The original designs for Victoria House specified a traditional brick popular in the city, which is characterised by bright buff tones and heavily distressed textures. At alsecco, we thrive on the challenge of creating bespoke brickwork aesthetics in our brick slip systems. Perfectly matching the complex look of the originally specified Gault brick took just two iterations. The second sample was indistinguishable from the real brick after adding a few tones and removing some darker sands from the first formulation.
The Ecomin 400 is one of the first external wall insulation systems certified by the BBA and DIBt to use a brick finish above 18m, and enhanced by its Euroclass A2,s1-d0 fire classification rating. This system used a proprietary combination of mechanical and supplementary adhesive fixings. This secured the lightweight Meldorfer brick slip finishing layer over mineral wool insulation, achieving a U-value of 0.15W/m2K and a long-term durability rating.
A full-size visual mock-up of a typical brick column and window arrangement from the project was constructed for the Manchester City Council planners, who signed off the system at the first viewing.
Domis (the main contractor) approached us with a view to using the Ecomin 400 system with Meldorfer lightweight brick slips for the 25 storey Victoria House facade, primarily because of the cost savings and speed of construction that this solution could deliver. The alternatives were the use of either traditional masonry brickwork or a rainscreen mechanically fixed brick slip system for the building, both of which would be much more expensive overall given the design of the columns and the high thermal value for the proposed wall types. As the building was to be constructed around a concrete core with SFS framing, the potential use of brick supports or expensive detailing for a mechanically fixed brick slip system, added considerable costs to these options.
Using alsecco’s Ecomin 400 system, with insulation directly fixed to the sheathing board layer over the SFS, with lightweight adhesively fixed slips offered a simplified installation process which in turn sped up the design and construction processes.
As this building was over 18m in height, absolute confidence on fire safety was a prime consideration. Selecting the Ecomin 400 system, which has a Class A2,s1-d0 fire rating therefore provided the client and contractor with the reassurance needed.
For this project, the design utilised a 200mm thickness of mineral wool insulation. This played a key role in delivering an external wall U-value of no less than 0.15W/m2K, which is equivalent to the requirement of Passivhaus standards – so incredibly well insulated.
The performance of the system was backed by rigorous testing. For example, the 60 year plus durability was established by hydrothermal testing for weathering, and DWU (Dynamic Wind Uplift) wind loading tests ensured BBA and DIBt standards were met.
The lightweight system, comprising 16 different typical bay designs, and with cooperation between alsecco, Domis, project architect StudioPower, consultants Bryden Wood and installer CWS, led to a uniquely efficient installation method.
As the concrete core was constructed using slip form techniques, the alsecco system was installed in tandem, floor-by-floor. The cladding installation team mechanically fixed and adhered insulation boards to the sheathing boards on the SFS framing. A weatherproof façade was established swiftly through the mesh-reinforced basecoat render layer, enabling the brick slipping teams to follow closely behind on mast climbers, applying the slips and corners and dressing the bonding mortar to an authentic brick pointed finish.
This pioneering floor-by-floor, bottom-up method using the slip form screens and mast climbers was pioneering and led to an exceptionally quick and efficient installation.
Praise must also go to the installation teams at CWS who expertly installed the SFS framing as well as alsecco’s Ecomin 400 system to extremely high standards.
As with any city centre construction scheme, storage space and transport movements were critical elements for the construction team to manage and the use of the Ecomin 400 system with lightweight slips contributed significantly to reducing these challenges. The materials themselves were installed at speed so materials delivered were up and onto the building within short time periods. The use of lightweight slips compared to traditional masonry bricks resulted in one vehicle load of brick slips covering the same facade area as 14 vehicle loads of bricks, with the corresponding benefits in handling weight and access logistics.
alsecco’s Ecomin 400 brick slip cladding system played a key role in the efficient and on time completion of the Victoria House construction project.
It helped deliver a remarkably swift completion of the façade, helping the construction outpace surrounding projects and helping the site’s main crane to come down significantly sooner than planned.
