Curtain
Wall Systems
Kawneer UK - Lightning strikes an individual blow
Using a single sub-contractor - Kawneer-approved
curtain walling installer Charles Henshaw - to build the façade
of a “highly individual, if not unique” £13million office
building has led to efficiencies and fast-track construction for
all involved.
The 10,200m² building at the former BAe Systems’ Lightning Park
(so called because a Lightning jet aircraft was displayed on the
corner of the site during its BAe days) now stands on the
re-named EHQ site near Edinburgh airport.
The project is nearing completion after a 12-month build by main
contractors Laing O’Rourke. To enable internal work to start
early to meet the intensive construction programme temporary
weatherproofing was incorporated in selected areas.
Kawneer’s AA®110 curtain walling was proposed to Michael Laird
Architects by Charles Henshaw and is the dominant façade
treatment, comprising a mixture of drained and ventilated
conventional curtain walling and front-sealed glazing of high
solar performance within areas of projecting feature cladding.
The curtain walling was specified with a carefully chosen range
of coloured aluminium infill panels together with rainscreen
cladding, cassette panelling and 200mm-deep anodised aluminium
face caps to give the building its three-dimensional articulated
facades.
The regular mullion grid is broken with randomly-located
intermediate mullions that modulate the rhythm of glazing. This
is also staggered between floors and punctuated with the
coloured panels that are glazed into the curtain walling. The
slender mullion caps are split between floors to give a light
feel to the façade.
The building, for which the project managers were Cyril Sweett,
has been built speculatively on the site of a two-storey
building of similar build and, in fact, re-uses the piled
foundations from the previous building, augmented by new ones.
The new steel-framed building is arranged around a central
courtyard to provide open-plan office accommodation in a variety
of widths ranging from 15.5 metres to 23.5 metres. Its upper
floors are of composite floor slabs while the roof decks for
plant and equipment are also of concrete, with lightweight
steel-decked roofs being adopted for the upper, non-load bearing
roofs.
Clients Premier Property Group briefed Michael Laird Architects
to design a masterplan for the entire 44,280m² site which would
maximise the potential to develop office accommodation within
the planning guidelines for the area which forms the gateway to
the South Gyle business district.
Michael Laird Architects proposed a group of four buildings with
the first building on the footprint of the previous redundant
building commencing phase one. Due to its proximity to the
airport, certain planning restrictions were imposed by the Civil
Aviation Authority.
Steve Brewer of Michael Laird Architects, who are frequent users
of Kawneer systems, said: “The façade was constructed by one
sub-contractor. There are no interfaces with other work
packages, leading to efficiency and speed of construction since
this was an ambitious, fast-track programme.
“The curtain walling has played a central role in this project.
We have been able to achieve the required aesthetic without
difficulty using the Kawneer products. The buildings were
designed and are being constructed to be airtight and will be
pressure and thermographically-tested on completion.”
Email: tracy@tlcpr.co.uk