Henry Royce Institute

The £235 million pound advanced materials research complex is located in the heart of Manchester University. It houses world leading research scientists and state of the art equipment to further our understanding of everything from nuclear to graphene.

• Project: Henry Royce Institute, Manchester (UK)
• Architect: NBBJ
• Contractor: Laing O’Rourke

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Vexcolt provided the mitre joints pre-assembled ready to be installed as a modular design for when they reached the Henry Royce Institute site. The 1100 series was chosen as the isolation joint that would create a barrier between rooms where vibration would need to be kept to an absolute minimum, due to the tests that would be carried out within the laboratories. The 300 series was used in conjunction with the 2000 series where fire protection integrity had to meet a minimum of two hours.

The building was designed with a heavy core, meaning a 30mm settlement would occur on one side of the joint. An isolation joint was required in areas where vibration needed to be dampened and in just under 100LM of joint, there were nine mitered corners and two T junctions of multiple angles and different products to accommodate.