Without parallel

Eighty-eight of Kawneer’s AA100 SSG parallel opening vents were used as concealed windows within AA100 mullion-drained curtain walling and AA720 doors on the new £40 million London headquarters of the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families.

The Kawneer systems were specified by architects Penoyre and Prasad as they were a “cost-effective” solution to their needs and enabled them to use the same systems for all areas of curtain walling and rooflights.

Architect Sam Frankland said: “We had an aspiration to create a very clean, paired-down facade that would give clear cohesion to the various buildings. Having scissor-action windows helped emphasise the planar quality when the windows are open.”

All of the Kawneer glazing systems feature a diagonal frit on the glass, with the Kawneer curtain walling featuring on the ground to top floors and the AA100 SSG parallel-opening vents on all but the ground floor. The AA720 doors feature on the main entrance and top floor which also features a roof terrace.

“We wanted to create spaces filled with light and views out over London so we opted for fully glazed panels with a simple frit to give an element of privacy and a degree of visual interest to the façade,” Sam said.

The aluminium Kawneer systems were installed over eight months by a team of six from JPJ Installations for main contractor Willmott Dixon.

“The client was very keen to have as environmentally friendly a building as possible so aluminium seemed like the natural choice for the curtain wall system which has been used extensively to the east and west facades and as a large rooflight,” Sam said.

Based on the established Kawneer AA100 SSG POV system, the parallel opening design benefits from excellent ventilation characteristics combined with thermal performance, the company said.

Increased air flow around the full perimeter of the window enables highly efficient natural ventilation while greatly reducing draughts as fresh air is drawn in the bottom of the window while warm, stale air is expelled via the top, creating full air circulation within a room.