This project comprises 3 & 4 bedroom dwellings with the road side elevation retaining the old museum façade. Its distinctly Roman influenced appearance included decorative arches and has become synonymous with the city of St Albans. Any development to the site had to be in keeping with this style whilst bringing a contemporary feel to the area.

The prominent feature of the newly built properties was to be the brick apexes lofting over the terraces and crowning off the elevations facing into the courtyard. Doing these in traditional, wet-laid brickwork was out of the question so an alternative solution had to be found, the brickwork contractor Flahive came to Brick Cutters to see if this could be achieved using the Safe-Secure® Brick Cladding System.

Perfect Lightweight Solution

Safe-Secure® Brick Cladding was a perfect solution being incredibly lightweight and with a 500mm deep soffit the patented mechanical brick slip restraint put any safety concerns to rest. We met with Flahive and Morgan Sindall at their HQ in Welwyn Garden City to integrate the system into the design. A huge saving was made by fixing directly to the main steel structure rather than adding extra framework. Each gable was broken down into 8 panels that would be screwed in place before being pointed, 4 panels per side that were mirror images of each other. 

Flexible Design and Installation

Unfortunately due to anomalies in the steel structure it became impossible to standardise the panels across all apex features which meant we had to adapt the process and make each one to suit.

Following site surveys each plot was drawn and manufactured to its bespoke design. Where others are constrained to standard details we work with the site to overcome any issues as they occur to prevent delays and without compromise to the finish of the overall product. The panels were manufactured to site call off, each brick cut/slot/bonded at our cladding factory in Sudbury and delivered to site and screwed into place.

Outstanding Architectural Vision

The historic museum façade with its striking semi-circular arches is complimented beautifully by the modern brick apexes and glass balustrades that lay behind it. The quality of the finish coupled with the brilliant installation by Flahive has surpassed the original architectural vision.

We are incredibly proud to have been a part of this redevelopment and subsequent preservation of such an important site in the city of St Albans.