The construction of the Plant Growth Facility at the University of Cambridge utilised recycled tyres within a retaining wall structure.
The retaining wall was required to provide an acoustic and visual screen to hide external mechanical plant. In total around 600 tyres were used, replacing the need for 30m3 of concrete that would have otherwise been required and finding a good use for used tyres. Each layer of tyres were laid overlapping the previous layer and held together by steel pins running down through the vertical spaces of the tyres. The tyres were packed with loamy gravel from the foundations, retaining approximately 200m3 of soil that would have otherwise been transported off site.
In addition to the use of tyres, the project also specified:
- the cement for the concrete foundations and floor slab to contain 40% blast furnace slag, making use of a waste product and helping to reduce CO2 emissions assocated with cement production
- stainless steel was selected for the roof for its durability and ability to be recycled at the end of the building's life
Case study supplied by Willmott Dixon Construction Limited, RH Partnership Architects Ltd and FJ Samuely & Partners Ltd