Assess, strengthen and re-clad existing concrete buildings. Interpret cores, rebound and pulse velocity, half-cell potentials, carbonation, chloride profiles, cover and pull-off tests; map defects directly on the façade elevation; then design FRP flexural and shear strengthening, column confinement or reinforced concrete jacketing, external post-tensioning, concrete repair and cathodic protection. For the façade, take wind pressures by height and zone, select the glass, size mullions, transoms and bracket anchors, set movement joints and screen combustible cladding. The results feed an A3 drawing set, a 3D model, a construction sequence with hold points and ITP, quantities, cost and programme.
Preliminary assessment for feasibility and education. Use the FRP manufacturer's certified properties, confirm the condition with a full investigation, have fire engineering done for cladding and FRP protection, and have the design checked by a qualified structural and façade engineer. The sample building is synthetic.
What the retrofit & façade studio does
It starts where every retrofit starts — with the condition of the building. Cores are corrected for length / diameter and turned into an in-situ characteristic strength, rebound and pulse velocity are combined (SonReb), half-cell potentials are contoured on an editable grid, carbonation depths are projected with x = k√t, and chloride profiles are fitted with Fick's second law to predict corrosion initiation. Defects are drawn straight onto the façade elevation — cracks with their width, spalls, delamination, rust staining, efflorescence, failed sealant, cracked glass and loose cladding — and become a defect schedule, repair quantities and a condition heat map.
The structural tabs design externally bonded FRP to ACI 440.2R-17 (with TR55 limits for British practice) for flexure with debonding and the existing strain at installation, shear with U-wraps or full wraps, and column confinement; reinforced concrete jacketing with N–M interaction diagrams before and after; external post-tensioning with deviators; and concrete repair and cathodic protection. The façade tabs take wind to AS/NZS 1170.2 or BS EN 1991-1-4 by height and zone, select glass from a monolithic, laminated and insulating library, size mullions, transoms and bracket anchors, set movement joints and screen combustible cladding. Everything feeds an A3 drawing set, a 3D model, a construction sequence with hold points and ITP, quantities, cost, programme and an Excel workbook with live formulas.
Testing, half-cell contours and an interactive defect map
FRP, jacketing, external PT, repair and cathodic protection
Wind, glass, mullions, anchors, joints and cladding risk