For apartments and hotels with their load-bearing external walls and internal party walls, Architectural Framing Systems wall is said to be a superior alternative to reinforced blockwork, precast and concrete frame structures.
AFS Wall is a modular building system consisting of sandwich panels lined with fibre cement which are installed on site then filled with concrete after which the joints are set and the wall is ready to render.
Services and reinforcement are placed in the cavity before filling with concrete; a standard 150mm thick walls complies with the May 2005 BCA acoustic requirements for party walls and a four hour fire rating. Fibre cement provides a solid-feel finish on its own without the need for plasterboard lining.
The thinner, high-strength walls reduce the dead load on the structure and act as deep beams and transfer walls, enabling beams and columns to be eliminated and floor slab thicknesses to be reduced.