ABOUT GRCUK
As one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of bespoke glass reinforced concrete products, GRCUK is the partner of choice for any project that demands the highest quality solution.
To get an insight into what we do and how we do it, click the video to view our journey from design through to completion of the new Elizabeth Line at Tottenham Court Road station.
Company Information
As a specialist manufacturer and supplier of the highest quality glass reinforced concrete products, we enjoy an enviable market position – an integral part of the Laing O’Rourke group, operating from a state-of-the-art purpose-built manufacturing facility in Harworth, near Doncaster.
Client Testimonials
Customer satisfaction is important to us, and we pride ourselves in delivering a first-class standard of service.
“GRCUK’s attention to workmanship in manufacture and installation has, in my view, been to a high standard resulting in consistent, durable and beautiful architectural GFRC finishes.”
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Company Information
We’re passionate about glass reinforced concrete and its application in the modern construction environment, focusing on producing highly detailed, bespoke architectural GRC cladding products.
With an annual production capacity in excess of 40,000m² and our very own highly-skilled and experienced workforce, we have the capability to deliver all types of projects, from small scale to the large and highly complex – such as the design, manufacture and supply of 27,000 bespoke cladding panels to the Crossrail project, inclusive of Tottenham Court Road, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel stations.
Our ability to engage at the early design stage, ensuring that architectural and performance briefs are met, is a key factor in our success – and it’s reassuring for our customers to know that all our manufacturing and testing activities are carried out in accordance with international standard ISO 9001:2015.
Client Testimonials
“Throughout the duration of the project, I have been impressed by the professional service that GRCUK Ltd have provided. GRCUK were engaged early in the project during the design phase and worked collaboratively with multiple parties, over a substantial period to develop a technically optimised solution for the project.
GRCUK’s attention to workmanship in manufacture and installation has, in my view, been to a high standard resulting in consistent, durable and beautiful architectural GFRC finishes.”
Julian Robinson. Crossrail Head of Architecture.
We have our own highly experienced in-house design team, who work in parallel with our trusted external GRC design partners.
We provide an early engagement service to support clients and design teams during the initial stages of a project – including advice on colours and textures, buildability, cost advice and interfaces with adjacent elements – to ensure the product has been designed for seamless manufacture and assembly (DfMA).
Using our state-of-the-art scanning equipment, we have the capabilities to scan any surface and reverse-engineer to create a mould with exact features and contours.
We are able to provide site scanning services and modelling to ensure critical details and dimensions are captured.
Using this equipment, we are able to take scans of fine details and engineer these features on to the face of the GRC panel.
We manufacture both Grade 10 and Grade 18 glass reinforced products. Grade 10 is a poured product, whilst Grade 18 is a sprayed product.
Our facility at Harworth is equipped with an automated dry batch weighing system to ensure a consistent mix for all the GRC products that we produce. We manufacture single pieces of GRC from as small as 0.03m² up to 25m².
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We have considerable experience in the delivery and installation of projects across the UK, with no project being too big or too small.
We take great pride in a reputation for providing the very highest standards of safety and delivery surety, with an uncompromising approach to delivering a quality finished product.
We appreciate the need for a specific texture and colour, and as such we provide advice and a sample service that can be tailored to your project’s needs.
If you would like to request a free sample of any of our products, please contact us on info@grcuk.com .
We are also able to provide the highest standard of precast concrete and natural stone products.
Please contact us for full details.
Our pattern shop team of highly-skilled operatives produce the moulds for our GRC products.
Where the design of the mould is too complex for traditional mould manufacturing, our robotic twin head 5 axis CNC machine can produce moulds four metres wide and up to eight metres in length.
A large capacity for the production of bespoke architectural cladding
Situated in the heart of Sevenoaks, Quinton Court is a stunning new residential development where GRCUK supplied approximately 2600 individual Grade 10 premix units, inclusive of cills, jambs, heads, copings, band course and a portico over a 12 month period.
Quinton Court
We have secured a contract for the design and manufacture of the of the window surrounds, cills, copings, jams and feature panels at lower level at Agar Grove, a residential project in London.
