Le Masuriers Merchants Square development project is a large scale mixed-use development, consisting of a 122-bed Premier Inn hotel and 5 apartment blocks as well as 3 commercial units. Various forms of construction have been used, including in-situ reinforced concrete frames and flat slabs, load-bearing masonry, and lightweight steel framing. A large podium slab on the 1st floor is used to accommodate communal amenity space, situated above a ground floor car park. All buildings are supported by end-bearing displacement piles.
Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and off-site pre-fabrication were a key part of the project, in order to minimise time and cost. Two of the residential blocks use Porotherm clay blocks, which are 365mm thick but are lightweight and simple to construct. They also don’t require a cavity while providing excellent thermal properties. On the hotel, above the 1st floor, Hadley Steel lightweight steel framing system was used. These comprise of cold-rolled, load-bearing steel wall panels, which are prefabricated off-site, allowing for speedy light-weight construction on site. Elsewhere, bathroom pods have been used for the hotel, which gets craned into position with the bathroom finishes and plumbing already complete. Finally, precast concrete wall panels and stairs have been used in areas in order to simplify and speed up construction on site.
