A striking new operations centre in Peterborough has taken full advantage of Kingspan Insulated Panels’ wide range of building envelope, PV and safety solutions, becoming the first commercial property to be certified to BREEAM ‘Excellent’ under the new building assessment method.
Specialist IT solutions and services provider, Kelway Limited, commissioned the new three storey office to support its rapidly expanding UK operations. The bespoke 2,700 m2 building, designed by David Turnock Architects, is the third to be constructed by developers Artisans at their OPUS Business Park site, and will accommodate over 350 staff.
A key requirement for the project was that the building should be both eye-catching and modern, while still attaining excellent levels of energy efficiency. To help achieve this DGT Structures Ltd installed Kingspan Architectural Wall Panels in two different profiles, KS1000 MM Mini-Micro and KS1000 LV Louvre. Both profiles were specified with the Kingspan Spectrum coating in Obsidian colour, providing the building with a sleek, metallic façade which is both highly durable and corrosion resistant. In addition the products also deliver lifetime insulation continuity and outstanding thermal performance with U-values as low as 0.14 W/m2.K.
The design is topped with a dramatic overhanging roof, supported by several large columns. 1,629 m2 of Kingspan KS1000 LP Lo-Pitch Insulated Roof Panels were installed on the roof in Kingspan XL Forté Goosewing Grey colour. The roof panel features a secret-fix, concealed side joint design which allows it to be installed more rapidly than conventional alternatives, and its high performance PIR insulated core delivers optimum levels of thermal efficiency. The product also offers excellent fire protection with the panel facings, both internal and external, rated Class 0 in accordance with Building Regulations. To provide high quality finishing touches to the building envelope, over 2,400 metres of Kingspan Flashings with a milled aluminium finish were also installed, complementing both the façade and roof panels.
Artisan Construction Director, David Railton discussed the benefits of installing several Kingspan Insulated Panels’ products on the project: “Given the target of achieving a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating for the building, it was vital that all the products we installed delivered the performance that was required. With Kingspan Insulated Panels we were confident that this would be the case. The Kingspan Insulated Roof and Architectural Wall Panels not only deliver high levels of thermal performance, but they also have low environmental impact and they provide the building with an impressive appearance which was completed with their flashings.
"We also installed Kingspan Roof Mounted PV System to help reduce the building’s energy requirements from the national grid. By installing the PV system along with the KS1000 LP Lo-Pitch Insulated Roof Panels we were able to simplify and reduce the time scale for the build programme. It also allowed us to obtain a combined system guarantee as part of Kingspan 25 Year Total Guarantee.”
Over 1,000 m2 of the Kingspan Roof Mounted PV System were installed at the centre, with Kingspan’s expert team of PV engineers who provided guidance throughout the project to ensure the array delivers the maximum power output. Kingspan Roof Mounted PV System is capable of generating energy even in overcast conditions and has a proven operational life in excess of 40 years.
Kingspan Safetraxx Fall Protection System was also installed on the project, allowing simple and safe access for any future maintenance of the Roof Mounted PV System. Safetraxx comprises a precision engineered aluminium extrusion, which is installed on to the Insulated Roof Panels without the need for costly and disruptive access to the underside of the roof. Also, the fixings used do not penetrate the roof and so heat loss and thermal bridging issues are avoided.
In total over 9,000 m2 of Kingspan Insulated Panels products were installed on the Kelway centre including a further 1,600 m2 of BENCHMARK Façade Systems. The building also features a range of other energy saving features including rainwater harvesting, solar shading and high performance glass to minimise heat gains. Despite the hi-tech design of the project, the construction was completed in just six months with 90% of all construction waste recycled.
