One Blackfriars
One Blackfriars in London, is a striking skyscraper located in London’s Southwark district. It was built by the Australian construction firm Multiplex and designed by SimpsonHaugh and Partners on behalf of St George South London.
Multiplex was responsible for the construction of the building’s superstructure, which consists of a reinforced concrete core and a steel frame with a height of 170 meters. The construction process was complex and required innovative solutions to overcome the challenges posed by the building’s unique geometry and the congested urban environment in which it was built.
One of the key challenges faced by Multiplex was the site’s limited footprint. The building was constructed on a tight site, surrounded by busy roads and railway lines, which made it difficult to access and manoeuvre the large equipment and materials required for construction. To overcome this challenge, a modular construction approach, which involved prefabricating as many elements as possible offsite and assembling them on-site.
The modular construction approach used by Multiplex helped to minimize disruption to the surrounding area and allowed for a faster construction schedule. It also helped to reduce waste and optimize the use of materials, making the construction process more sustainable.
The façade was designed and installed by Yuanda Europe, a specialist in the design, engineering, fabrication, and installation of high-performance façade systems.
The façade system incorporates advanced glass technology, including cold-formed structurally bonded glass and an integrated shading system, to enhance the building’s structural performance and energy efficiency.
The façade system used in One Blackfriars is a Twin skin unitised glazed curtain wall system that is designed to provide optimal thermal and acoustic insulation while also allowing for maximum natural light to enter the building.
The outer layer of the façade system consists of a series of individual modular panels that are prefabricated in a factory and then assembled on site using a crane. The majority of the unitised façade comprised cold-formed structurally bonded laminated glass and vertical integrated bespoke louvers which provide ventilation of the winter gardens.
The inner layer of the façade comprises of a thermally broken stick curtain walling system which provides thermal and acoustic separation between apartments and the winter gardens.
Our scope on this development included assisting the Architects during early schematic design, specialist contractor and supply chain audits, performance test witnessing, detail design review, factory audits, and site inspections.
