Founding member
G-frame Structures Ltd
G-frame Structures Ltd
G-frame Structures is a family run firm specialising in the design, supply and installation of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), Glulam and hybrid structures including the design and fabrication of bespoke connections. We operate across Ireland and the UK and have offices in Dublin, Wexford, Edinburgh and Bedfordshire.
Since forming in 2011 the G-frame team has delivered many multi-award winning mass timber projects across all construction sectors. Our portfolio of built projects ranges from residential and commercial roof top extensions, educational, public and workplace buildings to multi-storey residential and bespoke private homes.
Case Studies
Multi-storey residential
A small, operational canal side lock-keeper’s island overlooking the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has been transformed by an energy efficient CLT residential development. The Blaker Island scheme provides seven spacious homes in a new five storey apartment block and two new semi-detached town houses built either side of the original Listed lock-keepers house. The CLT superstructures helped the scheme to achieve O.6 ACH airtightness, which is the maximum allowed for achieving Passivhaus standard. Windows are triple glazed and junction detailing between window and CLT wall panels has been carefully considered. Developer Roberts & Treguer estimate that over a 60 year period a CLT dwelling at Blaker Island will save 192 tonnes of CO2 compared with a typical UK home.
Use of CLT for the new buildings helped to overcome weight and access limitations presented by the man-made island which is surrounded by water on all sides with the only access via a small footbridge
Use of CLT for the new buildings helped to overcome weight and access limitations presented by the man-made island which is surrounded by water on all sides with the only access via a small footbridge
Education
Midmill Primary School is the first of two new primary schools for Aberdeenshire Council. It provides space for 540 pupils and is arranged in two teaching wings with a two storey element of core accommodation. The building is formed of a Glulam portal frame combined with a large CLT sports hall. Internally the majority of timber beams and panels have been left exposed. A total of five schools, similar in size and scale, had to be delivered by the Council within a very tight five year timescale. The speed and efficiency of this hybrid method helped meet programme requirements and impressed the Council who adopted the same method to deliver a second School, Turiff Primary School.
Public Building
Livewell Centre at Kingsley Hall is a new build, two storey church and community centre. At ground floor is a café featuring a glulam diagonal grid ceiling structure spanning 12 m that entailed a highly complex installation sequence. A double height CLT staircase leads to the first floor which cantilevers 1.1 m over the ground floor entrances and features a glulam and CLT ceiling spanning 8.5 m. Engineered timber’s speed and ease of construction helped to overcome access challenges on the extremely tight site and resulted in early wind and watertightness. Aesthetically it achieved a non-institutional and homely aesthetic which was a key design intent.
Workspace
27 Mortimer Street is a hybrid CLT and steel rooftop extension which creates a new 5th floor and roof terrace for a Victorian office building located just off London’s Oxford Circus. The ‘pollinator friendly’ roof terrace provides external seating and creates a duplex penthouse office suite while presenting a continuous elevation to the street. The scheme, which provides approximately 13,500 sq ft of Category A and B workspace, achieved BREEAM Excellent and WELL Gold for the refurbishment and fit out works. Use of CLT helped overcome complex logistics due to the building’s Central London location and the extremely tight site.
Single family residential
County Down Barn is a contemporary take on a traditional barn conversion formed of a one-storey CLT structure installed on the footprint of a dilapidated stone agricultural building. This architect’s family home which is located on a tight site with views across the Mourne Hills of County Down featured on Grand Designs – series 18, episode 3. CLT’s enhanced thermal and air tightness performance were major benefits as all the insulation on the house is external. Other key design considerations were CLT’s structural ability to achieve uninterrupted, long spans and its high quality finish which was important because internally the CLT has been left exposed throughout.
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