Winner of the prestigious Specialist Contractor of the Year accolade at the 2019 Irish Building & Design Awards, TECHRETE is the industry leader in the design, manufacture and installation of architectural precast cladding, serving the UK and Irish construction markets.
Offering a complete precast solution for building facades, from bespoke design through to manufacture and erection, TECHRETE is firmly established as the market leader in Ireland and the UK for architectural precast cladding. Boasting a proven track record with an eye-catching, award-winning project portfolio, TECHRETE’s bespoke products provide buildings with stunning, unique design features.
They design and manufacture panels and units in a large range of bespoke sizes, shapes, textures and colours, and provide a full installation service on site, bringing the client’s vision to life on landmark projects from the breath-taking, iconic Victoria & Albert Museum in Dundee, Lombard Wharf, London, Local Blackfriars, Manchester or Victoria Gate, Leeds to 10 Molesworth Street, 5 and 6 Hanover Quay and Capital Dock in Dublin.
A family-run business established in Ireland in 1985, TECHRETE’s success over the past three-and-a-half decades is founded on the development of a manufacturing and technical expertise which dovetails state-of-the-art technology with skilled craft-based processes.
TECHRETE employ over 350 people at their modern facilities in Brigg, North Linconshire and Balbriggan, Dublin, providing more than 21,000m2 of production space across a combined site of 15 hectares. Technical support is provided through their team of 50 engineers, estimators and draughtsmen.
With an emphasis on Health & Safety, sustainability and innovation, TECHRETE have delivered some of the most architecturally complex and aesthetically pleasing precast concrete on landmark projects across Ireland and the UK, in the process pushing the boundaries of what precast concrete can achieve far beyond what had previously been attempted.
In many cases, they are involved in major projects from inception through to completion, working closely with architects to develop equipment and processes which make ground-breaking, innovative designs a reality. TECHRETE’s focus on providing sustainable products is underlined by their substantial investment in research and development, while their state-of-the-art facilities are complete with rain harvesting systems, water recycling, energy-efficient equipment and the widespread use of both solar and geothermal energy.
As proven leaders and pioneers in their specialist sphere of expertise, TECHRETE have garnered many major industry awards over the years. They were on the winners’ podium again in late 2019 when scooping the Specialist Contractor of the Year gong at the Irish Building & Design Awards in The Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road on Friday, November 29th.
“Collecting an award like this is a testament to all the work we have done in Ireland and the UK during the year,” notes Sales and Pre Construction Manager Darren Brown. “As it was our first time to put forward a submission for the Building & Design Awards, we were honoured to be shortlisted, never mind to win the award outright.”
To make it a night to remember for TECHRETE, two other projects they worked on also won awards. The Visual Control Tower at Dublin Airport was named as Engineering Project of the Year for BAM Building, while Capital Dock (O’Mahony Pike Architects) prevailed in the Housing Project of the Year category.
“On the night, it kind of felt like we had almost won three awards,” Darren continues. “It’s great to win awards yourself and also to see projects you have worked on being recognised and acknowledged.
“One of the traits of the work we do is that the projects tend to win awards. Over the years, due to the high quality of the work we have done, we have established ourselves as market leaders in architectural precast cladding and as a result we tend to work on a lot of high-end projects with renowned architects.
“It’s testament to the input of everybody in the company over the past 35 years that we have reached such high standards but, as our own harshest critics, we are only too aware of the critical importance of constantly maintaining the high standards we have set. While we have an excellent track record, you are only as good as your last job. As a company, we are constantly learning and trying to improve and that’s the only way to stay at the forefront of the market.”
Capital Dock, where TECHRETE delivered all the precast cladding, is the tallest residential building in Ireland. One of the key feature of this brick-faced project was that the windows were fitted off-site, which helped considerably with the main project programme. To minimise vertical panel joints, the panels were designed to sleeve one behind each other, helping achieve the elongated look of the design brief.
The Airport Control Tower, meanwhile, is also one of the tallest structures in Ireland. The innovative work here comprised curved precast panels / feature knuckles arranged in triangular shape. The facade was designed as a rain screen with open drained joggle joints, allowing rain water to funnel behind the panel and drain out the bottom. Bespoke structural hanging brackets were specially designed to support the panels.
Catering for the commercial, residential, educational, healthcare and public sectors, some other landmark architectural precast concrete projects carried out by TECHRETE in recent times include Southbank Place, London, the Olympic Village, Aviva Stadium and 2 St Peter’s Square, Manchester.
Without doubt, one of the most impressive and iconic projects TECHRETE delivered has been the spectacular Victoria & Albert Museum in Dundee, which picked up both the British Precast Best Project and Tekla Award for Use of BIM in 2018 as well as being listed by Time magazine as one of the greatest places on earth to visit in 2019.
Situated on the banks of the River Tay, the design for this striking structure drew inspiration from the Scottish cliffs and the silhouette of the impressive facade imitates the shape of a ship at dock. Design works began in June, 2015 with BIM 3D modelling being utilised for the design of the precast planks and also to accurately pinpoint the exact locations for the fixings and 18,000 cast-in channels.
Pioneering bespoke fixings were engineered by TECHRETE which contributed to the overall speed of the installation. TECHRETE worked closely with the architect to agree a mix which would encompass all of the elements detailed in the brief. The chosen finish consisted of reconstituted granite with exposed aggregates.
Manufacturing commenced in August, 2016 and was completed a year later. Two months of preparatory site works and a GPS system ensured the seamless installation of 8,787 metres of planks, which ranged in weight from 0.9 to 2.8 tonnes, reducing the timeframe from the original 36 weeks, to 28 weeks.
TECHRETE,
Stephenstown Industrial Park,
Balbriggan,
County Dublin,
K32 W665.
Tel: 01 6901700
Fax: 01 6901777
Email: [email protected]
Web: techrete.com
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, April 2020, Vol 6 No 2
