Southbank Tower

PROJECT
SUMMARY

South Bank Tower, previously known as King’s Reach, is a re-development of a 1970s office building previously occupied by the publisher IPC. The original structure of 31 storeys was extended with an additional 11 new floors of residential accommodation. The new and existing structure of the tower and podium has been re-clad with a modern, high-performance façade system.

The development contains 173 flats, 370,000 ft2 of office space and 27,000 ft2 of retail space.

The re-invention of spaces, including the creation of a new route through the heart of the scheme, and the provision of public amenities contribute to the on-going regeneration of the South Bank of London and has brought new life and longevity to the site.

Key
Facts

• 26,000m2 of facade

• Prefabricated GRC fins and panels pre-fitted to façade panels

• 10 new floors added to an existing tower built in 1976

SCOPE

Prefabricated, high-performance double and triple-glazed curtain wall with opening vents and anodised aluminium and GRC vertical fins.
Steel and glass stick systems in the ground floor and entrance areas with automatic powered doors.
Bespoke ‘slimline’ sliding door system to a winter garden
Glazed atrium roof, walls and lift lobby systems

Facing
challenges

The design intent was to integrate the new facade within the plane of the existing vertical structural grid; this required a design concept which could accommodate the tolerances of the 30-year-old structure over the height of the existing building. The facade installed to the new, upper floors was then designed to replicate the verticality and materiality of the existing facade, using GRC fins fitted to the continuous curtain wall deployed to the new-build floors to match the existing exposed concrete columns of the lower floors.

Off-site
prefabrication

The building features numerous ‘winter gardens’ which were designed with slimline sliding door systems, partially manufactured off-site in China, and shipped as semi-completed assemblies, and installed from the floor slabs. This significantly improves site installation times and interfaces, whilst maximising the quality associated with off-site fabrication.

SAVING
TIME

Due to challenging structural movement issues, the installation of the upper floors required the floor slabs to be pre-loaded immediately prior to installation of the facade panels. Adherence to this sequence and programme was a critical requirement of this project and was achieved by close cooperation with the Main Contractor and Structural Engineers. The desired construction programme was achieved by maximising the use of prefabrication across the entire project. This approach is key to achieving consistent quality within an aggressive programme, and to ensure that safety of the site operatives remains at the top of the agenda.