Victoria Works, Osiers Road

History

Wandsworth has a rich history dating back to its mention in the Domesday Book of 1086. Named after the River Wandle, which flows into the Thames, Wandsworth was originally a small Saxon village, growing into an important industrial hub during the 17th and 18th centuries. The arrival of the railway in the 19th century transformed Wandsworth into a residential suburb, leading to rapid urban development, such as Hollybrook’s new development of Victoria Works on Osiers Road – Willow Walk. An eclectic mix of commercial and residential, the site includes 151 balconies manufactured, supplied and streamlined by Sapphire.

Streamlined by Collaboration, Delivered by Sapphire

Hollybrook’s aspiration for Willow Walk was to use Modern Methods of Construction to move as much work off-site as possible by using a full through-the-wall balcony system. Hollybrook mentioned to us that they aspired to remove as many as six trades from on-site activity, opting for an offsite manufacturing process to reduce the workload on their busy Wandsworth site.

Their hurdle was being constrained by the precast concrete panels being used. Hollybrook required a balcony connection that would be safe, secure, and cost-effective while still allowing them to use the innovative wall panel system developed by Techrete.

At Sapphire, we have a long history of working with Techrete, having developed our new Clip-On® connection in collaboration with them and John Sisk & Son Ltd. We worked alongside Techrete to cast the balconies directly into the precast panels. Thanks to the way our anchors are developed, we can cast directly into precast wall panels, avoiding any penetration into the floor slab. Certain balcony types had larger projections than others so we agreed to implement a tie-wire connection on those projections to securely fasten the balconies to the building and avoid deflection.