E
arlier this year Network Rail opened
the main concourse area to the
largest transport project London has
seen for many years – the London
Bridge Underground Redevelopment. The
mammoth £6.5Bn plan began back in 2011
and its central feature is the vast timber
ceiling that spans the main concourse,
roughly the size of the pitch at Wembley
Stadium.
Originally specified by architects
Grimshaw, the BCL system was identified
early on by Network Rail and main
contractor Costain as the system of
choice, given its unique design flexibility,
outstanding acoustic performance and the
increased design and installation services
provided by BCL.
Several challenges existed, not only the
control of ambient sound from the 75
million passengers the station sees every
year, but also the structural reverberation
produced by on average 18 trains per hour
and, given its prominence, the need for
upwards blast protection in the event of a
terrorist threat.
BCL’s unique open-configurable system
allowed the architects to design three
unique panel configurations, which
along with dedicated testing certificates,
provided a mix of Class A and Class B
acoustically rated panels to create a unique
aesthetic to the project, whilst tackling
sound reverberation targets.
These panels were married with BCL’s
unique ‘bomb-blast’ grid system, with
double locking clips and secondary
tethering, helping to prevent a ceiling from
collapsing in the event of a blast.
Lastly, the grid was fixed to the underside
of the concourse using spring-loaded
mounting brackets that help to deflect
reverberation evenly and prevent the
ceiling itself vibrating from the trains
above.
All of the Western Red Cedar used across
the 7,000sqm expanse was fire treated to
Class 0 and also finished with a clear UV
resistant lacquer to provide a long-lasting
quality finish.
London Bridge is an excellent example of
the BCL system and its ability to tailor both
performance and panel design to each
project uniquely. You can modify acoustic
performance, fabric colours, timber
species, specialist coatings and integrated
services to deliver timber walls and ceilings
that are not simply off-the-shelf replicas of
other projects, but systems that are unique
in both design and performance to your
project.
www.bcltimberprojects.co.uk
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Class A acoustic rating
Class 0 SSF fire protection
UV resistant coating
Bomb-blast grid system
Flexible Design
Design-flexible timber panel systems for the
most demanding projects…