hyTower® - an effective solution for speed and scale
The installation phase of PCE’s hyTower® solution has commenced, demonstrating the speed and scale benefits of its HybriDfMA system approach.
PCE Ltd have been appointed specialist frame and façade contractor for Fulton and Fifth, an exciting urban renewal project located in London’s iconic Wembley region. Working in collaboration with property developer Regal London, PCE’s HybriDfMA hyTower® solution will accelerate the installation phase of the five-tower mixed use development.
hyTower® is an offsite DfMA (Design for Manufacture and Assembly) system build solution for the design, manufacture, and installation of residential, commercial, and mixed-use multistorey superstructures and facades. As with all of PCE’s HybriDfMA systems, hyTower® benefits from repeatability. This extends from the repeatability of its common kit of parts components, to the methodologies used to install safely and quickly. PCE’s modular DfMA solution already offers the benefit of intrinsic speed, and the system’s repeatability serves to accelerate programme delivery even further. For Fulton & Fifth, repetition ensures one level of each tower is structurally complete every two weeks.
A system of speed and scale
Progress so far on Fulton & Fifth demonstrates not only the speed of PCE’s HybriDfMA solutions, but the scalability too. Each tower is being worked on concurrently, ensuring the entire installation phase is delivered much quicker compared to traditional methods. PCE achieve concurrent construction through diligent design and comprehensive offsite preparation. Using the expertise of seven specialist manufacturers across its adaptable supply chain, PCE are coordinating the integration of component features as they are manufactured. This includes the integration of windows, balconies, M&E, pods, and utility cupboards. Importantly, it also includes the integration of façades. As such, when components arrive on site, they are ready to be installed in their designated final position, with no further on-site works required. This enables a weathertight structure as it is assembled. Use of hyTower® removes back-propping, whilst eradicating the need for scaffolding due to safe access and egress through stair cores. This means that follow on trades can complete fit out activities safely just two levels below the leading edge, saving considerable time on overall completion.
Planning is key to the efficiency required to achieve these results whilst maintaining a high level of accuracy and quality. This cannot be achieved without diligent preparation and an effective logistics strategy ensuring a smooth and calculated just-in-time operation. Given the busy Wembley location, numerous factors need to be considered when orchestrating such a strategy. Currently receiving on average four loads per crane per day, totalling 400 tonnes overall, the team have had to account for traffic, pedestrians, and restrictions on wagon movements.
Digital Tracking
A significant aid to the successful implementation of just-in-time delivery strategies is the use of Ynomia. Using the latest Bluetooth technology, Ynomia tracks every single component across a project and visualises this in an interactive 3D digital twin. This digital platform contains key information, quality assurance data, and importantly to logistics, both a real-time tracking status and overview of all historical movements. It means that at any moment, those on the project can quickly and easily check the status of any component, such as when it was manufactured, when it left the factory, when it arrived on site and so on. This ability significantly improves visibility across a project and allows the project team to efficiently plan and manage logistics with greater ease, accuracy, and predictability. Such visibility also compliments a strategy that supports Golden Thread adherence through the capture, collation, and accessibility of project information.
Such characteristics of PCE’s HybriDfMA hyTower® solution, ensures structures can be built with elevated speed and scale. It allows projects like Fulton & Fifth to be delivered quickly, safely, and predictably, whilst adhering to the highest quality standards. All of this is achieved with minimal resource, due to the streamlined repeatability of PCE’s HybriDfMA approach.
