Cornbrook - Concrete Savings

Over a 12 month period we removed 48 concrete lorries from the roads of Manchester, and saved 291m3 of concrete - working with Graham Construction and Sheppard Robson Architects, we took the original tender design for a concrete frame building completed before our involvement and applied some lean thinking. By undertaking detailed FE analysis and understanding when deflections will occur and how they interface with the cladding we were able to reduce overall slab thicknesses by 15mm across 13 floors. A small adjustment led to some big material savings!! In times where climate change is very real, as Engineers we have a responsibility to not only consider more sustainable materials but to also reduce material usage within buildings. This is achievable with lean design, to ensure we design efficiently, and importantly to not over specify loadings and not build in our own ‘safety factors’. A radical change in culture is ultimately required bringing in innovative low carbon materials, but in this transition period a simple reduction in ‘traditional’ materials with innovative thinking can also lead to overall embodied carbon savings. Design ID signed up to #EngineersDeclare recognising we are in the midst of a climate emergency, and at Design ID we are committed to taking steps to mitigate climate change.