Archetech Issue 67 2023 | Page 14

EDITOR ’ S CHOICE
Site image of the finished project

SEMICIRCULAR BALCONY DEMANDS RESOLVED BY SCHÖCK

All apartments at the Triptych Bankside development , next to the Thames in Southwark , benefit from spacious balconies , with an emphasis on the quality of the finishes . However , their highly unconventional and dramatic semicircular profiling meant Schöck had to demonstrate its design expertise in meeting the structural load-bearing thermal break requirements
Triptych Bankside is at 185 Park Street , in Southwark . It comprises three elegant building forms within a landscaped park setting and is a close neighbour of the Tate Modern , the Millenium Bridge and the Globe Theatre . The mixed-use development provides two residential blocks – fifteen and nineteen storeys respectively – along with office accomodation and creative workspace in a ten storey building . There are also retail and cultural amenities at ground level . A subtle twisting form , combined with undulating curved terraces wrapping around the exterior , affords the buildings a considered architectual elegance – but central to the residential buildings design is also its ability to be adaptive and maximise both amenity space and local views .. The development has a commitment to the local community too and Triptych Bankside is facilitating the delivery of 57 new , purpose-built almshouses , to be operated by the United St Saviour ’ s Charity , which has been working in Southwark since 1541 . In addition the design reinstates the lost historic street , Emerson Place , which creates new pedestrian connections through the site to the River Thames and which features a continuous flow of green spaces including a central public square .
SPECIAL DEMANDS NEED A SPECIAL SOLUTION
The special demands of the Triptych Bankside semicircular balcony profiling required bespoke Isokorb T type SK units to be designed with specific postional load capacities , using built-in steel reinforcement . The T type SK is a complete system structural thermal break for minimising thermal bridges between cantilevered steel constructions on reinforced concrete components . Since it can be prefabricated to a large degree , installation time on the building site is reduced . Also , due to its superb load-bearing capacity , the engineering and structural design is ideal , even for heavy modern balconies . It is capable of absorbing large bending moments and shear forces ; and is certified as a safe and verifiable solution through independent third party evaluations from the BBA and Oxford Brookes University . At present , no other UK product for concrete-to-steel applications meets these load-bearing requirements , or meets the current and future thermal performance required by building standards ( Part L ).
ARCHETECH - PAGE 14