Hotels

King Edward's Court occupies the prestigious site next to the Royal Station in Windsor and has been completely re-built to create a spacious public concourse and modern shopping area.

The podium at street level was constructed in concrete, but the structure of the 'island' forming the major shopping area was constructed as a long span steel frame, including long cellular beams for the top floor. The 5th to 8th floors on the street-side are the location of a new Travelodge hotel constructed entirely in light steel framing. The 4 storey building comprises cross-walls generally at 3.8 m spacing, and in some locations, up to a spacing of 5.9 m.

The composite design of the gypsum screed acting with the joists greatly increases the stiffness of the floor and its acoustic insulation, whilst adding modestly to the mass of the floor. The load-bearing light steel framing was manufactured and installed by Metek UK Ltd in only 4 months, and the Metek contract was extended to include the infill walls to the concrete structure of the lower floors.

The façade used an insulated render system by Sto, which was bonded to cement particle board screw-fixed to the light steel framing. The curved corners of the façade were technically challenging and achieved by 'faceting' the light steel wall panels in 400 mm segments and supporting them on a curved RHS beam. This is one of the first projects to use a novel flooring system by Metek and Lafarge which consists of a gypsum screed on steel decking attached to lattice joists.

KEC Windsor Travelodge

The roof was also designed as large braced panels in light steel framing and a 1.5 m cantilever 'prow' was added for visual effect. This was achieved by tapered lattice members attached to the cross-walls. The £0.5 million light steel framing contract is the largest so far for the Metek-Lafarge collaborative partnership and represents an important landmark in this new way of building for the residential and hotel sector.

• Excellent floor stiffness and acoustic insulation
• Structural performance substantiated by tests
• Long span floors support bathroom 'pods'
• High levels of insulation easily achieved
• Light weight provides thermally responsive construction
• Faster speed of construction
• Increased site productivity
• Predictability of process
• Safer construction process
• Increased quality
• Good energy efficiency
• Construction periods reduced by up to 30%