PCE's kit-of-parts approach provides speed and accuracy

"...hybrid concrete structure sets the stage for some monumental spaces at Kingston University"

The new Kingston University Town House is described as "a signature project – intended to become the building that people primarily associate with the university" and "the medium through which it seeks to engage with the local community", according to a recent article by Tony Whitehead on the Concrete Centre website.

PCE was appointed as Specialist Structural Frame Contractor responsible for the detailed design, manufacture and construction of the circa £8million structural package working with world renowned project architects Grafton Architects, Project Manager and Quantity Surveyors Turner & Townsend and AKT II Consultant Engineers.

The report quotes Grafton director and project architect Gerard Carty, who identified the challenges that needed to be met regarding the double and triple height areas of the lecture theatre and auditorium:

"We had to find a cost-effective way of spanning these spaces which stayed true to the design intent.” 

Kits of parts approach

In an extended version of the article in the Concrete Quarterly Magazine, PCE's business development director Simon Harold describes PCE's kit of parts approach to the project:

"We are focussed on build ability and are happy to use hybrid systems - so although most of the concrete at Kingston University is precast, the slabs are actually composite - precast beams with an in-situ structural screed."

Download the Concrete Quarterly report »

PDF document courtesy of the Concrete Centre.

Grafton Architects' Kingston University »