Kawneer - Kawneer curtain walling is hot stuff in Leicester
Curtain walling by Kawneer has transformed the first
building to be revamped as part of the regeneration of
Leicester’s new business quarter.
The city centre headquarters of the region’s leading
daily newspaper the Leicester Mercury, between St George
Street and St George’s Way, were originally framed and
clad in concrete when they were built in the 1960s but
they were looking tired and were performing
inefficiently.
Franklin Ellis Architects specified Kawneer’s
horizontally-capped curtain walling utilising a special
feature cap and concealed vents for the majority of the
£12million, 15-month refurbishment involving the
recladding of the 135,000ft² building.
It houses more than 500 people as well as printing works
for other newspapers such as The Sun and News of the
World. Some of the work involved improving the flow of
site traffic.
Its five storeys are prominent on the inner ring road -
the periphery of the office core area identified by the
Leicester Regeneration Company - and are sited near a
Conservation Area just outside the city walls of both
Roman and Medieval Leicester.
Facilities manager Terry Ponsford said: “The building
was very much iconic of the 1960s but had got tired and
was very inefficient regarding energy use. We are
thrilled with the new appearance and thermal performance
which has transposed the building.
“We normally switch the heating on or around October 1st
according to the ambient temperature and this winter we
didn’t turn it on until December 12th. We all know it
was a mild autumn but the building just feels completely
different.”
Andy Dowding of Franklin Ellis added: “The old building
didn’t reflect the aspirations of the Leicester Mercury.
It was a bit dilapidated and performed very badly, with
high heating costs. Now it is a flagship building.
“We spent quite a lot of time with the client looking at
different buildings and systems and the Kawneer curtain
walling certainly met our system requirements. We are
very happy with it and have only had positive feedback.
It has been well received in Leicester.”
Email:
tracy@tlcpr.co.uk
Arundel Jones Associates Ltd
Hill Farm, Linton Hill, Maidstone, Kent ME17 4AL
Tel : 01622 745333
news@buildingdesign.co.uk
Registered in England and Wales No. 07334149
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