Agar Grove
GRCUK is currently undertaking the design and manufacture of 1,634 GRC cladding panels, for the ‘The Collective’ on Chatfield Road in Battersea, London, a new 263 room co-living led, mixed use development which is set to open next year (2023).
Chatfield Road
Working alongside joint venture contractor Ferrovial Laing O’Rourke (FLO), GRCUK were responsible for the supply of 2,100m² of GRC cladding panels for the columns, wall and beam encasements to the ticket hall, escalator and platform areas of Nine Elms station. At Battersea station we delivered 800m² of large format cladding panels for the ticket hall and escalator areas, which form part of the new Northern Line Extension that opened in September 2021.
Nine Elms & Battersea Stations
Located three miles from central London, Lexington Gardens is a prestigious residential development in Nine Elms where GRC supplied the GRC banding, parapets and column encasements to the external façade for Façade subcontractor, Jessella.
Lexington Gardens, London
Delivered for Façade subcontractor, GIG Fassaden GmbH, GRCUK were responsible for the manufacture of the striking GRC cladding panels, which have a rose at the heart of the design. IIona Rose house is set to deliver new shops and restaurants, in addition to high-quality office space for the creative industries in central London.
IIona Rose House, London
Our first project with the McLaren Group, GRCUK are currently manufacturing 3400m² of GRC window surrounds and copings for this stunning addition to the London residential market.
Cleveland Street, London
This mixed use commercial and retail development located opposite Finsbury Circus completed in November 2020 and saw us work for #facade contractor Permasteelisa Group, to supply 1,500m2 of #GRC #fins, column encasements, spandrels, doors and flat panels. Design was undertaken by our trusted design partner Smart Crosby International, with brackets and steelwork provided by Robert Stevens & Sons (RRS).
All of the components had to match in with the pre-cast elements from our sibling business Explore Manufacturing – part of Laing O’Rourke, to create the new facade on a project that main contractor Skanska delivered for LaSalle Investment Management.
60 London Wall, London
GRCUK supplied plain panels and optical illusion ‘gasholder’ panels to Berkeley Homes West Thames Ltd Southall Waterside residential development in London. Whilst the ‘gasholder’ panels give the appearance of being curved, they are in fact flat.
Southall Waterside (Marketing Suite)
GRCUK designed, manufactured and installed 32,000m² of bespoke glass fibre reinforced concrete cladding for Crossrail. The project specification required extensive performance testing including tests for bomb blast, impact, fire, light reflectance and acoustics amongst others. The assurance requirements were onerous and the geometry challenging. In all, some 2,300 moulds were designed and manufactured over a two year period using Solidworks 3D modelling aligned with our 5 axis CNC robotic milling machines.
Crossrail, London
Glass fibre reinforced concrete is a particularly versatile type of concrete. It is formed in the same way as precast concrete, using bespoke moulds, but can be made in thinner sections that result in lighter components.
Click the red box for more insight on how we do it.
Glass fibre reinforced concrete is a particularly versatile type of concrete. It is formed in the same way as precast concrete, using bespoke moulds, but can be made in thinner sections resulting in lighter components.
There are two principal methods of manufacture – poured and sprayed.
POURED GRC
Poured GRC known as Premix Grade 10 has all the ingredients mixed together before the material is poured into a mould. The fine silica sand cement and alkali resistant glass fibres are mixed with water and polymers in a high shear mixer. The mix is poured into a mould in much the same way as ordinary concrete.
SPRAYED GRC
Sprayed GRC referred to as Grade 18 is a more robust product. It is made of the same constituent materials, but the sand cement matrix is sprayed into a mould in parallel with a line of glass fibre strand that is chopped into predetermined lengths as it passes through the spray gun. The sand cement paste and fibres combine in flight to create a homogeneous mix. Premixed GRC tends to be used for architectural dressings, cills, copings, cornices products commonly used by the housebuilding industry.
Sprayed GRC is employed for manufacturing architectural cladding products and elements that have more onerous performance requirements than architectural dressings.
