation times. Techrete hope to have solved this problem by designing a hybrid system; the problem of blocking the main flow of panels can bemoved to avoid creating a queue in the carousel flow.

The production of a bespoke precast panel starts in the preparation area where its size and shape is determined by steel forms, dropped in position in a steel castin table and secured by magnets. It then goes to the newly equipped reinforcement hall where a computerised machine de-coils reinforcement and cuts and bends it to size. Details of reinforcement are now being fed directly from the drawing office to hte machine. The panel travels to the concrete station where concrete from the new computerised batching plant is placed; subsequently it travels to a temperature and humidity controlled chamber where it is cured. A central computer tracks the cycle of each panel and signals when the required curing regime has been achieved. Once the panel has been finished and signed off by Quality Control, it is mved to the storage yard by means of two gantry cranes which extend over a length of 250 metres.

The result is a quality bespoke building product with a range of finishes including reconstructed stone and polished concrete togethter with stone, brick and terracotta faced panels.

Techrete, a leading manufacturer of architectural precast concrete is investing £5million in an extension to its UK works at Brigg. Work is now well advanced on the expansion that will cater for the company's increasing volume of business in the UK.

Plant Director, John Stothard commented, "The expansion will create more production space for conventional production, as well as housing a new robotic plant to streamline the production of architectural concrete."

The aim is that all curing and finishing will be contained within the building. According to Stothard, "The advantages are that each product will be finished in a controlled environment regardless of the season and external areas will only be used for storage of completed units. Achieving this is quite a challenge as much of the equipment is bespoke and must be adapted for the special needs of architectural concrete."

A key feature of the new plant will be a carousel system whereby steel moulds will travel to zones of specialisation. The additional production space is scheduled for completion in January 2004 with the carousel plan coming on stream by mid-year. The new building is constructed of Techrete's precast concrete sandwich panels, which provide a complete wall solution.

Techrete, a leading manufacturer of architectural precast concrete cladding is responsible for the precast concrete facade of Juxon House, a prestigious new building fronting onto St. Paul's Churchyard in the City of London. The facade comprises over 7,000 square metres of self-supporting precast panels faced with Portland stone and Bath stone, with reconstructed stone details on the parapet balustrade and pediment. The value of the contract to Techrete, which included design, manufacture and erection of precast panels, is in the region of £4.5 million.

Juxon House is a new speculative office and retail development by Standard Life Investments. The building forms part of the Paternoster Master Plan, which was designed to create an appropriate setting for St. Paul's Cathedral and reflect the traditional texture of the City. Facing the historic facade of St. Paul's, Juxon House is one of the most prominent buildings within Paternoster Square.

Designed by Sir William Whitfield and implemented by Sidell Gibson, the crescent shaped building has a neo-classical facade, constructed of self-supporting Portland stone-faced and Bath stone-faced panels. A series of reconstructed stone panels incorporating classical details were also manufactured by Techrete; they were designed to match the tonal quality of the adjacent Portland-stone faced panels. In all Techrete designed, manufactured and erected 900 units on Juxon House.

The most challenging features of the project were the very tight tolerances, the need to conceal joints and the complex geometry of the units. By using precast panels, a smaller volume of Portland stone was used on the building and substantial cost savings were achieved when compared with the traditional hand-fixed method. The subsequent reduction in weight also reduced the size of the structural frame, achieving additional cost savings. In addition, the prefabrication of the panels allowed for better predictability in the construction schedule and necessitated less scaffolding.

Techrete, a leading manufacturer of precast concrete cladding, has launched its new corporate website at http://www.techrete.com. It is aimed at architects, surveyors, structural engineers and building and management contractors.

This extremely informative website has been designed to allow the user easily access the latest information about Techrete’s business. In addition to providing general information about Techrete such as services offered and company news, the site provides a detailed overview of the cladding products manufactured by Techrete, which include reconstructed stone, brick, natural stone and sandwich panels. As well as describing the essence of the products, the lifecycle of each product is shown through a sequence of photographs.

Another attractive feature of the website is the Projects section where the visitor can view a select portfolio of completed projects in Ireland & the UK. For each project featured, various photographs of the building as well as a short project commentary are provided. Projects can be sorted either by location or by product, depending on the visitor’s preference.

Techrete’s new product brochure recently published for use by architects, surveyors, structural engineers and building and management contractors gives an in-depth insight into the properties of polished concrete.

As well as describing the advantages of this innovative material, the 12-page colour brochure features an array of impressive buildings clad in polished concrete by Techrete. The brochure also goes into technical detail by describing the manufacturing process along with accompanying photographs of Techrete’s specialised polishing machinery in operation. Samples of various colour finishes are displayed at the back of the brochure.

Part of the Salford Quays Development in Trafford Park Manchester, is the Lowry Galleria, where an eleven storey residential block was commissioned by Orbit Developments and constructed by Bovis Lend Lease, the principal contractors for the whole development.

The cladding was carried out by Techrete, their initial brief was categorical; a reconstructed stone system, including precast concrete balconies, was to be provided economically, to a high standard and offering a speedy enclosure to the building - in other words quite a normal brief!....More >>>

Speed of construction over traditional methods, and consistency of appearance were the factors in architect Cochrane McGregor's continued specification of Techrete precast concrete panels for the next phases of Edinburgh's Exchange Crescent. Typically the panels are 7.5 x 3m, with those at ground level being faced in natural stone in a red/brown colour mix or in Dunhouse sandstone. Most of the finishing is smooth although some 'sparrow pecked' effect is featured.

At upper levels, cornices and panels were cast in reconstructed stone to match the Dunhouse sandstone, while hand-fixed sandstone is used in other areas. Morrison Construction was the main contractor.

Speed of construction over traditional methods was a major factor in the specification of precast concrete panels from Techrete for phases 1B and 1C of Edinburgh Exchange Crescent, following its successful use in the initial phase. Product quality and competitive costs were also considered major benefits. Typically, the precast concrete panels are 7.5 x 3m, those at ground level being faced either in natural stone in a red/brown colour mix or in Dunhouse sandstone. Most of the finishing is smooth, although some 'sparrow specked' effect is also featured.

At upper levels cornices and panels were cast in reconstructed stone to match Dunhouse sandstone elements.

The ability to accurately replicate the look of natural stone was a major factor in Techrete being awarded the contract to supply the precast concrete cladding for the new County Hall residential development in Lon

don.

The planning requirement was for the precast cladding to be as close as possible to natural stone in colour and texture.

Specified by BUJ architects in a Portland stone colour with an acid etched finish. Techrete's reconstructed stone units were the ideal solution. In total Techrete manufactured more than 976 high specification units ranging in size from 3000 x 2000mm to 7200 x 1500mm. These included spandrel units on the ground, first and second floors and cladding to the end bays of the third, fourth and fifth floors.