The Foundry is a large scale project involving the construction of a ten story city centre development.
This project brought with it many challenges due to the sheer scale of the development and the tight constraints of inner city construction. Newly completed, the development now houses an impressive 239 student bedrooms with a large communal area on the ground floor including a gym, cinema, games room, music room and study area.
The lower two floors of the building are constructed around a hot rolled steel frame and cast in-situ concrete floors along with a cast in-situ concrete stair and lift core (by others), with the upper eight floors being constructed from cold rolled light gauge steel. The upper eight floors are manufactured off site utilizing modern methods of construction which greatly reduce the waste and increase productivity whilst also being energy saving. The upper floors were installed at a rate of one floor per fortnight. The building has a brick finish to the lower two floors with a zinc rain screen to the upper eight floors. High levels of insulation and the use of low energy fittings enable the building to surpass building regulation requirements. The construction was coordinated so that works continue inside and out on the lower floors as the building progresses skyward.
Icarus LSF worked with Ashcourt Group to construct a large student accommodation scheme of 239 units, located in Leeds. A time-critical programme due to vital completion dates ready for students to occupy in time for the new academic year. Several complex site constraints included the close proximity of existing buildings; roads & access required around the site that remained open. This resulted in tight access for vehicles and time restrictions leading to the use of traditional construction methods being unfeasible. The scheme needed a building solution that would deliver both pace and innovation. Ashcourt approached Icarus LSF to design, manufacture and construct the nine storey building using off-site manufactured light steel frame (LSF) technology.
