Project Description

St James Quay in Norwich is a prestigious new ‘urban community’, situated in one of the city’s most sought-after areas, close to local amenities and with views of the River Wensum.

This landmark development offers modern living with contemporary architecture, whilst remaining in keeping with the heritage of the surrounding area. Brick facades and external ironwork are a nod to some of the beautiful Georgian buildings in the city.

The first phase of the residential development is now complete, comprising eighty-eight apartments and penthouses, each designed to the highest standards and with the penthouses enjoying stunning panoramic views across the river.

Hill, the main contractors for the project, are one of the leading developers in the South-East, having established themselves with an impressive and diverse portfolio of projects. The award-winning, family-run firm brought us onto the project after we were recommended for the contract by a member of the Hill team. We had worked together on a project for another contractor and were pleased that our good reputation resulted in us being put forward for the work at St James Quay, our first job for Hill.

The exterior of the buildings at St James Quay are brickwork, and the main structures formed of a reinforced concrete structural frame. The penthouses on the two blocks used an SFS load bearing system – the lightweight and durable nature of the system makes it ideal for penthouses or structures where loads must be kept light.

Our scope was to install the SFS, insulation, brick tie channels and window frames. As highly experienced installers of SFS, we were able to work efficiently with the Hill team and spot any potential issues before they were allowed to become a problem. One of the advantages of SFS is that it can be manufactured off site, meaning products are designed and engineered to the highest possible standard in the factory, resulting in a consistent and high-end result.

Another benefit of working with SFS is that construction is not affected by adverse weather conditions, resulting in a much faster build time than other more traditional construction methods and ideal for building projects such as this that take place in the colder months.

The window frames were provided by NorDan, one of the leading Scandinavian window suppliers to the UK market and installed into the SFS opening in accordance with the design received from the architect and Hill. Commenting on the process of installation, George Dogaru, Eden Facades Site Manager explains,” Any issues that were noticed during installation were discussed with Hill management and the best solution agreed before implementing, to ensure that no structural or visual aspect would be affected.”

With the structure and insulation for the build in place, we put in the first fix ancon ties so that the bricklayers could begin to put in place the brickwork for the exterior of the buildings. Ancon ties are designed to tie brickwork to steel, including SFS studwork, and are an integral part of the build. Badly installed ties can lead to problems with the building such as damp or cracking.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns, the site had to close for several weeks in December 2020, but once our teams could get back on site, we were able to make up the time in the schedule. George explains, “The site closure could have presented a problem, but we had a good, proactive relationship with the team at Hill. We had regular meetings to discuss progress, and everything was very well planned to avoid any further disruption to the timings.”

James O’Beirne, Hill Project Manager for St James Quay, comments on the project,” It was a complicated job; Eden Facades were constructing the steel frame behind the brickwork, and then installing the insulation and the firestopping before the brickwork went on. So there was quite a lot of co-ordination to be done, and they worked with us and the bricklayers to find the best possible schedule. They were very adaptable.”

Now the first phase of the project is complete, James reflects on working with Eden Facades: “They are very approachable, I can always get hold of Paul (Michaelson) or George, and if we need them on site they will always come out. They’re very responsive and I would absolutely choose to work with them again on future projects.”