December 2006
Framing Division
TALLEST METFRAME STEEL STRUCTURE

The tallest Metframe light gauge steel framed building to date has been constructed in London.
Minimising weight whilst maximising usable floorspace and build speed were the principal
reasons why Metsec was chosen for the superstructure of the eight storey, two wing student
accommodation block at Crispin Street near Liverpool Street station.

The project was to convert an existing building dating back to 1860, with retained facades, into a
seven storey accommodation block with ramped links to a new eight storey wing to create 368
student bedrooms for Shaftesbury Student Housing, part of the Shaftesbury Housing Group.
Students from the London School of Economics live in the building.

Designed and detailed by Metsec engineers to comply with Building Regulations for resistance to progressive collapse, achieving floor to floor heights of 2.625m allowed developers to incorporate eight storeys within the overall planning height constraints of the new wing of the 5,614m2 building. Metframe’s design, suspending joisted floor cassettes between loadbearing steel frame wall heads, eliminates the need for downstands within the floor support structures and can save more than 400mm per floor over a typical concrete or timber frame structure.
Metsec was able to factor in an additional benefit from reducing the overall building height. By
keeping it below 18m, a fire rating of 60 minutes was acceptable, saving on materials costs and
erection time. The development is positioned over the proposed Crossrail route, limiting
additional loadings on the site. Installing floating floors both minimised the weight of the building
and reduced noise transfer whilst the use of 70mm section for corridor and incidental walls
maximised usable floor space.

Metsec supplied over 180 tonnes, approximately 50km, of light gauge steel sections for the
superstructure, pre-fabricated into Metframe wall panels which took just 17 weeks to erect, less
than half the overall construction programme. The fast track, early dry envelope build benefits of
Metframe were enhanced by craning in pre-loaded, room specific pallets of wall and ceiling
boards and bathroom pods as soon as the joisted floor cassettes and plywood finish were
installed.

Metframe complies with modern methods of construction guidelines not only through prefabrication into panels but by minimising deliveries to a site in a congested area with restricted access. The light weight of the steel sections also helped reduce craneage requirements and made handling easier on the tight site.

Peter Watkins, a director of Metsec’s framing division, said: “This is the first time we’ve created
an eight storey Metframe building but the advantages the system has in terms of light weight,
minimal floor to floor heights and fast track installation, made it ideal. Structurally, it could have
been a storey or two higher but we had to design within planning constraints.”

Main contractor on the project was Galliford Try working for Shaftesbury Student Housing, one of
the main providers of independent student accommodation in London.

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