The Building Envelope

Metal-web and I-Joists are two popular choices for new builds and both play an important structural role in buildings – supporting floors and roofs to transfer their weight evenly to the walls and beams below.

Metal-web and I-Joists are engineered joists that offer greater span lengths, improved strength and rigidity and more consistent quality when compared to their solid timber counterparts.

When deciding which joist type may be most appropriate for your project, the starting point is that each must deliver the required structural performance.

Located in Camberwell, South London, this residential refurbishment project focused on upgrading the building façade to support longterm performance, durability and visual renewal. As part of a wider external improvements programme, façade materials were carefully selected to meet modern expectations around safety, longevity and architectural quality, while remaining appropriate to the surrounding urban context.

Selecting the right rainscreen cladding for housing, public buildings, schools and regeneration projects has never been more important. With rising expectations around safety, durability and longterm performance, specifiers and local authorities need confidence that façade materials will stand up to real world use.

One of the most effective ways to demonstrate this confidence is through impact testing, which assesses how a cladding system behaves when subjected to sudden force under realistic installation conditions.

The performance capabilities offered by today’s advanced window and door systems, glass, and hardware help create warmer, safer, more energy-efficient, and more secure homes. But for all of these great products to deliver on their promise, the fasteners needed to hold windows and doors together and ensure they stay securely in place during their lifetime must be equally well designed and made.

Fasteners, though often not detailed in window and door specifications, are being increasingly scrutinised by specifiers to identify potential weaknesses. Our team can assist by recommending suitable metal grades to meet project specifications and local environmental conditions.

Awareness of the potential health problems caused by lead in the water supply, particularly in infants and children, is growing.  In redevelopment of properties the quality of the water supply pipe should be you first priority. 

The recently announced Warm Homes Plan represents a major opportunity to accelerate improvements in the energy efficiency of UK homes, including across the social housing sector.

With significant funding now confirmed, housing associations have the financial firepower to fast-track retrofit programmes that support tenants, cut carbon and deliver long-term value through solutions such as heat pumps, insulation and solar PV.

Roofing, and particularly the installation of solar panels, has been highlighted as a key contributor to effective energy-efficiency upgrades. As Daniel Redfern, Head of Marketing Communications at Marley, explains, success will depend not only on funding, but on selecting quality products and building a skilled, resilient workforce capable of delivering at scale.