GRCUK focus on the manufacture of Grade 18 sprayed GRC components.
General Guidance
- The material is sprayed into a mould not poured.
- Elements are typically 10 – 20mm thick.
- The elements will have perimeter thickenings and stiffening ribs on the rear that may increase the overall thickness to 75 – 100mm.
- Density of sprayed GRC is 2000 kg/m³.
- A typical cladding panel will weigh 60kg/m² inclusive of stiffening ribs.
- We recommend panels be limited to a maximum size of 10m².
- Manufacturing compliance is monitored by performing four point bending tests.
Grade 18 equates to a Modulus of Rupture (MOR) of 18N/mm² or more.
- GRC is non-combustible and releases negligible smoke emissions in fire.
- Sprayed GRC has excellent bomb blast and impact resistance.
- Manufacturing tolerances can be found in Table 6 of BS8297 2017.
For more detailed guidance please contact our office at Harworth.
Further detailed information on the performance characteristics of GRC can be found in the Practical Design Guide for Glass Reinforced Concrete on the GRCA website.
The base colour of GRC is white but inorganic pigments can be included to create a range of colours. It is advisable to specify an etched finish to create a textured stone like appearance on the surface. Intricate patterns can be milled into moulds to create macro textures and patterns.
COLUMN DETAILS
As a general principle, the detail above shows the support for the column towards the base of the panel with a restraint detail at the top. Consideration needs to be given to the installation sequence and removal strategy (if required), as this will influence the design of the connection back to the structure. The thickness of GRC will be determined by the vertical span of the column.
Columns can be cast with three architectural faces, however the return depth needs to consider accessibility of the spray gun and slippage due to gravity during casting. As a general principle, the return dimension should be a maximum of 50% of the base dimension. On a three-sided column, the return sides need to be self-supporting during the spray process. As such the maximum dimension should be generally no more than 500mm in height. On two sided columns, the return depths can be increased as the moulds can be set in a V-orientation to reduce the effects of slippage.
SPANDREL DETAILS
The image above shows a typical GRC spandrel unit. The bracket detail shown has the same principle as the column, whereby the bottom bracket takes the weight of the unit and the top bracket functions as the restraint. As the supporting brackets will be further apart on a spandrel unit, the GRC will need to be thicker to allow for the structural span. As a typical allowance, a minimum zone of 100mm should be afforded between the structure and the back of the GRC panel to allow the connection to be made.
SOFFIT PANELS
The image above shows how a typical GRC soffit panel can be designed. As with all GRC units, the installation sequence and access constraints needs consideration. This detail allows the unit to be slid over the C-bracket for which no access is required. The unit is fixed in place using a connection from the structure above and a cast in socket. This connection detail means that access is required. As a general principle, if the structure above can take the load of the GRC panel then a minimum distance of 75mm is required for access to the connection. As for the depth of the panel this is in part determined by the span which it is designed to do.
GRC WALL CLADDING PANELS
The image above shows a GRC wall cladding panel on a vertical rail system. The rails to the side of the panels are connected to the GRC units via cast in elements. In this case, the steel frame is acting as the structural element and therefore the depth of the panel can be reduced to around 30mm. The connection back to the structure is then made via a simple hook on arrangement. The video clip adjacent demonstrates how this system is assembled.
The height of panel needs consideration from a handling perspective, as during pitching the panel will be put under compression and tension. This can be accommodated by increasing the thickness of the panel to overcome these stresses. The width of the panel should ideally be no wider than 1800mm. This is due to the access that is required to hand form the panel. If units are over this size they can become uneconomical to manufacture. As an alternative, panels can be manufactured and connected back to the structure like the columns detailed above. A simple pocket former is formed towards the base of the panel to take the weight and a cast in socket can be utilised to restrain the panel towards the top. In this instance, the GRC is performing structurally between fixing points,
resulting in a thicker panel. As with the soffit panels, a minimum distance between the back of the GRC panel and the structure of 75mm should be allowed.
Guidance on specifying GRC has been provided by the GRCA and can be found https://grca.org.uk/pdf/GRCA-Specification.pdf
