Tag: cross laminated timber

How Many Building Frames Can a Sapphire Balcony Connect To?

Posted on by Nimrita Bassi

At Sapphire Balconies, we can connect balconies to various building structures, including traditional reinforced concrete (RC) frames, cross-laminated timber (CLT) frames, light gauge steel frames (LGSF), tunnel form structures (TFS), and even Peikko’s DELTABEAM® Frame.   

Leading the market through innovation, we ensure that our balconies meet the unique demands of each structure, providing lightweight options that complement sustainable materials while maintaining strong, safe connections.  

Cross-Laminated Timber Frames   

Cross-laminated timber, or mass timber, is created by glueing together layers of solid-sawn lumber taken from a single log. By glueing the wood layers at the right angles, CLT can achieve better structural rigidity than regular timber in both vertical and horizontal directions.  

Benefits of CLT:   

  1. Improved Project Efficiency: CLT as a prefabricated material is incredibly flexible for building design. Whilst concrete is the conventional option due to its perceived rigidity, some companies favour CLT over concrete as it is 20–30% faster to install and can reduce the need for on-site labour.   
  2. Strong Fire Performance: The fire performance of CLT is exceptional as it is fire-rated and compliant for ongoing use.  

Reinforced Concrete Frames  

A traditional concrete frame is built from the ground up, poured between stacks of rebar steel to create a sturdy wall to the building.   

Thanks to its rigidity, this method is used to this day as a reliable (albeit slower than a precast alternative) way to build apartment blocks and a durable material to anchor a balcony into. However, given how labour- and carbon-intensive this approach is, many countries are looking for more advanced approaches.  

  1. We can connect to a traditionally poured concrete façade in several ways with our lightweight aluminium Cassette® balconies. Their slim, manageable form allows any number of connections to be made.
  2. Using our innovative and speedy solution, we cast the anchors into the concrete slab. This forms a robust base for the balcony Cassette® to slide directly onto, at which stage it is secured by an on-site team.  

Light Gauge Steel Frames  

Light gauge steel frames are a modern solution for low-rise buildings (up to 15 storeys), offering faster construction, cleaner sites, and a reduced carbon footprint. As the name suggests, LGSF is a skeleton of sorts for a building, a dynamic and versatile application that uses lightweight, 100% non-combustible material to provide the inner support for a building whilst staying as green as possible.   

Considerations when connecting balconies to LGSF:  

  1. Due to the lightweight nature of LGSF, balconies should be as light as possible to avoid any instances of deflection. 
  2. With balcony anchors, a key issue is the connection back into the frame, as rotational deflection can occur here. Sapphire has developed new connection methods that provide extra rigidity.   

The DELTABEAM® Frame  

Peikko’s DELTABEAM® is an innovative steel building frame that reduces the number of columns needed in a building. This allows for longer spans of unsupported horizontal beams, giving you more floor area for any given building footprint.  

  1. Sapphire Balconies are able to connect to the DELTABEAM® frame without compromising on thermal performance, installation speed, or cost.   
  2. This solution is suitable for any project as it comes with standard components that don’t require unique costs, technologies, or modifications.   

Connecting balconies to a DELTABEAM® frame previously required a concrete infill, but – thanks to collaboration between Peikko and Sapphire – that’s now a thing of the past.  

We connected balconies to the DELTABEAM® frame at Silvertown Quays in Newham, London.   

Read our full blog to learn more.  

Tunnel Form Structures  

Tunnel construction is a framework that allows a building contractor or developer to cast walls and concrete slabs at once as part of a daily routine.   

It is one of the many modern methods of construction (MMC) that are now used to increase the speed of projects and the quality of the final result, based on the accuracy that off-site production and storage can provide.  

Connecting balconies to TFS:  

  1. As with standard concrete slabs, tunnel construction cells can be penetrated and thermally guarded on-site to create balcony connection points.  
  2. Because tunnel cells are cast in situ, the balcony connections can be cast with the concrete slab to avoid excess penetration of the slab itself.    

Sapphire’s lightweight balconies can easily connect to TFS.   

If you have a project in mind and would like to discuss it, get in touch with our team and we’ll be happy to help you.   

Why Would a Prefabricated Balcony Benefit My Development?

