Kent Street is a new development of 504 new homes for Lupa Land in the heart of Birmingham.
The site is located between Bromsgrove Street and Kent Street in the Southside district of the city. The site once housed Kent Street Baths which opened in 1851 and was subsequently heavily damaged in the Second World War bombing of Birmingham. The Baths were finally demolished in 2009.
The site comprises 406 build-to-rent units and 98 private sale units with generous basement parking and areas for secure cycle storage. The scheme will offer a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments within five principal buildings ranging from seven to 19 storeys, wrapped around an outdoor courtyard with a central three-storey community hub and flexible commercial space on Bromsgrove Street.
RCM were appointed by installer L Reynolds to provide Y-wall, an advanced flexible calcium, silicate based fibre cement building board, for the construction of the Premier Inn. This was to be used as an external sheathing board, covering the structural steel frame, infilled with SFS steel.
RCM Y-wall is a flexible calcium silicate based fibre cement building board, offering excellent fire properties as well as high levels of dimensional stability. Y-wall is used as a fire rated sheathing board and is applied extensively on both metal and timber frame structures. The product is able to be applied behind all types of facade solutions, as well as in floors and roofs offering a non-combustible classification. Y-wall can be cut, drilled and nailed – offering many of the properties of timber.
Key properties of RCM’s Y-Wall include a non-combustional classification, excellent water repellence properties, flexibility and strength. Y-Wall is RCM’s lightest sheathing board with improved workability. To meet the specified one hour fire rating required by the client, 9mm Y-wall was used to create a non-combustible lining of the building. A polymer modified thin coat silicon render system was then applied directly to the 9mm Y-wall to produce the final decorative facade. The robust building boards were left exposed to adverse weather conditions for up to seven months and were not affected, by the heat, rain, freeze and thaw.
Ian Quinton, Managing Director of RCM commented on the build:
“It was great to be involved with such a prestigious project in the heart of Britains second city. This project was the perfect example of how our Y-wall can be used for its weather resistant and fire safety properties.
