The two residential buildings that make up the Landsby East and Landsby West development are contemporary in design, with interiors that continue the Scandanavian theme of their name (‘Landsby’ being Danish for ‘village’).

Externally there are roof terraces and first floor podium gardens, along with 280 generous balconies. Inevitably, technical challenges, such as safety, precision, reliability and thermal efficiency of the balconies had to be met at installation and during the long term performance of the balconies.

A collaborative approach from Brooksby Projects Ltd and Schöck was required. Brooksby brought their experience in balcony technology, which Schöck provided load-bearing thermal insulation solutions.

Slide-on balconies were a must
Wates, the main contractor, were specific in requesting cantilevered, slide-on balconies and FlightDeck® balconies from Brooksby Projects Ltd offered the ideal solution.

They do not need to be fixed from a balcony below, reducing on-site health and safety risks. In addition, installing top down means a saving on crane time and requires no scaffolding or other external access. On a large high-rise project with multiple elevations, when compared with traditional bolt-on balconies, the installation time saved is considerable.

Many of the 280 balconies installed also involved subtle design adaptations and in total thirteen different variations were supplied to meet the Landsby project requirements.

Thermal break elements are key
A key element in the structural and long–term insulation performance of the balconies was the installation of Schöck Isokorb structural thermal breaks. Early involvement was necessary to ensure the connectors were accurately cast into the building during the mainframe construction phase; and Brooksby provided installation templates to ensure the precise line and level of all balcony connections.

A Brooksby stub bracket was attached to the Isokorb units prior to the concrete being poured and the balcony cantilever support arm attached to the stub (same depth as the balcony). The pre-assembled panel glass balcony chassis slid on to the cantilever arm and locked into position.

Minimising thermal bridging is a key issue. Ineffective insulation at the connection points, especially with 280 balconies involved, means local heat loss, resulting in more energy being required to maintain the internal temperature of the building. There are other issues too, as low internal surface temperatures in the area of the thermal bridge can cause condensation, leading to structural integrity problems with absorbent materials such as insulation products and even the serious threat of mould growth.

The success of the teamwork was recognised at the London Construction Supply Chain Awards in late 2018, hosted by Wates. Brooksby were awarded ‘Best New Supply Chain Partner’ for the Landsby project and Managing Director, Simon Goodenough commented: “It was great to have won this award which reflects how hard the whole team worked on the project to ensure that at all stages we delivered an excellent product, backed by exceptional service”.