Reducing Façade Delivery from 42 to 25 Weeks

Hallsville Quarter Phase 4 is a large-scale student accommodation project in East London, delivered by Bouygues UK. With a non-negotiable completion date and the complexities of a high-density urban site, the project required a façade solution that could guarantee programme certainty without compromising on the traditional aesthetic of the surrounding development.

Fixed Deadlines & High Volume

The project required the delivery of almost 5,000m² of brickwork. In the student accommodation sector, missing a handover date is not an option; the building must be ready for the academic intake.

Traditional masonry for this scope was projected to take 42 weeks. This original timeline left very little margin for the typical challenges that site teams face, such as:

  • Inclement Weather: Frost and heavy rain often bring traditional bricklaying to a standstill.
  • Labour Shortages: Relying on a large on-site masonry workforce can lead to delays if trade availability fluctuates.
  • Sequential Constraints: Traditional builds are strictly bottom-up, meaning follow-on trades are often held up until the entire elevation is complete.

To mitigate these risks, Lee Marley Brickwork and Bouygues UK collaborated with ACS early in the design stage to implement the Certus™ Modular Brick Façade System. By moving the majority of the construction into a controlled factory environment, the team was able to continue “building” the façade regardless of external conditions.

Cutting 17 Weeks from the Façade Programme

The use of Certus™ enabled the façade delivery to be completed in just 25 weeks, slashing the delivery schedule by 40%.

This was made possible by the system’s unique flexibility:

  • Flexible Sequencing: Unlike traditional brickwork, which must be built from the ground up, Certus™ allowed for panels to be installed bottom-up, top-down, and across multiple elevations simultaneously.
  • Accelerating Follow-on Trades: On Block B, the installation sequence was strategically reversed. This allowed for an early scaffold strike, giving follow-on trades access to the building much sooner than anticipated.
  • Weather Resilience: Because the panels are manufactured offsite, the project was shielded from the common weather-related delays that often plague traditional bricklaying in the UK.
Technical Excellence & Design Variety

While speed was the primary driver, Hallsville Quarter Phase 4 did not sacrifice architectural integrity. The Certus™ system successfully delivered a high-quality, high-spec finish that is indistinguishable from traditional masonry.

One of the key advantages of Certus™ is its ability to replicate complex architectural features off-site with precision. For this project, the system was engineered to incorporate bespoke corner angles and precise interfaces where the modular façade system abutted traditional brickwork at the lower levels of the building.

These details helped create the development’s unique architectural identity while maintaining programme efficiency. Certus™ supports a diverse range of aesthetic styles, allowing for almost any traditional or contemporary brick pattern.

In addition to design flexibility, the system provided:

  • A1 Non-Combustible Performance: Essential for high-rise residential safety and compliance with the Building Safety Act.
  • Tested Cavity Compliance: Validated performance with both open and closed-state cavity barriers.
  • 60-Year Design Life: A robust, durable solution engineered for the long-term life of the development.
  • Total Quality Control: Every panel was manufactured and inspected at our Leeds facility, ensuring consistent quality that is often hard to maintain in varying site conditions.
ACS Certus™ modular façade system was a game-changer

“At Hallsville Quarter, the ACS Certus modular façade system was a game-changer, helping us deliver a complex façade safely, efficiently, and on programme, cutting the façade delivery from 42 weeks down to just 25 weeks.

Its modular design gave our team unmatched flexibility, we could install top-down or bottom-up, adapt our sequence, and keep progress on track even under tight deadlines.

I particularly value how intuitive and reliable the system is on site, making installation smoother and reducing the risk of errors. Working with ACS from the early design stage made a huge difference: their proactive, collaborative design and technical teams were always on hand to resolve issues quickly, ensuring the system was fully integrated and ran seamlessly.

Certus delivers real programme certainty, proven compliance, and design flexibility, it’s a system I’m confident in and excited to use on future projects”

Lee Marley, Managing Director, Lee Marley Brickwork

A Partnership for Programme Certainty

The success of Hallsville Quarter Phase 4 demonstrates the power of early collaboration between the manufacturer, the main contractor (Bouygues UK), and the brickwork installer (Lee Marley Brickwork). By integrating the Certus™ system from the outset, the team moved the façade off the critical path, ensuring a high-quality, safe, and on-time delivery.

Our Partners for this project
Main Contractor: 

Bouygues UK

Brickwork Contractor: 

Lee Marley Brickwork