DESIGN


Aluminium Curtain Walling Houses Severn Trent Centre

The headquarters of British water utility Severn Trent, located in Coventry (England) is one of the most sustainable office buildings in Europe.
12 April, 2016
Standing seven storeys and 38 metres high, it was built with the help of £6.5 from Advantage West Midlands and was supported by Coventry's city council.
While the outside of the Centre may be all most people ever see, there is much more to this building than just the outward appearance. The headquarters (completed in 2010) is one of the most sustainable office buildings in Europe, and it has been awarded a coveted 'Excellent' BREEAM rating. This places it in the top 10% of all non-domestic buildings in the United Kingdom for sustainability. In determining this grade, the BREEAM standards take into account factors including health & wellbeing, energy use, water use, materials that have gone into the building, and pollution generated.

The Severn Trent Centre boasts a range of features that contribute to its sustainability, including a weather station on the roof of the building that tracks the movement of the sun and regulates the Centre's internal solar control blinds accordingly. Hot water for the building is warmed by solar thermal panels, while photovoltaic panels are connected to the energy grid. The design also includes a built-in rainwater harvesting system.
Key to the design of this building is an aluminium curtain wall system designed by Reynaers Aluminium. Curtain walling, which has grown increasingly popular in modern building designs, provides an enclosure that protects a building from wind and rain but is otherwise structurally independent from the rest of the building. Solaglas Contracting Midlands fit the Reynaers CS 68 window system throughout the new development. The three-chamber window system is designed to maintain maximum thermal efficiency. The building is also equipped with Reynaers Vision 50. This is a sturdy high traffic door, built with ground floor entrances in mind.

The bespoke version of Reynaers CW 50 curtain walling system, which was specified by Webb Gray Architects, is designed to "facilitate maximum creative freedom in their original design proposals." This approach led on to "eye catching and appealing aesthetics," while allowing a high level of natural light into the building.
In addition to the new Severn Trent building, aluminium curtain walling systems have been installed in many of the world's most innovative and cutting-edge buildings. Lightweight aluminium curtain walls provide building designers the opportunity to design the structures they imagine, all while retaining the functionality and performance that modern regulations and building users demand. In a demonstration of their commitment to their own products, Reynaers's own head office in Duffel, Belgium is clad by the company's CW 86 curtain walling system.

Aluminium curtain walls combine strong (but lightweight) aluminium profiles with glazed sections. The curtain walling systems can be curved, faceted, or angled to produce the designer's desired appearance while providing maximum solar penetration into the building.

Image by Reynaers.
Reynaers states that their CW Wall 50 is intended as a façade and roof system that permits freedom of design and maximum transparency. All their CW50 profiles are designed to meet the requirements of contemporary architecture. These profiles are available not only in several designs, but also with several technical variants to comply with customer requirements for thermal insulation and fire-resistance. The system allows for different solutions depending on the level of thermal performance needed, including triple glazing that makes them ideal for low-energy-use buildings.
The Severn Trent
Centre. Image by
BAM.
The aluminium curtain wall systems permit a number of different opening configurations, including top hung windows with integrated opening elements (that can be opened either automatically or manually) and parallel opening windows designed to create the maximum possible airflow for tall or small windows. These windows offer better natural ventilation and internal air quality.

One of the most aesthetically pleasing aspects of the parallel opening approach is that the external appearance of the building remains unchanged whether windows are open or closed. It also permits ventilation without allowing access to the building. This is an important security consideration if night ventilation is required, especially if the premises will be unoccupied.
Banner photo copyright Reynaers.