Posted on by Sajjad B

[vc_row width=”70″ background_image=””][vc_column][sapphire_textBlock]For years, balcony construction has been a last-minute addition to an otherwise well-considered building. Adding on concrete slabs takes significant time, can be cumbersome in terms of waterproofing and drainage, and can be costly.

Prefabricated balconies change all of this.

By using a prefabricated solution, you could save time and cost, all the while making your development lighter, faster, safer, kinder and with more possibilities than ever.

In this article, we’ll be talking through modular construction and prefabrication, how to integrate cross-laminated timber with your development and some design considerations when using a prefabricated balcony solution.

Why Should I Use Prefabrication or Modular Construction?

Prefabrication and modular construction are innovative approaches that could benefit your development.

Reducing your time on site by not needing to manufacture balconies in-situ can be a time and cost-effective way to manage balconies on your development. Delivering fully assembled units means not only a decrease in cost, but also a reduction in risk.

Pre-finishing as much as possible in the factory reduces the requirement for secure storage on site – a further benefit particularly ideal for projects in city centres like Toronto, Vancouver or New York where site space can often be extremely limited.

On-site health and safety issues, such as the risk of errors and potentially costly project delays due to bad weather, can be reduced with a prefabricated solution.

Finally, this increase in quality stretches out to quality assurance too – prefabricating balconies in factory conditions ensures a high degree of quality control which is almost impossible to achieve on site.

Integration of CLT in Construction

Cross-laminated timber (CLT), or Mass Timber, is created by glueing together layers of solid-sawn lumber from a single log. By glueing together layers of wood at the right angles, CLT can achieve better structural rigidity than regular timber in both vertical and horizontal directions.

The benefits of CLT are numerous. CLT offers a prefabricated material that is incredibly flexible for building design – including CLT in a building’s design from an early stage is beneficial as it can result in shorter installation times therefore reducing the cost of labour on-site if planned well. Furthermore, the fire performance of CLT is very good, as it is fire-rated and compliant for ongoing use. Whilst concrete is the conventional option due to the perceived rigidity of the product, some companies suggest that CLT can be favourable over concrete as it is 20-30% faster to install, so can reduce labour on-site.

Design Considerations for Prefabricated Balconies

Prefabrication may well be the streamlined and simplified method of balcony production, but considerations still need to be taken when using a prefabricated balcony product.

Firstly, balconies need to be designed to ensure compatibility with modular construction processes. Implementing a modular design further allows balcony components to be fabricated off-site in controlled environments, enhancing quality control and streamlining assembly processes on-site.

Ensuring your balcony design integrates seamlessly with other building systems such as façade elements and structural supports, can enhance overall project coordination and efficiency.

Compliance with step codes in Canada must also be considered. Having a prefabricated balcony can lead to sustainability benefits, but making sure that balcony designs comply with relevant building codes and regulations, including requirements for structural integrity, fire safety, and accessibility, are crucial for ensuring code compliance.

 

Prefabrication is reinventing modern balcony construction – as time goes on, we’re seeing signs that the modular approach to balcony manufacturing could be on its way to becoming the norm.

Whilst there are design considerations that need to be taken in order to make prefabricated balconies work on your development, the benefits are enormous. Building with CLT / Mass Timber can mean faster construction times and with a CLT connection bracket, installing a balcony is as simple as gliding it straight on.

Finally, with the various benefits of a prefabricated approach such as faster installation times, reduced working hours on site and quality assurance, your development can benefit from not only a streamlined approach, but a lighter, safer, kinder one too, with more possibilities than ever before.

To learn more about how a prefabricated solution could benefit your project, visit our Next Generation suite page:[/sapphire_textBlock][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row width=”70″ background_image=”” order=”Image left / content right” image=”13193″ heading=”Discover Sapphire’s Next Generation Balcony” button_text=”Discover” button_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%2Fbalconies%2Four-product%2Fthe-next-generation-balcony%2F|title:The%20Next%20Generation%20Balcony”][vc_column][sapphire_contentLink order=”Image left / content right” image=”13193″ heading=”Discover Sapphire’s Next Generation Balcony” button_text=”Discover” button_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%2Fbalconies%2Four-product%2Fthe-next-generation-balcony%2F|title:The%20Next%20Generation%20Balcony”]The Next Generation Balcony is a huge step forward for the construction market[/sapphire_contentLink][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row width=”70″ background_image=”” el_id=”” el_class=”” css=””][vc_column][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]