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Thermomass
Summary
Project: Dakota Hotel
Products used: Thermomass fibre composite connectors
City: Manchester, UK
Leviat’s Thermomass connectors chosen to support the distinctive façade of Manchester’s newest five star luxury hotel.
Leviat’s unique Thermomass fibre composite connectors have been chosen to provide outstanding stability and thermal performance for the storey-height insulated concrete sandwich panels which provide the distinctive façade for Manchester’s newest five star boutique hotel.
The new Dakota Hotel, in Manchester’s Piccadilly Basin, utilises an engineered structural hybrid frame and façade panel system designed and built by offsite construction specialist PCE Ltd. Part of PCE’s award winning HybriDfMA System, the offsite manufactured façade panels comprise an inner structural concrete leaf and outer architecturally patterned leaf, separated by a layer of non-combustible EFC A1 rated mineral wool insulation.
The special Thermomass connectors were cast-in during panel fabrication, under strict quality control conditions, to provide the exceptionally high level of structural stability essential for the heavy finished panels. Their unique design and carbon fibre composite construction also ensured that the design thickness of the insulation was maintained and virtually eliminated cold bridging across the panel, providing the highest possible level of thermal efficiency and contributing to the Hotel’s BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating.
The finished panels, complete with windows and cast-in services ducting, were delivered to site on a carefully choreographed, just-in-time basis, and simply craned into position by a small team of specialist PCE installers, obviating the need for traditional scaffolding and reducing site traffic for improved site safety.
The unique properties of the Thermomass connectors mean they are now an essential part of PCE’s HybriDfMA Systems, which are widely used today in the construction of a range of building types, from high rise residential buildings and hotels to prisons. “They are highly efficient, as well as being safe and easy to use”, said Simon Harold, PCE Business Development Director. “They help us to provide cost-effective, ultra-high performance panel castings quickly and effectively, to meet our customer’s demanding performance standards.
Under construction by Main Contractor GMI Construction for Evans Property Group, the new hotel is constructed over 9 levels and provides a total of 137 luxury guest bedrooms, including the premium penthouse Grand Deluxe Suite, the largest bookable suite in the city, complete with private roof-top terrace steam shower and whirlpool bath.
The speed and efficiency of PCE’s HybriDfMA system approach and offsite construction expertise, meant the high quality superstructure and distinctive façade of the complex city centre project were constructed on site in just 25 weeks.
