News & Exhibitions

Belmayne puts steel in the frame

11 July 2008

When choosing a construction method for the final phase of apartments on the highprofile Belmayne site, LM developments decided to do something different.

Work on the Malahide road site in Dublin commenced in 2006 and the first two phases of houses and apartments were built from Kingspan Century timber frame. For the last phase they decided to use Kingspan Century’s new light-gauge steel frame construction system - Kingframe.

“We have a very strong working relationship with LM developments and it was very exciting to win a contract to manufacture over 200 hundred apartments in our newest product of light gauge steel,” says Gary Treanor Director of Product and Business Development at Kingspan Century.

“Kingframe has been in the making for many years and we have meticulously researched the system from every angle to ensure that it performs to the highest standards. While we have used the product in some developments, Belmayne is by far the largest and most high profile to date” he adds.

Belmayne posed an interesting challenge for the KingFrame system. The 202 apartments were constructed in blocks ranging from four to six stories over basement car parks.

The steel frames are constructed on a concrete slab. In the case of Belmayne the slabs were a mixture of the roof of the underground car park or the first floor of retail.

“The main advantage of light gauge steel is that it is a fast, innovative and durable construction system. Because of the nature of the system it delivers savings to the developer in the design of the concrete slab,” says Treanor.

Kingspan Century also supplied their multi-deck floor system that allows the developer to provide poured concrete floors on each floor of the building. The system works by providing an enclosed form to pour concrete at the junctions between the walls and floors.

“We also supplied an innovative system to provide cantilever balconies in Belmayne, which contains a thermally broken floor to avoid the transfer of cold and condensation from outside,” says Treanor.

Treanor believes that the success of the Belmayne site will act as a showcase and will lead to major growth for the KingFrame product as a construction method for builders and developers.

“We were able to finish this complex project in six months because of the efficiencies that we have
developed. In addition to providing a high specification construction method under factory conditions, we were also able to provide solutions for internal poured concrete floors, cantilever balconies, internal timber walls, timber roofs, and cladding options,” says Treanor.

For more information on KingFrame contact (047) 81270 or log on to www.century.ie

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