Halo Apartments, Simpson Street
Simpson Street, a 6-storey residential development to the centre of Manchester.
This Forshaw Land and Property Group development delivers 66 apartments with a 4-level underground car parking facility. The project consists of a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bed fully serviced rental units.
The Challenge
The development was designed by DLA Design and main contracted by Bardsley Construction. The external glass balustrade package presented a number of initial design challenges:
- Balustrade to balconies – A full glass balustrade, trim and decking solution needed to be designed and coordinated for the steel balcony frames.
- Balustrade to terraces – The glass balustrade line needed to be cantilevered away from the edge of the Metsec deck by about 110mm.
- Privacy screens – Because the building had a Metsec frame, a bespoke fixing bracket detail would be required.
The Solution
Following early design engagement, BA Systems were contracted to design, supply and install the glass balustrades to the balconies and terraces, glass privacy screens and balcony decking system. The B40 Frameless balustrade with 21.5mm toughened and laminated glass was supplied to the balconies and terraces. This was complemented with a B20 Privacy Screen with opaque glass infills.
Project Achievements
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Full external balcony system
A side fix balustrade detail was designed which incorporated the ICE 3 channel profile and associated polyester powder coated aluminium trim profiles. This was designed to integrate with the pre-fabricated decking frame and composite decking system.
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Bespoke cantilevered balustrade bracket
To offset mount the glass balustrade from the Metsec slab, a bespoke galvanised steel base bracket was designed. This was installed at 500mm centres. The bracket and balustrade fixing detail was designed to meet a 0.74kN/m balcony loading.
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Bespoke privacy screen fixing detail
Because the privacy screens were installed perpendicular to the Metsec ribs, the privacy screen base fixing detail was designed to enable it to be fixed above and below the slab. This steel bracket and internal spigot gave the screen the rigidity it needed, despite the shallower fixing depth for the screw-bolts.