The King and Lyle Apartments is a 21-storey total precast concrete apartment building in London, ON consisting of 298 one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 32 to 130 square metres (350 to 1,400 square feet) for a total building area of 30,100 square metres (324,110 square feet).

By: Jason Stubbe

The City of London requested a three-storey high podium that would resemble town houses at street level finished with brick and masonry units of different colours. As double-wythe insulated precast concrete walls are used on the exterior, the effect was achieved with form liners during the casting of the panels. To further reduce the scale at street level, the 21-storey tower was set back on the podium at the third and tenth floors.

At the west and south sides, where the building faces walkways, the intent was to increase the interaction between residents and pedestrians. This was achieved with low- height projecting balconies at the south side and walkout patios at the west side. The most prominent feature of the design is the southwest corner facing the heavily used intersection of King and Lyle streets. The idea was to attract street users to the building through the use of the façade setbacks, exterior finishing textures, and colours.

The project is Total Precast, meaning the structural system consists of precast concrete exterior walls, interior solid precast concrete walls, precast concrete hollowcore floor slabs, and precast concrete beams and columns. Such a system provides all the benefits of concrete, such as structural integrity and durability, while providing added quality and ease of construction.

Each unit has access to a private balcony; and all balconies were designed to optimize both the tenant’s views and the building’s functionality.  Supported by precast concrete wing walls, the balconies provide continuous bearing for a simple slab design.  In order to ensure resident comfort, a thermal break between each balcony slab and the hollow core floor slabs reduces temperature transfer from the balcony to the living space.

A large logistical advantage of the Total Precast approach is that the responsibility and accuracy of meeting design specifications resides with one contractor, making the coordination of structural trades simple and seamless, as well as requiring only one supplier to create the complete exterior wall and structural system.  This also avoids any confusion between the roles of various structural trades and helps with the coordination of mechanical and electrical penetrations. 

Long clear spans, superior sound and fire ratings, while providing a quick build schedule and a range of integrated architectural finishes, made precast concrete a clear and easy choice for this project.