6 | MARCH 2019
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
ADVANCED GLAZING HELPS NEW
SLIMMING WORLD HQ ACHIEVE
HEALTHY ENERGY PERFORMANCE
With its newly extended headquarters in Alfreton,
Derbyshire, weight-loss organisation Slimming
World wanted to create a landmark building
for the brand that would both provide an ideal
working and training space for its people and
deliver excellent environmental performance.
Glazing plays a key
role in the £8.5 million
scheme, both aesthetically
and in terms of its use of
energy.
At the heart of the build-
ing is a large atrium with
a full-height glass front
elevation and a glazed roof
running right to the back
of the space. Meanwhile,
one of the wings connected
by the lobby area features
large ‘picture windows’
that deliver views over the
facility’s attractive, leafy
grounds.
High-performance
envelope
Because much of the
building’s envelope is
glazed, the designers faced
the challenge of avoiding
the need for an energy-in-
tensive climate-control
system to create a comfort-
able environment for users
all-year-round.
Lee Shaw, Business
Development Manager at
Pilkington United Kingdom,
explained: “The twin chal-
lenges any building with
extensive glazing faces are
loss of heat on cold days
and excessive heating as re-
sult of direct sunlight when
the weather is warmer.
“The combination of
products we have supplied
to this project use advanced
coatings cleverly to min-
imise these two effects,
helping to smooth out the
peaks and troughs that
can lead to uncomfortable
temperatures, expensive
heating and air-conditioning
bills and wasted energy.”
The curtain walling
system uses double-glazed
units manufactured by
Pilkington, incorporating
Pilkington Suncool™ 60/31
T solar-control glass and
Pilkington Optitherm™
S1 Plus, a low-emissivity
product.
The solar-control glass
features a state-of-the-art
coating that transmits only
31 per cent of the sun’s en-
ergy, while still allowing for
60 per cent light transmit-
tance, so that occupants still
get a clear view outward.
The low-emissivity glass
meanwhile features a coat-
ing that reduces outward
radiation of heat, so that
less is allowed to leave the
building on colder days.
Uninterrupted
views
The same glass is used
in the atrium wall and roof
but is held in place using
the latest structurally glazed
units from Schueco. These
deliver glazed surfaces with
ultra-low-profile frames to
minimise interruption of
views from the building,
as well as daylight flowing
into it.
Extra strength is added
to the atrium glazing by
including a layer of laminat-
ed glass on the inner pane,
to help the large units stand
up to forces exerted on
them by the wind and po-
tentially the weight of snow
during the winter.
Lee Shaw continued: “This
project demonstrates the
range of glazing solutions
we are able to offer, with
a combination of curtain
walling, structural glazing
and roof glass, all of which
has been manufactured in
the UK.
“The architect has used
timber slats to deliver some
degree of solar shading, but
the extensive area of glazing
enclosing the space means
there would still be signif-
icant risk of excessive heat
build-up. The glazing spec-
ified minimises this effect,
saving energy and money
while also delivering a more
comfortable and stable
year-round climate for those
using the building.
“This is also one of the
first projects to feature Pilk-
ington Suncool™ 60/31 Pro
T glass, which is now fully
manufactured in the UK,
following recent re-location
of production from Germa-
ny. It’s great that we’ve been
able to combine a made-in-
Britain success story with a
new chapter for a well-loved
British business.”