A Stand-Out Design for City Living
17/5/24
Media City is the largest residential development in the North West, with its silhouette dominating the Salford Quays skyline.
Comprising 540,000sqft it houses 1,100 apartments and spans four 26-storey towers, including the most recent addition, X3. In the development of this tower a unique alignment of bespoke ConceptWall 65-EF HI Reynaers Aluminium curtain walling systems in the facades has created a stand-out design that makes the towers easily recognisable in the Manchester skyline.
Working alongside architects Falconer Chester Hall, and main contractor Vermont CL, with the support of facade consultant Wintech, Reynaers bespoke ConceptWall 65 (CW 65-EF HI) and ConceptSystem 77 HI (CS 77 HI) were specified and installed on this visually striking project with the facades fabricated by Staticus.
To achieve the off-set alignment that defines the design of the building a shift in the facade was incorporated every fourth floor, requiring a unique application of the unitised system to support the weight load, which required bespoke bracketry to be put in place.
As the towers are all very similar, it was important to try to get the modular size of the facade correct in the first instance so that it could then be replicated across all four towers.
Made with unitised systems, the facades were assembled in an offsite workshop and delivered to site in their assembled state. These were then installed using a monorail system on the majority of floors, which helped to shorten construction time, with an impressive 20 to 30 panels installed every day, reaching a high of 37. This also avoided the use of a tower crane on site.
In addition to the curtain walling, Reynaers CS 77 windows were used in the project to offer floor to ceiling views – with a height of 2.3 metres. Specifically engineered for the project, the windows were designed to ensure the safety of residents with an inward tilt operation and airtightness of 4 (600 Pa), water tightness of 9A (600 Pa), and wind load resistance of C3 (1200 Pa).
To ensure the comfort of the living environment and that noise did not carry from the Metro line below, additional testing was carried out for air, wind, water and acoustics on all bespoke adaptations, as well as for movement.
While the initial two storeys of X3 support mixed/commercial use, the majority are residential use. To provide a comfortable living environment the facade needed to meet high standards in security and performance, as well aesthetically.
CW 65 offers security, high performance and delivers the strength, durability and low maintenance that is characteristic of aluminium, meaning the aesthetic of the building will stand the test of time. To ensure security is a priority in the residential tower, CS 77 HI meets RC2, RC3 and PAS 24 testing for burglar resistance.
The work on X3 has seen Reynaers Aluminium UK named as a finalist in the Best Tall Building Facade & Fenestration Engineering Project category at this year's Tall Building Awards.
For more information: www.reynaers.co.uk
Source: Tall Buildings Magazine - Issue 5 by Radar Communications - Issuu