Hunter Douglas prides itself on offering a truly bespoke service for every project – and the ceiling of the impressive, new £26 million Student Centre at the University of Essex demonstrates how far it will go to keep true to an architect’s vision.
As a leading global manufacturer of architectural products, Hunter Douglas was commissioned to build a ceiling for the new Silberrad Student Centre at the university’s Colchester campus, and for the Albert Sloman Library, which underwent refurbishment.
The Student Centre, designed by London-based Patel Taylor Architects as part of a wider £200 million campus development to create world-class facilities for students, saw Hunter Douglas devise an innovative solution for the solid wood open linear European oak ceiling design.
As well as using a patented clip to secure the panels to the sendzimir galvanised steel suspension rails, the 70m2 of panels, which are designed to “float” from the ceiling, required specially made metal fixings to accommodate the non-standard width Kevin Taylor, Technical Sales Manager at Hunter Douglas, explains: “The initial design by the architect called for a panel width that was narrower than the metal fixing clip. To make it work, I offered the solution to make a wider panel with a deep groove in the front to give the appearance of very narrow boards.
“This was accepted as a good way to solve the design issue and we were able to manufacture them to meet those demands. The complex specification also called some of the panels to be made from extra long wood and have no joins. It made for a very clean and impressive finish.”
The Albert Sloman Library ceiling comprised 200m2 of solid timber grill European Oak in 4-75-20-70 module, which was specified to accommodate the lighting design.
As with all Hunter Douglas ceilings, the services are hidden behind demountable systems to ensure easy access.
“The two buildings at the university took about nine months to complete and we were pleased that our technical expertise and advice enabled us to deliver two exceptional ceiling designs that met the specification and the aesthetic requirements of the architect,” said Kevin.
Hunter Douglas undertook the working/layout drawings from architects CAD designs, while the sub-contractor, which worked with Hunter Douglas and installed the ceilings, was Roskel Contracts Ltd (Cambridgeshire).
