About the project
i-SOL8 brackets used to fit high load Juliet balconies on residential flats
Partners
Duplus Architectural Systems Ltd, BCSD Ltd.
About the project
The Waterside Apartments is a multi-storey development of residential flats in Nottingham. Juliet balconies needed to be fitted to the Kawneer curtain wall mullion sections, rather than to the building facia, to make logistics easier for other trades and to rule out technical unknowns which would have remained with traditional fitting options.
Challenges and Objectives
As the Waterside development is multi-storey, the Juliet balconies needed to withstand higher wind loads to the face of the glass, rather than the lower balustrade line loads normally expected for this type of installation.
The bracket interface also needed to reduce thermal conduction to create a more efficient Chi (point thermal transfer) value and to reduce the risk of interstitial condensation - this is especially relevant to residential builds where the risk is higher.
The client also required a solution which would not need holes to penetrate through the mullion front wall face, they wanted to guarantee zero water leaks. However, this also meant that no internal mullion reinforcement could be used to gain extra strength.
Needless to say the brackets had to be viable commercially and yet still work well with the Juliet balcony spider fixings, traditional solutions were simply not an option.
Results
Working with Duplus, the i-SOL8S adaptor was judged to be the ideal solution. The solid stainless steel design of the adaptor makes them as strong as possible, and means the adaptors fit into the A1 fire classification for materials. The i-SOL8 brackets can also be installed without going all the way through the front wall face, ensuring that no water can leak through any holes made as part of the installation process.
As this was an unusual use of the adaptors, BSCD Ltd offered to test them; the company has an excellent working partnership with the Duplus technical departments due to Duplus’ use of the adaptors in unusual situations in previous projects.
The testing included a load pull out test up to the maximum load needed for this project. Once this was reached, the i-SOL8S adaptors were tested to the point of catastrophic failure – but there was no visual damage to either the adaptors or the mullions even when loads of over 20kN were applied. This means that that brackets have a safety factor of well over 5.
Due to the i-SOL8S adaptor’s incredibly high loading strength, only two were needed for each bracket. This meant each bracket had a neat 120mm overall height, provided an economical solution to the problem and addressed the need to have a more efficient Chi value and lower interstitial condensation risk.
To discover how the i-SOL8S adaptor could be the perfect solution to your architectural problems, contact our i-SOL8 team on (+44) 07584 038651 or email sales@i-sol8.com
