KERB AND EDGING
CASE STUDY THE NORTHWEST CAMBRIDGE DEVELOPMENT The North West Cambridge Development is the University of Cambridge’s ambitious £1bn scheme to create a new sustainable district of homes, shops and schools on the city’s outlying farmland.
THE BACKGROUND Aimed at addressing the escalating housing shortage in Cambridge, once complete the development will include 3,000 homes, accommodation for 2,000 postgraduate students and 100,000m 2 of academic, research and development space. There will also be a range of community, retail and leisure facilities along with sustainable transport provisions, such as cycle ways. THE CHALLENGE From an asphalt perspective, planners were keen to avoid the use of traditional blacktop asphalt for road surfacing to ensure the new district was in keeping with the surrounding countryside – preferring materials that would produce a more natural aesthetic but were also durable enough to withstand the high levels of traffic expected to the site. The task proved challenging as many of the decorative asphalt solutions currently available on the market, although capable of achieving the desired look, were not robust enough to meet the technical performance required. When it came to landscaping, it was difficult to source paving products that would work with all the different architectural elements, meet sustainability standards, be cost effective for such a large project and be available for future phases of the development for continuity of design. THE SOLUTION Through a collaborative cross-divisional approach, Aggregate Industries was ideally placed to provide a raft of bespoke solutions to the first phase of the development, spanning specialist asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, and landscaping products. A bespoke decorative asphalt solution was developed using Aggregate Industries SuperColour ® Exposed Golden Gravel formula and the team carried out extensive skid resistance testing on the scheme prior to installation, to ensure it met exacting safety requirements.
When it came to landscaping, the architects were keen to work with the Charcon commercial landscaping team – having worked together on a number of successful projects. The solution was StoneMaster ® paving, a revolutionary range of flag and block paving made from a fine sand mix that replicates the appearance of natural sandstone, thus making it more economical in terms of achieving a high-end landscaping look. The products also offered a sustainable solution, containing over 50% reclaimed or recycled materials. Aggregate Industries has also supplied 14,000m 3 of ready-mixed concrete, which has seen the construction of 91 residential homes on top of an underground car park. This included 3,000m 3 of its innovative and highly-durable Watertight concrete mix to protect the car parks’ basement and ground floor slab from water ingress and potential damp.
Clinton Young, Specification Manager of Aggregate Industries’ Concrete Products Division, said:
“As a ground-breaking model for affordable urban housing in the UK, the contractors working on the North West Cambridge Development were looking for a best practice partner that could provide a time efficient, tailored approach to bespoke product specification, which spanned asphalt, concrete and paving. During often complex installation processes, our technical teams were always on hand to provide support where necessary and within a timely manner. “It was through this level of dedicated service and a holistic, collaborative approach, that the team was able to create a superior result that exceeded performance requirements, along with client expectations.”
For further information, visit www.charcon.com For technical support, please call 01335 372 216 or email charcon.technical@aggregate.com
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TECHNICAL INFORMATION: charcon.technical@aggregate.com
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