Wiehag GmbH - Anchorage House, East India Docks
Project Details
Project - Anchorage House, East India Docks
Sector - Retail
Technology - Glulam/CLT
Company - Wiehag GmbH
Project Overview
Winner of 2018 Offsite Awards - Commercial Project of the Year
The Architects Studio RHE vision is to turn the tired existing office buildings and surrounding area into something fresh and contemporary, with timber used throughout.
Around the outside of the building retail units are created by pushing out the envelope with Glulam and CLT including CLT stairs which are left uncovered. Covered public spaces are created by the water side using CLT wall and roof slabs, again showing off the beauty of natural wood.
Inside Anchorage House the 9 storey closed atrium has a glulam grid of beams and columns wrapped around all of it sides and this creates new floor space on every floor.
After discussions with the Architect on finishes the Spruce Glulam & CLT was factory finished with a light Oak stain & Wiehag ensured all steel connections were discrete and hidden away.
The timber structure is designed for 90 minutes fire resistance which timber achieves easily by oversizing of members and protecting the connectors inside the timber.
This was a real challenge to get material in and install and only by the close working relationship we developed with Main Contractor Galliford Try was it possible. For much of the atrium build cranes could not be used so hoists and specialist plant had to be used instead. Everything was prefabricated offsite in small sized elements with all metalwork factory fitted as on site space was so limited.
This project is an excellent example of how offsite solutions can create an amazing structure in a confined existing space on time, RIDDOR free, on budget and to a quality that delighted the client and they're team.
All timber was precut, drilled an machined in Wiehag's high tech factory in Austria, and all metalwork factory fitted which enabled a fast, safe installation which minimised disruption to the buildings occupiers as well as producing little waste or dust.
Wiehags installation on site was in phases and started end of 2016 and finishing late in 2017, with the atrium now open and occupied.
