The redevelopment of a primary school into two new schools features Kawneer glazing throughout.
Elements from the complete range of architectural aluminium glazing systems from Kawneer have been used on the £20million redevelopment of a primary school in a London borough.
Kawneer's AA®100 zone-drained capped curtain walling, AA®540 fixed light and AA®541 top-hung casement windows, medium-duty swing and series 190 heavy-duty commercial entrance doors, feature throughout the 1.5-hectare site at Abbots Park, Tulse Hill in Lambeth. It also includes as rooflights Kawneer's 451PT framing system which was designed in close collaboration with SCAPE.
The rebuilding of Fenstanton Primary School for 638 children and creation of a new 1,100-place academy, known as City Heights Academy, for sponsor E-ACT was completed in two phases over two years by main contractor Carillion.
A special requirement of the brief to regular Kawneer specifiers Jestico + Whiles architects was that the buildings should meet Part L of the Building Regulations.
Architect Daniel Bryan-Harris said: "The energy efficiency of the buildings was very important. Achieving good daylighting of teaching spaces was critical but this had to be balanced against limiting solar gains and preventing overheating.
"The window frames and glass spec had to be thermally efficient to achieve the stringent Part L Building Regulations requirements. But the 50mm sightlines of the windows - the transoms and mullions - were also important in the overall composition of the elevations."
He added: "We had successfully used Kawneer on previous education projects and they offered a wide range of products to suit the variety of windows and curtain walling types required for the project."
In addition to providing two quality schools for local children of all ages, one of the key aims of the project was to allow community use of the facilities. A performance hall, sports centre, café and learning resource centre have all been positioned where they can be easily and securely accessed by local people.
Constructed on a flat slab, all Kawneer products were fixed over 17 months by specialist sub-contractor Leay within a proprietary cold-rolled structural framing system and finished with externally insulated render, facing brickwork, rainscreen cladding and multi-coloured brise soleil.
Daniel added:" Aluminium is easily recyclable, this was decisive."
He concluded: "The academy is in its infancy, thrilled to be in such a contemporary new building that it can grow into as student numbers increase year-on-year."
