A variety of glazing systems from leading architectural aluminium supplier Kawneer have met a host of design and performance criteria for the £14million remodelling of two key buildings at the University of Strathclyde.
The company's latest AA®720 HI renovation TIP windows, whose narrow sightlines mimic those of the original steel windows, AA®605 medium-duty swing doors and AA®100 zone-drained curtain walling with 50mm sightlines and glazed in opening vents have been combined to provide the desired aesthetic of the six-storey Lord Hope building in Glasgow City Centre.
Its neighbouring building, Curran, which is also concrete-framed, features Kawneer's AA®100 curtain walling and latest AA®720 tilturn windows on the third and sixth floors and sixth floor respectively. The glazing systems were installed by Kawneer-approved specialist sub-contractor Architectural Glazing Systems (AGS) for main contractor Balfour Beatty.
The buildings in Glasgow City Centre were adapted for university use in the early 1980s from Collins book printers and now form the new Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences as part of the university's campus development plan.
This new faculty, which incorporates Law, Arts, Social Science and the former Faculty of Education, provides reconfigured workspace that enables all faculty staff to be located together within the Lord Hope building to enhance the faculty's image and encourage interdisciplinary working.
Each floor now features a large, open-plan work space around the perimeter, ensuring maximum opportunity for daylight (via Kawneer's glazed elements) and ventilation, with a well-defined core space and support areas such as meeting rooms, breakout hubs, touchdown areas and welfare.
Between the Lord Hope building and Curran, which functions as a library, a new external area of public realm provides a focus for the entrances. The courtyard design also anticipates a new sports centre building to the south-west which will help create a new learning quarter for the campus.
David Ross of Sheppard Robson architects said: "On the north elevation of the Lord Hope building we had to match the slim profiles of the existing metal windows and the AA®720 Kawneer product met this criteria. We also used Kawneer curtain walling and window profiles elsewhere on the project.
"We had to deliver a quality product under challenging timescales but working with AGS and using Kawneer products we knew we could meet these objectives. AGS did an excellent job, responding to the various existing opening conditions for each window type, of which there were many."
He added: "We also had to meet demanding air tightness and improved thermal performance criteria in this comprehensive refurbishment project. Choosing an aluminium-frame solution also addressed sustainability, durability and thermal performance criteria."