Design Buy Build Issue 42 2020 | Page 39

Doors, Windows & Fittings Although not listed, heritage officers at Islington Council had still been anxious about how it would be developed. “The client was very keen to have as environmentally friendly a building as possible so aluminium seemed like the natural choice for the curtain wall system which has been used extensively to the east and west facades and as a large rooflight,” said Sam Frankland. Based on the established Kawneer AA®100 SSG POV system, the parallel opening design benefits from excellent ventilation characteristics combined with thermal performance. Increased air flow around the full perimeter of the window enables highly efficient natural ventilation while greatly reducing draughts as fresh air is drawn in the bottom of the window while warm, stale air is expelled via the top, creating full air circulation within a room. Penoyre & Prasad worked from the outset with the diagonal motif on the glazing on both the front and rear facades to inform both the transparent elevation and the precast cheeks of the building which they could do very little with as they were both party walls but which nevertheless replicate the diagonal fritting. The five-storey chocolate factory, parts of which had been used as offices since the 1990s, was converted into a combination of head office facilities and therapy, post-graduate teaching and research (part of which had been based at University College London) and break-out spaces for the Anna Freud Centre. 39 This efficient exchange of air can assist with Approved Document F compliance and can enable the window to meet the ventilation requirements of even the most demanding project. www.kawneer.com