Parallel opening
window vents by leading manufacturer of architectural glazing systems Kawneer
were specified for a mental
health project that is arguably without parallel.
Some 88 of Kawneer's
AA®100 SSG parallel opening vents were used as concealed windows, to maintain
the same aesthetic as the façade, within AA®100 mullion-drained curtain walling
and AA®720 doors on the new £40 million London headquarters of the world-famous
Anna
Freud National Centre for Children and Families.
The Kawneer systems
were specified by architects Penoyre & Prasad as they were a
"cost-effective" solution to their needs and enabled them to use the
same systems for all areas of curtain walling and rooflights.
Architect Sam
Frankland said: "We had an aspiration to create a very clean, paired-down
façade that would give clear cohesion to the various buildings. Having
scissor-action windows helped emphasise the planar quality when the windows are
open."
The project has
enabled the relocation of the mental healthcare charity to bring together its
global expertise in practice, research and policy under one roof from its
residential properties in Hampstead to a purpose-built facility near King's
Cross. This comprises a six-storey new-build and the refurbishment of a
century-old former chocolate factory and warehouse.
All of the Kawneer
glazing systems feature a diagonal frit on the glass, with the Kawneer curtain
walling featuring on the ground to top floors and the AA®100 SSG
parallel-opening vents on all but the ground floor. The AA®720 doors feature on
the main entrance and top floor which also features a roof terrace.
Sam Frankland added:
"We wanted to create spaces filled with light and views out over London so
we opted for fully-glazed panels with a simple frit to give an element of
privacy and a degree of visual interest to the façade."
The aluminium
Kawneer systems were installed over eight months by a team of six from approved
specialist sub-contractor/dealer JPJ Installations for main contractor Willmott
Dixon.
The charity that
today bears the name of Sigmund Freud's sixth and youngest child was first
established almost 70 years ago and its approach, that every child and its
family should be at the heart of the care they receive, working in partnership
with professionals, has been reflected in Penoyre & Prasad's design.
This needed to be
striking to reflect the charity's aspirations to reflect its status as a
world-renowned organisation working with eminent academic institutions as
University College London and Yale. This itself presented a challenge, bringing
together the multiple needs of the individual users of the building, from
children and their families in need of support, to researchers, clinicians and
internationally-renowned visiting academics attending symposia.
At the front, in the
space made vacant by the excavation of a former courtyard, is the new
six-storey building housing shared conference facilities and the Pears Family
School which is sponsored by the Anna Freud Centre. This caters for up to 48
youngsters who have been excluded from school or alternative education
provision and helps them return to mainstream education.
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.
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.
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.
