Supporting Interface

Construction Considerations

Whilst our Cassette® balconies are made offsite, which minimises site trade coordination, there are still plenty of other trades which involve construction considerations.

The balcony location on a façade is one of the areas where many trades need to work together in synergy. Here are a few topics around the interface areas which need to be part of the initial construction considerations. Get it right and the difference in hassle is substantial.

Cast-in Formwork Interface

Many traditional anchors are difficult to set out with cast-in formwork and brackets and many of these are often cast incorrectly as a direct result.

Sometimes only a few millimetres but if this is combined with bolt-on balconies, these tolerances are hard to overcome. Whilst the Glide-On Cassette balcony system can be designed so that there is a +/- 20mm tolerance left, right, up, down, inwards and outwards, casting-in correctly is still highly recommended.

We look to design out a lot of the complexities, by creating prefinished edge shutters, and fixed templates holding all the arms in position, and held rigid to their corresponding components. This enables simplified interface with the balconies cast-in formwork.

Once torqued, balcony connection bolts are marked to show if they have been torqued correctly. This also highlights if they have been tampered with after assembly. It is sometimes necessary for arms to be fitted after the casting of the concrete. In such scenarios, threads are protected to avoid damage or cleaning of threads. By doing so, complex balconies are able to be cast-in accurately and with relative ease.

Scaffold/Mast Climber Interface

With using Glide-On™ Cassette® balconies, the install of balconies can start before the scaffold is fully struck. Scaffold or Mast Climber interface needs considering to ensure that they don’t conflict with the arms which need to be installed prior to the scaffold or mast climbers being removed.

The most cost effective and efficient way is to cast-in one piece arms with the brackets. However scaffolding positions may not work well with one piece arms, and mast climbers interface needs consideration so that they can pass by arms projecting from the building. In these scenarios, two-piece arms are usually installed. This enables the stub to be cast-in ahead of time then an arm fitted once other works have finished using the mast climbers, or scaffold.

To reduce penetrations, mast climbers and scaffolding are sometimes tied to stubs. Consideration must be made to the loadings as stubs are not designed for scaffold or mast climber loadings.