235 Nexus® brick faced soffit units and lintels were installed in Muirfield Centre, a modern, purpose-built hub for the town’s community and enterprise facilities.
The challenge was to maintain the simplicity of the structure by continuing the brick facing of the facades to more than two hundred window head and colonnade soffits, without adding unnecessarily to the loading on the main steelwork frame or over complicating the build.
Ancon developed a complete solution utilising Nexus®, an innovative range of lightweight brick faced soffit systems and lintels. Colonnade soffits to the two lower levels were constructed using Nexus brick faced support, a two-part system that combines Ancon’s high integrity stainless steel MDC brickwork support system with a lightweight prefabricated brick faced unit from Ibstock Kevinton.
70% lighter than traditional precast concrete alternatives, the Nexus units provided the lightweight modular solution needed for the high profile soffit areas. Nexus lintels, comprising Ancon SC20H channel lintels lined to the lower edge with brick slips, were used at all window heads.
Installed during construction of the structural steel frame, Nexus brick faced soffit units were bolted directly to Ancon MDC brickwork support systems, which were pre-fixed to the steel beams. Simple vertical and horizontal adjustment, inherent in the Nexus design, allowed the units to be adjusted to achieve perfect alignment with the main brickwork when completed.
Being lightweight, the Nexus soffit and lintel units could be lifted into position and fixed by hand, without the need for specialist lifting equipment, minimising both cost and disruption to the other trades on site.
A total of 235 Nexus units were custom designed and prefabricated to meet requirements at all window and colonnade heads throughout the project.