ADF10_40-47 10/23/08 3:57 PM Page 40
MMC = Precast
concrete to form a sandwich panel.
The necessary ties between the concrete
wythes may be stainless steel dowels or plates
or, for a more fully thermally-broken solution,
proprietary fibre composite connectors.
The internal wythe of a sandwich panel may
additionally be designed for it to act as a
structural element within the building’s frame.
For a concrete building, the panels are suitably
reinforced with projecting bars or links to
facilitate their incorporation into the frame.
Architects have been quick to recognise the
potential of load-bearing sandwich panels,
especially for medium-rise residential buildings.
For example, the Spencer Dock development in
Dublin, designed by Scott Tallon Walker
Architects and described as the biggest and
most ambitious urban regeneration project in
Ireland’s history, includes 12 apartment blocks
from 4 to 10 storeys: the precast concrete
structures include a load-bearing outer skin of
hermally Efficient Architectural
Precast Cladding by Stephen
Maddalena, Chairman of the
Architectural Precast Association
T
With energy costs rising and Building
Regulations imposing increasingly high
standards, more and more attention is being
given to thermal performance and insulation.
At the same time, the construction industry
steadily continues its move to off-site fabrication,
partly because of skills shortages and partly
because of the lower costs, greater consistency
and reduction in waste that factory
prefabrication offers.
Specifications for precast concrete wall
cladding panels have usually included a
requirement for their thermal performance to
be enhanced to achieve a U value of
0.35W/m
2
K as a minimum.
However, requirements to achieve 0.3W/m
2
K
and even better are becoming the norm. board with low GWP is used. precast concrete sandwich panels with a
These are generally satisfied by simply lining Alternatively, reconstructed stone or similarly honed, reconstructed Portland stone finish.
the internal face of the precast panel with an finished precast panels or units with stone, For steel framed buildings, end-plates may
insulation board, often before its delivery to brick or an even wider variety of other facings be cast into the panels to allow bolting onto the
site. Typically, a zero ODP and CFC/HCFC-free may be produced with insulation as a core frame or the internal wythe maybe designed to
high-performance rigid urethane insulation between two wythes (thicknesses) of reinforced encase a steel beam or column section which
See inside back cover for Reader Enquiry Card or go online: www.adfonline.eu40
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