The Saw Swee Hock Students Centre for the London School of Economics has already seen praise for its innovative style and approach to the brickwork aesthetic, resulting in the building being awarded the RIBA London Building of the Year Award, as well as a nomination for the RIBA Stirling Prize.
The building was designed by O’Donnell and Tuomey Architects who wanted the brickwork to follow an origami style of folded elevations, including soffits and a 15 meter feature chimney vent, utilising the same Coleford brick, supplied by EH Smith, as was being traditionally laid on the rest of the building.
This obviously set the main contractor Osbornes, and their subcontractor Swift Brickwork a challenge to take the architects vision and turn it into a reality, which is where Advanced Construction Systems were asked to bring in our expertise.
ACS provided solutions to the raked soffits and acute angle chimney flue in the form of brick faced panels and angle returns, weighing in at around 53kg per m2, to allow the contractors to meet the challenges that had been put to them.
An additional brief was to allow the FastClad to match the Flemish Bond of the laid brickwork, which was made possible by supplying bespoke FastClad boards to suit.
