A futuristic and award-winning apartments scheme near Shipley in West Yorkshire has been completed using a range of façade systems from architectural aluminium specialists Technal.
Technal’s systems have since been specified by the architects, Beckwith Design Associates, for the £20m second phase of Victoria Mills – VM2 and Northern Lights, which are now on site.
Developed by Newmason Properties, Victoria Mills comprises a series of Victorian mill conversions and contemporary new architecture. The £10m VM1 complex provides 113 apartments and forms part of a 5.5 acre enclosed village in a picturesque canal and riverside location. The scheme has just won the award for Best Apartment Building at Yorkshire’s Finest Property Awards.
The £600,000 glazing contract for VM1 was undertaken by fabricator and installer Fox Aluminium in partnership with Technal who supplied the window, door and curtain walling systems. The main contractor was Quarmby Construction.
The stylish eight-storey apartments building, which overlooks the River Aire, consists of a striking fully glazed sail-shaped structure linked to a rotunda. Technal’s visible grid curtain walling was used to provide full height glazing for the duplex and triplex apartments, with concealed tilt/turn vents providing natural ventilation whilst maintaining a continuous flat façade.
Technal’s faceted curtain wall follows the curve of the rotunda with roof glazing enclosing the top of the sail structure and linked to the vertical façade.
FXi46 casement tilt/turn windows in both ribbon and punched hole configurations were inserted into stone cladding from first to fifth floors on the rotunda and the link. Technal’s FXi52 pivot doors provide access to the private balconies.
Commenting on the glazing specification, Richard Paynter of architects Beckwith Design Associates, said, “All Technal’s systems met our criteria for aesthetics and thermal performance in line with the required Building Regulations, and we are pleased with the end result. We felt aluminium was best suited to a project of this scale and offers an effective low maintenance solution.”
The glass specified was clear low E throughout, with look-alike panels to conceal services and the building structure between floors, and self-cleaning glass to the three-storey penthouse apartments.
VM2 will replicate the first phase and will include an identical rotunda linked to a second distinctive sail-shaped structure. The development also features tennis courts and extensive attractive landscaping, including sunken areas, open spaces and the use of natural materials.
As part of its ongoing product development programme, Technal has now launched the MX curtain wall suite. This offers an even wider range of design options from the same grid system than ever before, consistent site lines and interfaces, enhanced thermal performance, cost efficiency and reduced time on site.
Project Name: Victoria Mills
Project Location: Shipley, West Yorkshire
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