Barton Square
The Trafford Centre, Manchester
| Precast Concrete: | Trent Concrete |
| Erection: | PCE Ltd |
| Client: | Bovis Lend Lease |
| Architect: | Leach Rhodes Walker |
The Challenge
To complete to programme a prestigious extension to one of the North's leading retail developments, requiring erection on a just-in-time basis, complex deployment of craneage and careful handling and installation of high quality, high value components.
Key Benefits
SPECIALIST LIFTING OPERATIONS
Architectural precast concrete elements up to 30 tonnes
LOGISTICS
Complex pre-planning of crane operations and just-in-time deliveries
EXPERIENCE
In-house major plant & expertise
EXPERTISE
High specification finish and very tight construction tolerances
SPEED
Challenging programme
SAFETY
Innovative and efficient safety systems resulting in an 'incident free' project
The Project
PCE was selected as main precast concrete erection contractor for the £77 million extension to one of the UK's most popular retail destinations.
The project required the installation of more than 1,300 special buff-coloured reconstructed cast stone units weighing up to 42 tonnes and manufactured offsite by Nottingham-based Trent Concrete.
The development, covering an area of some 22,000m² comprises four shaped blocks arranged to form a central square, mall and colonnade, together with an impressive entrance rotunda facing onto the main parking areas.
During the 42-week contract PCE deployed a crew of six NVQ-qualified staff who installed and fixed each unit on a just-in-time basis as it arrived on-site, working to tight tolerances of +/- 4mm. Additional personnel were drafted in as necessary and the contract was completed on time with no reportable accidents.
Approximately 270 lower and upper pilasters were erected, along 220 circular columns, 260 plinth units, more than 100 beams, cornices and brick-faced panels. The largest component was a profiled beam with faceted ends, which weighed 42 tonnes and was among approximately 78 units used to form the Rotunda structure, which forms the main entrance to the complex.
A key challenge for PCE's erection team was to plan in advance the logistics of deploying craneage in a way that ensured the smooth progress of PCE's Liebherr 160-tonne crawler crane through the site, especially in the central section. This required all units to be positioned and fixed in sequence, allowing the crane to 'escape' as the central square was completed.
Each precast component was tailor-made to meet the specifications of architect Leach Rhodes Walker and client Bovis Lend Lease, who selected the precast solution both for its aesthetic qualities and as a long-lasting maintenance-free solution. The choice also met the requirement for sustainability, durability, strength, fire resistance and thermal efficiency required for a complex visited by some 30 million shoppers each year.
The concrete has an acid-etched finish and the components include storey-height pilasters, up to 8m high, cornice units, ashlar panels, plinths and a range of curved units that combine to give the development its distinctive classical appearance.
