Kingspan Multideck means more floor at Colmore

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Jan 17, 2007

GBP155million Colmore Plaza project in Birmingham is the tallest building in the UK to specify Dramix Steel Fibre Concrete for each of its 14 floors.

The GBP155million Colmore Plaza project in Birmingham is the tallest building in the UK to specify Dramix Steel Fibre Concrete for each of its 14 floors.

The Plaza's city centre location necessitated carefully planned night pours of the innovative flooring solution.

Space at the site is so restricted that a traditional mesh-based flooring solution was fraught with problems - but Dramix pumped onto Kingspan Multideck was the easier and more economical answer.

Dramix steel fibre reinforced concrete provides a pre-reinforced concrete slab which requires no mesh and simplifies the floor laying process - significantly reducing completion time and improving health and safety onsite.

Dramix fibres are made from prime quality hard-drawn steelwire to guarantee high tensile strength and close tolerances.

Added to the concrete mix, the fibres ensure full depth reinforcement and excellent crack control.

For the Colmore building, Kingspan approved installer MSW laid the Multideck, whilst Twintec and Technic Floors co-ordinated the addition of the steel fibres at a Cemex batching plant.

The reinforced concrete was then pumped into each floor of the office building according to a strictly controlled night-time schedule to cause minimum disruption to the surrounding area.

When used in conjunction with Kingspan Multideck MD60-V2, Dramix Steel Fibre Concrete provides a proven 1 hour and 1.5 hour fire rating.

Not only does mesh become redundant, but the shear resistance of Dramix concrete exceeds that of its mesh reinforced equivalent.

In addition, the unique design of Kingspan Multideck reduces the volume of concrete required, bringing cost as well as time savings to a project.

Dramix is now being specified in a number of key projects across the UK - most notably where access or architectural conservation are significant issues.

The solution, a joint initiative between Kingspan and Bekaert, has been tested by the Steel Construction Institute (SCI) and endorsed for multi-storey applications.