Aylesbury Estate

Aylesbury Estate, in South London, has become one of the most significant urban renewal projects in London. There is a new public square at the heart of the regeneration, featuring two separate blocks, from four to fifteen storeys which provide a Community Facility, Public Library, Community Health Care facility and an Early Years Centre.   

The sustainability strategy in place for Aylesbury Square is to ‘create a place which meets or exceeds the highest quality standards for a development in London’ – and as the wall connection to the floor or floor slab can be a serious source of linear thermal bridges – the inclusion of the dedicated new Sconnex® type W is a critical addition to the design detailing.   

Around 40% of all thermal bridges in a building are caused by walls and supports, resulting in some 10% of heating energy losses.  With reinforced concrete construction, minimising linear thermal bridges in these areas has undoubtedly been a perennial problem.   

However, the unique new Sconnex® type W offers outstanding insulation performance, combined with an exceptional load-bearing capacity which transmits very high pressure, tensile and shear forces in the longitudinal and transverse direction.   

This is made possible by the use of a pressure buffer consisting of ultra-high performance fibre reinforced concrete,  which achieves compressive strength in excess of 175 N/mm2 – but with extremely good flexural strength as well.   

There is also a significant cost reduction involved when compared to installing insulation beneath the floor slab.