Knauf Drywall office partitioning insulation board plaster board dry lining news 120506

Subscribe to newsletter

Editor's Note: Knauf Drywall provide:-

office partitioning
insulation board
plaster board
dry lining

Request Information

Home
Include Article
Advertise

Links
Request Information
Terms of use
Contact

Request Facilities / Interiors product information

Request Architectural product information External

Request Architectural product information Internal

Request Mechanical HVAC product information

Request Electrical product information

UK's top residential Tower Showcases Knauf Drywall

Residents and guests in the UK’s tallest residential building will be surrounded by the comfort and safety of quality drywall construction featuring products and systems from Knauf Drywall. After its 83-week fit-out, Manchester’s 47-storey Beetham Tower showcases the Knauf Drywall range – and the necessary teamwork between manufacturer, distributor and contractors for successful completion of major projects.

Designed for Liverpool-based developer the Beetham Organization by Ian Simpson Architects and built by Carillion Building, the £150 million glass-clad tower soars 171 metres above Deansgate in the city centre. The building has 219 luxury apartments, a 285-room four star deluxe Hilton Hotel with conference and function facilities – including a ballroom with capacity for 650 – and a Sky Bar on the 23rd floor, underground parking and 100,000 sq ft of office space.

Knauf Drywall ceilings and partitions, supplied by Sheffield Insulations (SI) and installed by Horbury Building Systems, are used throughout the building to create a prestige environment appropriate to the development.

With limited on-site storage and tight schedules for deliveries, there was pressure across the supply chain, says SI’s Drylining Manager, Gary Summerfield. “Horbury is one of

our biggest customers. They ordered material on a weekly basis, to accommodate changing needs on the site. Everything was sent ex-factory, arriving without problems.”

Among the systems used were:
• Twin frame partitions faced with two layers of 15mm Knauf Soundshield board provide up to 56dB airborne sound reduction between rooms in the conference centre and other key public areas.

• Apertura perforated plasterboard enhances acoustic performance of large ceiling areas, and its unique seamless finish creates an elegant impression.

• The Knauf Shaftwall system, surrounding the two banks of lifts serving the hotel and apartments, combines fire safety and the strength to resist frequent air-pressure changes in lift shafts with the convenience of fixing from the floor side. One of the lift cores includes a huge 59 metre-high Shaftwall installation, housing a smoke extraction system for the residential corridors.

• Aquapanel – Knauf Drywall’s glass fibre reinforced cement board for drylining in ‘wet’ areas – is used to line apartment balconies, which are glass-enclosed but include floor to ceiling louvre sections. The Aquapanel is coated with Aquapanel Q4 Finish, a ready mixed waterproof skim coat to create a smooth surface for painting. John Currie, Carillion Project Manager on the residential section, says Aquapanel is ideal.

for this application. “It is extremely durable and also has the acoustic properties needed for external party walls.”

The Knauf Drywall technical team worked closely with the installers. Ian Siddall, Project Director for Horbury Building Systems, says Knauf Drywall’s proactive approach and regular site visits meant any technical issues could be addressed quickly. “They also provided valuable help with detailing where partitions abutted the external envelope, and different movements had to be accommodated. Their help was also valuable in solving problems of deflection heads on key partitions.”

Knauf Drywall manufactures a full range of plasters, plasterboards, insulating laminates, drywall accessories, metal sections and steel building systems, for domestic and commercial applications, from factories at Sittingbourne in Kent and Immingham on Humberside.

Email: bstark@knauf.co.uk