Steel has a very high conductivity when compared with other construction materials. In structures where steel elements are connected to other steel components, or where they penetrate the insulated envelope, careful design consideration is required if thermal bridging is to be avoided. The acknowledged method of reducing therrmal transmittance in these situations is by incorporating a structural thermal break.

A product offering multiple benefits is the versatile Schöck Isokorb T type S. A load-bearing thermal insulation element for connecting cantilevered steel girders to steel structures in new construction or renovation projects.

Penetrating support structures, such as balconies, canopy roofs, or frame system crossbars, can be reliably separated and thermal bridges minimised. It is the only thermal break product for steel construction that satisfies the load-bearing and thermal insulation requirements of steel design.

Being a modular unit, it can be adapted to all profile sizes and load bearing capacity requirements. The T type S has been incorporated into a number of high-profile projects throughout the UK and three of them are highlighted here.

Oxford Brookes University
The redevelopment of the Sir Kenneth Wheare Hall at Oxford Brookes, creates an elegant, multi-use space for teaching, graduations and other key university events.

Support for the external cladding was provided by cantilever connections to the universal columns; and it was critical to provide a structural thermal break at strategic connectivity points.

By thermally separating the exterior steel structure from the interior steel structure, the modular thermal insulation elements with their stainless steel components, reliably mitigate the risk of condensation, mould formation and corrosion.

Greenwich Design District
Greenwich Design District provides 14,000sqm of affordable creative studios and workshops.

The sixteen buildings throughout the site incorporate a variety of Schöck solutions, but it is Building C1 that utlises the T type S Isokorb.

This three-level workshop and studio has a basketball court on the roof. The external staircase and concrete cantilevered walkway; and also where the walkway encloses the staircase, involve particularly large cantilevers.

Here the walkway slabs, supported by a main beam, enclose cast-in steel beams and three cross-beams, which are bolted back to the structural slabs using the modular Isokorb units.

Ridgeway Views
The former site of the National Institute for Medical Research on The Ridgeway at Mill Hill, in North London, is being redeveloped as a major new residential development.

When complete there will be around 460 residential units, with apartments across nineteen buildings of three to nine-storeys and twelve three-storey houses. Also new offices, leisure facilities and a café.

There are a variety of thermal breaks used throughout the scheme but there was a special requirement involving a steel balcony needing to be bolted down to a precast plank.

To achieve this an L-shaped bracket was first fixed to the slab, then a stub bracket and balcony attached to the bracket using the modular Isokorb.

For full information on the Isokorb T type S please visit the product section of the website here.