Award-winning metal decking firm SMD Ltd has launched its latest floor product for the UK market.
The Dorset-based company is now offering the deep deck, long-span profile TR220 to augment its existing range.
This follows SMD – the company known for shaping the skyline – signing an exclusivity agreement with an overseas manufacturer for the product which can span six metres.
The TR220 product, which offers designers an alternative to pre-cast planks, is specifically designed for car parks or buildings where space uninterrupted by supporting beams or columns is required.
SMD technical director Jamie Turner said: “We are spanning the gap in our product range. This will open up a whole new sector of the market and allow us to provide an even more comprehensive service.
“We are looking to break into the slim floor market, a market that already exists – and then find new markets within. We hope the market will grow with this new product.
“The TR220 will complement and not compete with our existing products as it provides a different solution – one we have been seeking to introduce for some time.”
Jamie added that the product, which can be coated in different colours to define parking levels for car parks, would take SMD into new territory and the company would be rolling out training to its team of directly employed installers.
“The TR220, because of its span, is often used on the lower two floors of high rise buildings and is an engineering solution we haven’t previously been able to offer.
“It will enable us to tender for whole building contracts whereas previously our opportunities may have been restricted to upper levels of this type of project.”
l SMD is adding its TR50 formwork decking to its in-house developed design software Elements, which enables designers and engineers to digitally carry out complex slab or roof designs using SMD products.
TR50 was originally developed for the Indian and Middle Eastern markets and its specification provides a permanent formwork solution as an alternative to traditional timber formwork.
SMD, one of only a handful of British firms to design, manufacture and install its own steel decking systems, celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2017 and employs more than 100 staff at locations across the UK, including Leeds, Nottingham and Glasgow.
Its steel decking has been used in such iconic buildings as the Shard and the Olympic Park in London, Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, Cheltenham racecourse, terminals at Heathrow Airport and the first indoor ski resort in the Middle East, Ski Dubai in the Mall of Emirates.
The company, which has a satellite office in Dubai and a design base in India, was founded in Ringwood in 1987.