High Holborn

Material: GRC & Jesmonite AC730

Project Title: High Holborn, London

Sector: Commercial / Offices

Architect: Smart Crosby

Contractor: Collins Construction Ltd

Service: Exterior Cladding

Scope of Work: GRC supported Brick Slips, Exterior walls, grills, pillars & balcony edges

Project Value: £700k

High Holborn required an exterior cladding that offered a brickwork finish with a lightweight attribute. Our designs offered brick slip panels, which are backed up by a metal framework and GRC. In addition, our bespoke bracketry has the ability to be removed and replaced with an alternative finish to suit architectural trends. On the bottom floor, the architect requested GRC-featured columns, exterior walls, and balcony edges, which we recommended Jesmonite to achieve the bespoke color and finish that was desired.

Brick Slip GRC Exterior Cladding

The complexity of the design was realised in the setting out of the brickwork. We ensured that the joints on the columns joined through the banding to give a true façade of a brick wall. We designed the brick pieces to sit in a silicon mould and then be sprayed with grade 18 GRC. Each panel was designed to join in a dog tooth fashion, to achieve the desired effect but this also meant the sprayed columns required more attention to detail due to the angular design of the building throughout the design and planning process.

The architect sought out GRC for the exterior features but we recommended Jesmonite to match their desired finish and colour, portland stone. Where GRC has a limited colour range, Jesmonite was the answer. With the use of Jesmonite, we had designed unique grills to hide the metal ones behind, offering a cleaner and uniform finish throughout.

As with most brick slip panels, the manufacturing consisted of having the bricks cut into 25mm thick pieces. They were then inserted into the silicon mould and sprayed to a Grade 18 spec. Each brick piece was mechanically secured, as specified by the wind technical engineer on the project. We made a bespoke design, once sprayed, we bolted each brick piece in to the panel. We then manufactured a stainless-steel, specialist support bracketry system with a unique method which allowed the dog tooth panels to be installed.

GRC Brck Slip Exterior Cladding

Jesmonite Balcony Edges & Grills

For the brick slip panels, the contractor opted for a supply-only route. We ensured the installers had the complete process detailed so they could do so, without a hitch. We manufactured, installed, and supplied the Jesmonite features too.

The finished product presented what looked to be a solid brick wall, with stone features. But instead offered a lighter-weight solution with clever mechanics behind the face.