The Southmere housing development is being built as part of a regeneration project designed to revitalise the Harrow Manor area of Thamesmead. Set in a vibrant lakeside area, Phase 1B of the new Southmere Village will generate 404 high-quality new homes, commercial and public realm spaces. New residences will be mixed tenure units, including shared ownership and affordable rent units within a range of attractive tower block and town houses.

Valued at £126 million, Southmere Village is designed by Fourpoint Architects. With a programme duration of two years, this is one of the largest projects that Keyfix has worked on to date. Working alongside contractor Durkan and brickwork contractor Landmark Brickwork, Keyfix supplied 11,946m of its Non-combustible Cavity Tray (NCCT), 7,173no. of corners, and 21,113no. of weeps to form Phase 1 of the project.

A challenge arose when the change in building regulations coincided with the Southmere development. Building Regulations Approved Document B on Fire Safety states that “materials achieving limited combustibility cannot be deemed to meet the requirement using an alternative classification method.” Now needing to comply with new regulations, Durkan urgently required a third party-rated solution with limited combustibility, made bespoke for the project.

The unique design of the building took a complex shape, with many returns and steps arranged in the brickwork, as well as inset balconies, brick corbelling, brick features, glass reinforced concrete panels, and a variety of reveals, ranging from 102mm to 450mm in length. The layout also included cavities of varying widths and a highly complex range of masonry support systems which needed to be protected; Keyfix’s NCCT offered the ideal solution to these challenges.

Furthermore, on this project, Keyfix had a very tight lead time for deliveries, in addition to an extremely congested site. Logistically, the deliveries would be difficult, as not all nine buildings across the three blocks in Phase 1B were being constructed at the same rate, and there was a narrow window to unload deliveries. Keyfix overcame this by planning ahead and being highly enaged with staff on-site to ensure that the product was being delivered at the right time.

The Keyfix NCCT was specified as it exceeded the criteria to the new building regulations set out in Approved Document B, which states that buildings utilising steel frame systems in the external cavity must have limited combustibility. The Keyfix NCCT is a non-combustible, A1 fire-rated cavity tray system. It is an effective solution to provide DPC protection over lintels, masonry supports, soffit systems and other elements in the cavity such as fire barriers.

The NCCT was also specified due to the synergy with sister company IG Masonry Support, which supplied various products including essential masonry support systems to this major development. Keyfix’s foresight and planning on this project allowed Keyfix to work with IG Masonry Support to suitably locate non-combustible cavity trays where required over the masonry support, while ensuring that no clashes occurred within the cavity.