MODERNIST PAVILLION TO GET THE OSC TREATMENT

A collaborative pitch between offsite specialist Framework CDM and award winning architects Sjölander da Cruz has won the commission to design and build a Resource Centre for the young people of Neston, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire...

04/11/07  Show Full Article

FRAMEWORK SCORES A ROYAL HAT TRICK

Three members of the royal family have given their seal of approval to a trio of high profile projects built by leading off site construction specialist Framework CDM using the company’s innovative system of factory produced, pre-engineered roof, wall and floor cassettes...

03/11/07  Show Full Article

FRAMEWORK HELPS SPACE-AGE PODS TAKE SHAPE IN ANTARCTICA

The first phase of pre-engineered timber floor and deck components from Framework CDM are making their way to the new Antarctic-based £22million British Antarctic Survey research station, Halley VI, this month – via South Africa.

Due to such extreme weather conditions, the project team of designers, Faber Maunsell and Hugh Broughton Architects, and main contractor Morrison Construction, devised a ‘production line’ style of build, enabling the majority of the structure to be constructed at premises in South Africa. Here the various components of the research station will be brought together before being shipped to the Antarctic.

As pioneers of its own off-site construction solution, Framework’s innovative factory produced, preengineered structural components went hand in glove with the British Antarctic Survey’s aspirations for the project.

The perfect fit for an incredibly challenging scheme – both in terms of the build programme and harsh climatic environment - Framework’s pre-fabricated components will be used to create the floor along the long, train-like modular structure. This comprises seven pods of just under 20m long and 10m wide and a larger central living pod.

To ensure continuity, Framework’s bespoke timber panels will also be used to construct the research station’s Magnetometer Shaft – a specialist chamber that is sunk into the ice containing instruments which measure the Earth’s magnetic field.

The new design is based on two platforms to form a micro-community for scientists and research staff. The craft will be built above the surface on steel legs to limit snow drifting.

Bright blue modules will be used to house laboratories and bedrooms, a command centre and energy modules. A central outsized red module will be the social hub for crew, containing leisure and fitness zones, a hydroponics’ farm, restaurant, library and lounge.

Framework’s solution will guarantee quality controlled workmanship, resulting in a fully tested and uniform end product. It will also ensure the simple interchangeability of parts and reduce the number of spares that need to be retained on site.

Low on environmental impact during construction, with an extremely efficient performance life cycle, the base can be easily moved and eventually taken apart when the time comes for it to leave the ice and be decommissioned.

With construction due to start in June, the first Framework trial modules have now been despatched to South Africa for pre-construction stages, with the remainder due to be sent to Antarctica soon after. Full assembly at the research station site will take place during the two months of Antarctic ‘summer’.

Halley VI will be located 10,000 miles from the UK on the Brunt Ice Shelf, which is 150m thick and flows at a rate of 0.4 km per year northwest from Coats Land towards the sea where, at irregular intervals, it calves off as vast icebergs. Scientists predict a major calving event around 2010.

There is a growing risk that ice on which the existing Halley Research Station sits could break off in the next decade. The new station will allow long-running research on global change to continue at the site where the ozone hole was discovered.

The first phase of construction will commence on the ice in December 2007 with handover to BAS in January 2010.

02/11/07  Hide Full Article

OSC BOWLS THEM OVER AT THE OVAL

OSC (off site construction) has bowled over the owners of the Oval’s Archbishop Tenison’s School by creating an extension of its existing, traditional built facilities using an ingenious system that blends modern construction techniques with sustainability and individual architectural design...

01/11/07  Show Full Article