Creagh secure prestigious contract at Manchester Metropolitan University

Creagh Concrete partnered Sir Robert McAlpine (SRM) as the main contractor for the £139 million Manchester Metropolitan Birley Fields campus which houses the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care.

Creagh designed, manufactured and erection the total precast concrete frame for the building including columns and beams, flooring, wall panels, stairs, landings and terrace units.

The new campus comprises two 96m long,16.5m wide, five-storey teaching wings with a central atrium area and a stand-alone three-storey cantilevered feature stair rising through it.

The challenging design, manufacture and construction programmes meant that the whole project was to be delivered in just eight months with construction completed within 21 weeks.

Quality of finish was critical with all internal concrete being visible; no additional paint or other finishes were permitted.

To achieve this all precast concrete used self-compacting concrete mixes with flows from 750 to 780 mm.

Sliding and invisible connection systems were used throughout the scheme at beam to columns, precast beam to beam, steel beam to precast beam and shear wall section connections.