Having outgrown their existing premises, market leader in fire and carbon monoxide protection, Aico created a new headquarters that not only offered more space and functionality, but also stood as testament to its forward-thinking culture.
DGA Architects developed a scheme for the six-acre site which placed occupant health and wellbeing at the centre of the design whilst also providing a bold visual impression to company visitors and passers-by. The brief included extensive staff facilities inside the building, such as thoughtfully designed office spaces, an indoor gym, games room and relaxation room, as well as a vast outdoor landscape, including a pond and trim trail.
The building comprises two basic elements: an office space and a Centre of Excellence, providing an auditorium and a state-of-the-art training centre for local students, contractors and various industry bodies and associations. This impactful, glass-fronted part of the development is located at the front of the site as a dynamic linear ‘floating box’ structure. At the rear of the site is a large warehouse.
The whole building is steel-framed and designed to be open-plan, providing flexibility and future-proofing the facility. This made our insulated panels the ideal choice for the external envelope. Specified in shades of grey to align with Aico’s corporate brand identity, with matching fabrications, the spanning capabilities and simple, fix-to-frame installation of the panels helped to achieve the visual aspirations of the project whilst meeting its performance aims and facilitating a fast build programme.
Whilst a number of different panel profiles and types were used on the project, all Kingspan panel systems are designed to work together with factory-engineered jointing, which simplifies detailing, minimises thermal bridging and creates a highly airtight structure. Combined with their high thermal performance, this will help to ensure a comfortable internal environment for staff whilst reducing the building’s energy demand and costs in the long term.
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