Specwall SP

Abbey Upholstery Factory was badly affected by a fire in April 2021 which burntdown a large section of the facility. Specwall was used in four phases to help rebuildthe internal dividing walls. The majority of these were 6m tall or higher and more than700m2 of Specwall was required.The factory is made up of more than 7,000m2 of floorspace and Specwall was chosenfor the refurbishment for three main reasons.Firstly, to allow the factory to continue operations, walls that fell in the fire needed tobe sealed up as soon as possible to keep the elements out. Specwall’s fast installationtime and the fact it requires no scaffolding made it the perfect choice to complete thisjob quickly. The modular nature of Specwall also meant that it could be built aroundexisting obstacles with ease.

Assembly Building C is a 13-storey, £50m mixed-use development in Bristol which uses a hybrid frame structure and has off-site technology incorporated throughout. Specwall was actively involved from the early stages of the design and our prefabricated wall system was used to great effect to construct the risers.By using Specwall, the developer PCE was able to incorporate the walls within the risers to reduce construction time, costs and the complexity of the programme. Using Specwall also improved the fire safety of the building, and our design engineers worked with PCE, the Galliford team and Arup Fire Engineers to provide the most stringent level of fire protection.The client PCE noted that Specwall provided a professional service at every stage, and that our advanced wall system complimented their overall goal to achieve a ‘just in time’ construction process which makes the most of Modern Methods of Construction.“It has been good to see how quickly and efficiently Specwall has gone in at Assembly. The testing has shown it is very interesting solution to several typical situations. I shared this information with our in-house technical team so it get more widely spread through the practice.”Craig Shaw, Senior Architectural Designer at Alfred Hall Monaghan Morris

Location: Finchley, LondonSpecwall was used on the internal leaf of the cavity walls, with a brick tie system fixed directly to the panels, cavity insulation and brick outer leaf, as well as being used to accommodate the difficult curved façades. The installation of the internal walls at Beechwood Avenue needed to begin before the development was made watertight, necessitating a product like Specwall which can be used in all weather conditions. This enabled the required programme savings on the development which allowed it to proceed on schedule.Additionally, the site was constricted and external access was not available, requiring a wall system that could be built from the inside. Specwall satisfied this condition, and furthermore, the installation provided protection for the rest of the internal works to progress before the external masonry followed at a later date.

The gym and swimming pool areas of Property Alliance Group’s Oxygen development, required works to start before the tower cranes had been removed and ahead of the building being made watertight. These were ideal conditions for a mould-resistant, quick-to-install product like Specwall which can be installed in all weather conditions. Contiguous pile wall lining The perimeter of the building required a contiguous pile wall lining. Using a blockwork alternative would have required a large amount of scaffolding on the 5.8m high walls and tripled the installation period. Using Specwall eliminated this issue and provided significant programme savings for the client. Production time and motionSpecwall also enabled major time savings at Oxygen when compared to blockwork. A space of 52mx5.8m with deflection head was installed along with six wind posts and 150mm of insulation across the whole span of wall in less than half the time that traditional block would have taken.Specwall also only require a scissor lift as opposed to a full scaffold, and there were no changes in trades or revisits to the workface required.

Lucent W1 is a high profile mixed-use building comprising 111,000 sqft of CAT Acommercial space, 30,000 sqft of retail space and seven new residential units in WestLondon. The development is built with sustainability at its core, including a BREEAM‘Excellent’ rating and pending Gold WELL accreditation.The design of the building, behind the famous Piccadilly lights, meant that traditionalinstallation methods could not be used while maintaining the fire separation wall. Thisconstraint meant building could only commence from one side and required a newsolution. We designed bespoke wind posts and cut the boards to the exact anglesrequired so that they could be fitted from one side only. Combined with Specwall’sinherent firestopping properties, this made us the perfect choice to solve the designissues at Lucent W1.

Location: Dubai, UAEMAG 318 is a premium, canalside residential building in Dubai’s downtown area which covers 28 storeys and is extremely popular with residents. MAG, the developer, was looking for a system to replace AAC and blockwork walls which would accelerate construction speed and provide a better finish.By installing Specwall, MAG successfully achieved these goals, and subsequently emphasised the time and cost savings which came with the system as a major benefit to using Specwall.

Location: Aldgate, LondonX Construct chose Specwall for its Minories development in Aldgate, London as a replacement for the plasterboard/blockwork system it had previously planned to use. The project was not water tight and, consequently, was subject to water ingress during works. This required a new solution which Specwall was able to provide due to it being an inert, cementitious product which can be installed either dry or wet.Additionally, the ground floor of the Minories development was an unusually busy area during construction and could not fit any extensive scaffolding works. Specwall’s single-visit construction method utilising mobile access suited these conditions and made it the perfect choice.

Location: Manchester, UKThe gym and swimming pool areas of Property Alliance Group’s Oxygen development required works to start before the tower cranes had been removed and ahead of the building being made watertight – ideal conditions for a mould-resistant, quick-to-install product like Specwall which can be installed in all weather conditions.Using a blockwork alternative would have required a large amount of scaffolding on the 6.2m high walls and doubled the installation period. Using Specwall eliminated this issue and provided significant programme savings for the client.

Location: Salford, UKThe design for the M&E installation at Queen Street, Salford, had not progressed far enough to give a detailed work requirement to the builders. Specwall’s construction methods allowed the installation of these works after the walls were built without the need for lintels or complicated letterbox details.Using Specwall allowed the developer to progress the build timetable and finalise the M&E details concurrently, something that would not be possible with traditional wall systems.

Upon completion, The Ciel Tower will be the world’s tallest hotel,standing at 78 storeys and 365m. Located in Dubai Marina,this is an iconic project which will reset the global luxury hotelmarket. Specwall was chosen to replace drywall and blockwork inthe development following the main client and contractor beingimpressed with the system after visits to existing sites.The rapid installation, easy handling and simplicity of installing M&Ealongside the wall panels have all been cited by the developer asmajor benefits of using Specwall. All parties were satisfied by theSpecwall product and the project is set to be a great success.

Location: Salford, UKSpecwall was instructed on a retail unit situated below a residential apartment block in The Crescent Salford. The unit needed to be separated into three with a split-level mezzanine aspect which presented some serious design issues for both blockwork and metal frame walls. The versatility of Specwall and the ease of installation made it the perfect choice to complete this job

Location: Dubai, UAEThe Opus by Omniyat is an iconic residential, hotel and office building in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa District designed by Zaha Hadid which utilises an unusual volumetric design to stand out from its peers. The developer needed a replacement for drywall which produced less construction debris and achieved a 67dB acoustic rating with walls no thicker than 200mm.This was an extremely complex project which required bespoke elements from Specwall in order to succeed. As well as considering the curved walls, high acoustic requirements and luxury finishes, there was a specific requirement for unique, 2.7m cut panels to suit the building’s elevator space.