Lexicon

Project
Summary

As the borough’s tallest building, the Lexicon acts as an icon for its location on the west side of the City Road Basin – part of the Regent Canal redevelopment area.

The tower includes 300 apartments – of which 35 per cent are considered affordable – and a five-story, 405-square-meter penthouse with 360-degree views from all levels. Shops and restaurants are located on the ground floor of the building, which is accompanied by a pair of low-rise apartment buildings set around a landscaped public courtyard. The system features glass channels set within a ventilated cavity to allow floor-to-ceiling glazing.

Key
Facts

One tower 36 floors, two low rise building

19,800m2 of bespoke façade

356 ISO containers delivered to site

12,000 pieces of glass

Scope

Unitised Curtain Walling; Stick Curtain Walling;

Opening vents; Natural Stone Rainscreen Cladding, glazed balustrades and dividing screens; Soffits, Louvres and Doors.

Challenges

The fact that all 3 blocks were being built at the same was a challenge that the teams had to face. Yuanda utilised project management technology during the project by planning and monitoring everyday processes. The use of software technology allowed us to improve communication to ensure real-time communication between all members participating in the project that, consequently, has massively rationalised the operations and improved the accuracy.

This allowed the management and supervision to keep track of the progress of works ensuring that the project met milestones and deadlines as well as providing an accurate reporting system for the Client and other subcontractors to allow efficient coordination on site. Efficient planning, monitoring and communication, allowed us to provide the Client with exceptional value.

Managing
Risks

The installation of very large curved elements was one of the activities with the highest risk associated with the operation.

A mock-up, built in China, was developed well in advance of the installation programme, to simulate the installation process and ensure that all risks could be eliminated to avoid loss of productivity on site. This exercise helped to highlight the issues faced on-site. Bespoke lifting equipment was developed, manufactured, tested and certified to suit on-site requirement.

Furthermore, there were only 20 glass panels broken from the 12,000 pieces delivered during the installation. Yuanda project management team complete the installation with zero safety incidents.

Integration

Over 9,000 pcs of natural Chinese sandstone panels including corners and shaped units were pre-cut in China and shipped to UK where they were carefully fixed to the building elevations; no two pieces of natural stone were exactly the same size and shape, which gives the building such a unique look and makes it a masterpiece of integration of local history and modern building technology.