A new steel frame table formwork system from Hünnebeck made its UK debut in Glasgow this year during construction of student accommodation.
The TOPMAX system, which was originally developed in Germany six years ago, is used throughout Western Europe and North America.
Specifically developed for efficiency when forming large soffit areas featuring regular grand-plans and repetitive geometries, the system was praised for increasing the speed of construction when compared with traditional methods on the project – and all without compromising on quality.
Hünnebeck’s Kurt Sartorius said, “TOPMAX was chosen for this project to demonstrate the reduced construction time the system offers.
“The system uses a small number of components, thus making pre-assembly straightforward and ready for action with minimal delays.”
Hünnebeck says the assembly of a 13m² table, including edge protection, can be done in 18 minutes.
Kurt Sartorius added, “The system has been designed to be as time-efficient, cost-effective and as practical as possible.
“The TOPMAX C-Hook can safely lift two combined tables, which has a total area of 26 m² including edge protection, in a single crane lift. This is without having to remove existing slab edge protection, increasing site safety, reducing crane time and skilled labour required on site. Therefore all associated site costs are reduced.”
The main contractor on the construction of two new 10-storey student accommodation buildings in Glasgow’s Beith Street is George Downing Construction Limited.
Eamonn O’Donnell, project manager from from subcontractor PJ Carey (Contractors) said, “TOPMAX has certainly proved to be ideal for this project. The quality of construction it allows has been excellent, and the speed has contributed towards lower overall costs for the project, as a result of the team opting to use this system over traditional methods.”
