Form and function

A floor-to-ceiling glazing installation designed, specified and delivered by Glassolutions has helped create a balance between form and function at a new multi-use development in West Yorkshire.

Located to the north-west of Leeds, Number One Kirkstall Forge is part of the 57-acre, £400 million Kirkstall Forge ‘urban village’ scheme, which on completion will offer Grade A office buildings, contemporary housing, green spaces, cafés, bars and restaurants in a riverside location.

One Kirkstall Forge, the first commercial development on the site, is an office building offering over 110,000ft2 of flexible workspace over seven floors, with floor-to-ceiling glazing 2.8m high and a glazed entrance atrium.

Brought to the project by Wates Construction on behalf of CEG, the Glassolutions Contracting team delivered the designs by architects’ practice Cooper Cromar.

This required the design, specification and installation of a glazed facade for the building, with deep mullions and bronze pressed aluminium panel cladding.

In addition, the architectural plans featured an 8m unsupported mid-span entrance atrium that Glassolutions was also briefed to deliver.

The glazing installation was required to be compliant with the highest environmental sustainability standards, as the building aims to achieve a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating., Number One Kirkstall Forge’s proximity to the development’s own railway station demanded acoustically enhanced glass.

The Glassolutions Contracting division specified a combination of Wicona aluminium systems integrating with high performance insulating glass units, spandrels and sandwich panels. The ‘stick’ curtain walling was fabricated using Wicona’s Wictec 50 systems, which provide a slim 50mm face width and ensure excellent thermal insulation through the incorporation of a PVCU thermal break.

Glassolutions installed insulated glass units comprising Saint Gobain Glass’ SGG Cool-Lite Xtreme 70-33ii, with single-glazed units used for the spandrel panels to combat overheating.

With a g-value of 0.33 and a centre pane U-value of 1.0W/m2K, this specification reduces the need for both additional heating and cooling, making it ideal for delivering energy savings and improved thermal insulation.

SGG Cool-Lite Xtreme 70-33ii also achieves a light transmission rate of 70%, and the glass delivers a high degree of neutrality both in transmission and exterior reflection, giving Number One Kirkstall Forge a smooth, untinted glazed finish.

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