Residential
The majority of the
steel erection was
completed with
MEWPs positioned on
the basement slab
Added metal
Second only to London as a UK
location for global corporate
headquarters, the Berkshire
town of Slough is a business
and innovation hub, based around its
proximity to Heathrow Airport and having
a large workforce within its catchment
area.
The town is also increasingly becoming
a destination for people looking to move
outside of the capital and it is listed in
Knight Frank’s top 20 UK destinations for
London leavers. The population is predicted
to increase by an impressive 18,000 by 2021.
Commuters find Slough a convenient
location as the town has good transport
links, with half-hourly train services
running to London Paddington station.
These services will soon be complemented
by the Crossrail Elizabeth line that will
create direct, door-to-door connections
between Slough and the West End of
London, the City and Essex.
Slough’s attractiveness to residents
is highlighted by the number of new
residential schemes that are currently being
built in the town. Many of these are close to
the railway station and town centre, making
them ideal for both people working in
Slough and those wishing to commute.
An example is The Metalworks scheme,
which is a stone’s throw from Slough station
and is being constructed by Colmore Tang
for SevenCapital.
The development comprises two steelframed
blocks, known as Iron House and
Steel House, containing 155 apartments,
and both sat on top of a shared basement
car park accommodating 127 spaces.
Including ground floor, both blocks have
seven-storeys above basement level and will
contain a mixture of one, two and three
bedroom apartments.
Steelwork starts at basement level as the
subterranean level covers the majority of
the site’s footprint. A podium deck covers
the basement car park and supports the two
residential blocks and a landscaped realm
that separates the structures.
The podium is also a transfer deck, as the
steelwork is based around a larger column
spacing in the car park (spans of up to 10m)
than the above residential areas, where
spans are predominantly 6m and 8m long.
The project’s steelwork supports metal
deck flooring throughout, as this was
deemed to be the most efficient design as
Colmore Tang Construction Contracts
Manager David Scott explains: “Initially
we were going to use precast planks for the
floors, but this design would have needed
many more crane lifts for the individual
precast units.
“We may have slightly more steelwork
in the frames to support the metal decking,
but this solution has given us a quicker
programme.”
Colmore Tang started work on this
A steel-framed solution has ticked all of the boxes for the
Metalworks residential scheme in Slough.
FACT FILE
The Metalworks,
Slough
Main client:
SevenCapital
Architect: BDG
Main contractor:
Colmore Tang
Construction
Structural engineer:
CWA
Steelwork contractor:
Mifflin Construction
Steel tonnage: 950t
22 NSC
June 19
/Residential_and_mixed-use_buildings
/Residential_and_mixed-use_buildings#Podium_structures
/Design
/Floor_systems#Precast_units
/Steel_construction_products#Decking_for_floors