Ancoats Urban Village

Situated on the edge of Great Ancoats Street, in the Artisan residential complex featuring luxurious water features and tranquil gardens, this project is very close to Piccadilly and the heart of Manchester City Centre.

This attractive residential development was part of a remediation project with the aim of upgrading the building to bring it in line with the latest regulations on fire safety.

We worked closely with AEW Architects in the design and specification stage of the decking system and worked closely with Insulated Render Systems Scotland Ltd., who carried out the installation.

As is the case with many of our renovation projects, we had to consider the loading criteria required to meet the needs of the balcony walkways, which also formed part of the building’s escape routes.

Fire escape routes are required to meet higher loading criteria in accordance with EN 1991-1-1:2002 and the associated National Annex, so our BalcaSmart^® Aluminium system was the perfect choice.

Designed to fix directly to the balcony steels enabling fast and efficient installation, the BalcaSmart Aluminium system creates safe and secure decked balconies, however challenging the design and performance requirements are. This renovation project presented us with low threshold heights to work with, so we opted for JH50 Joist Hangers to replace the existing timber joists with aluminium ones, which allowed the top of the joist to be flush with the steel frame.

Martyn Mounter, Senior Technician – AEW Architects, claimed that this project presented two challenges: balconies with a domestic load and walkways with a heavy load requirement. Martin expressed reassurance with all the technical documentation, certifications, and support provided throughout the project.

BalcaSmart Aluminium carries our IGNO mark of assurance, which should provide owners, residents and users with the peace of mind they deserve.

Learn more about the project from AEW Architect’s Senior Technician, Martyn Mounter, in the video below: