The Lighterman.

While relatively small in size – just 27 m long and 14 m at its widest point – this 3-storey pavilion building in King’s Cross posed a number of technical challenges. Designed by architects Stanton Williams, the new-build pavilion looks out over both the Regent’s Canal and Granary Square from a prime position.

Location

London, UK

Client

Argent

Architect

Stanton Williams

Project Value

confidential

Floor Area

680 m²

Status

completed 2016

Expertise

Structures

We have a track record of working with Stanton Williams, and there is a full understanding of the importance placed on finely detailed designs which integrate structure and finishes. Here, this precisely detailed architecture features a number of cantilevering floor slabs, requiring substantial load transfer structures within the reinforced concrete frame. With large areas of floor-to-ceiling glazing, there is also a strong emphasis on transparency and views over the surrounding cityscape.

Much of the 680 m² building is clad with Petersen Belgian bricks, which are long and thin in profile. A key task was formulating a method to connect these bricks to the structure. We assessed a number of different options ranging from hand setting the bricks in a traditional manner to fixing them using epoxy resin to precast concrete or GRP panels, which are either used to clad the structure or cast within it. The chosen method employed bricks bonded to precast panels. In order to hide the jointing, ‘finger joints’ were built into the vertical panel joints and the final interlocking bricks were hand-set across the joint.

The in-situ concrete primary structure was designed to meet the specific demands of the architectural layouts and to limit movements. The critical long-span structures have employed internal void formers in order to reduce self-weight, thereby reducing total movements.