Balancing the physical building requirements and commercial considerations has been attained at a historic location through a value engineered approach.
Gilberts Blackpool has efficiently delivered variations of its core WG75 louvre system for the refurbishment of a seven-storey office block with retail space in Charterhouse Square.
Developer Helical plc commissioned 21Construction to execute the project, designed by architects Buckley Gray Yeoman, which involved not only upgrading the existing building, but remodelling to increase floor area from 34,000 sq ft to 43,500 sq ft.
“It was a complex project, because of the scale and size of the louvres required for the façade and plant screening, and the stringent acoustic attenuation specified,” explained Gilberts’ John Hangar. “We had a number of aesthetic considerations to address too. There was a desire for the louvres to mimic the adjacent windows, all components needed to reflect the Grade A quality of the building, yet any solution had to be sympathetic with the history of the surroundings, and comply with budgetary constraints.”
Gilberts worked closely with the design team to develop a series of solutions for each area of the building.
For the façade, WG75 aluminium standard louvres from 3050mm x 600mm up to 3200 x 500mm, with a PPC black finish were fixed onto the façade alongside site-assembled WGK75 louvres ranging from 2790mm x 4885mm to 12000mm x 2425mm.
A further five louvres, each 9620mm x 2425mm were required to mimic the adjacent windows; Gilberts, through its unique in-house design and fabrication facility, was able to develop a solution, whereby a bespoke box section was fabricated to reflect the aesthetics whilst providing a secure fixing and weathering detail.
On the roof, the plant screen was specified with acoustic mass/performance attenuation equivalent to a blockwork wall, because of the sensitive adjacent buildings- including the ancient Charterhouse that dates back to the 14th century. Gilberts balanced the ventilation and sound demands with a built-on-site WGK75 louvre roof screen, and blanking, each almost 2000mm high x 69000mm, which yield a 50% free ventilation area; an acoustic composite blanking panel of galvanised steel, Rockwool insulation compressed to 45kg/m3 and fibre glass with a polyester film, absorbed the sound energy, potentially down to 20dB.
Added Nick Jones, project architect @ Buckley Gray Yeoman, “Gilberts was put forward as a solution to meet budgetary constraints. We’re very pleased with the end result, which balanced our core design objectives with the physical requirements and commercial limitations.”
Gilberts’ WG75series is the ‘building block’ of the company’s range of louvres, delivering strength and rigidity in a discreet profile that still delivers 50% free ventilation area and high weather ingress resistance.
The louvres are part of the company’s range of grilles, louvres and diffusers for natural and mechanical ventilation. Founded 55 years ago, Gilberts Blackpool is Britain’s leading independent air movement specialist, and is unique in its ability to develop components. Be it ‘mainstream’ or bespoke – entirely in-house, from initial design through tooling, production, testing and supply, at its 85,000 ft2 manufacturing facility. Its state of the art test centre, designed and built in-house, is one of the most technically advanced in the country.
