Weight, time and cost savings at stunning waterside development

Designated for high-quality, residential-led development by Chelmsford City Council, Chelmer Waterside is a large expanse of land situated alongside the River Chelmer to the south-east of the city centre and within walking distance of the city’s amenities.

The Council’s vision is to create an area of high-quality homes in a sustainable city centre context, promoting walking, cycling and easy access to local facilities. This vision is already taking shape with the recent completion of Taylor Wimpey’s Aspyre development, a collection of stylish new homes which will provide a new waterside community of around more than 400 residences.

Comprising a variety of one, two and three bedroomed apartments, duplexes and maisonettes, the development’s construction has benefitted from the time, weight and cost savings afforded by Metsec’s SFS steel framing systems.

In addition to a row of three-storey maisonettes and apartments, Aspyre includes seven apartment blocks of five, six, seven and eight storeys, and it is here that SFS came into its own.

Tony O’Halloran, Construction Director of SFS installer, Conneely Group comments, “Using loadbearing SFS for the top two floors of the taller apartment blocks delivered considerable weight savings, reducing the load placed on the structure below and adding to the time and cost savings SFS delivered.

Used as infill throughout all levels of the structural steel frames, 100mm SFS was also specified by local architects, Evolution Architecture to construct the duplex apartments which comprised the upper two storeys of the seven- and eight-storey apartment blocks.

“Overall, the SFS element of this Chelmer Waterside development progressed very smoothly. This was thanks in no small part to the design, manufacture and scheduling services offered by Metsec, which ensure that all components are delivered to site at precisely the right time, ready for immediate installation.”

The stunning visual appearance of Aspyre has been achieved through a combination of brickwork, Eternit Equitone, Rockclad and aluminium cladding mounted to the SFS and also installed by Conneely Group.