FP McCann Brick Slip Lift and Stairwell cores installed on Cambridgeshire Hospital Car Park

Project: New Multi-Storey Car Park; Princess of Wales Hospital, Ely, Cambridgshire.

Client: NHS Cambridgeshire Community Services

Principle Designer: Octavius Infrastructure

Civil Engineer: FP McCann

Products Supplied: Brick Slip Stair Cores

FP McCann has supplied and installed its first brick slip faced lift stairwall cores on a new multi-storey car park (MSCP) dedicated to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely, Cambridgeshire. The four level car park once complete later this year, will have spaces for 271 cars, 8 motorcycle bays and external bicycle parking.

In addition to its practical functionality, the multi-storey modular steel frame car park has been carefully designed to blend harmoniously into the urban context. The external cladding to the MSCP consists of vertical aluminium fins in tones of brown and green to tie in with the landscaping and tree planting scheme around the building. To complement this finish, the two lift and stair cores serving the car park, have been built with FP McCann precast concrete panels that have an attractive cast-in brick slip application.

Main contractor on the MSCP build is transport hub and car park construction specialist Octavius Infrastructure. FP McCann were approached in the early stages of design with consideration not only the aesthetic requirement of the brick slip panels themselves, but also the additional benefits that off-site precast concrete panel systems offer; those being a simple, fast process that in the case of the two lift and stair cores, eliminates the need for scaffolding, block work and brick laying. FP McCann’s skilled team of fixers completed the two lift and stair cores over a period of just 28 days. In total, 71 precast concrete brick slip external wall panels have been installed including some floor and landing slabs edged with matching brick slip feature

The precast panels have been manufactured at the company’s Byleyfactory. Brick slips are a TBS Teversham Blend.

Commenting on the FP McCann brick slip panels in place, Antony Plumbridge, Project Manager for Octavius Infrastructure says, “The off-site precast concrete lift and stair core system with the aesthetically pleasing brick slips, is of major importance to the external finish of the car park. The construction of traditional brick and block walls would have been both very costly and time consuming. The FP McCann fixing team undertook the work in a safe and timely manner. We will certainly consider the use of the precast concrete brick slip panel system with such a finish on future MSCP projects.”