Patrick Ryan Associates are delighted to be working on the façade engineering for this pioneering and award-winning student accommodation block, constructed entirely out of ‘modules’ fabricated off-site. Apex House, designed by architects HTA Design, offers 580 rooms within the 29 storeys making it the tallest modular residential building in Europe and the second tallest in the world.
Patrick Ryan Associates were handed the challenge of attaching the façade to the outside of this modular construction. Working with Century Facades, they designed the facade support system for the terracotta cladding, to weatherproof the building and create the exterior shape.
Each of the 679 modules is manufactured off site with a completely fitted out interior, together with exterior windows and doors. One great advantage of this prefabricated method, used here by Tide Construction with modules provided by Vision Modular, is that construction progresses rapidly as modules are craned into position on the building. Also, all of the module manufacturer and fitting out is carried out in factory controlled conditions, rather than on site where it is much more difficult to control quality.
Patrick Ryan Associates alongside Century Facades are working on numerous projects using this modular construction. Could this be the answer to our current housing crisis we ask?