Home| Products| Case Studies| International Projects| FAQ's| Glossary| Design Lines| Datasheets| Literature| Enquiry Form| Contact Us

• Bespoke Solutions
• Shading Louvres
• Aerofoil Fins
• Ventilation Louvres
• Rackarm - Skyvane
• External Blinds
• Internal Blinds
• Room Darkening Blinds
• Curtains and Tracks
• Hospital Cubicle Tracks
• Fabric Walling
• Electronic Controls

Recent Projects

• Nottingham Trent University
• Milton Gate, London
• Global Reach, Cardiff
• Morrisons, Edinburgh

International Projects

• RBS Castlerock, US
• Harley Davidson Museum, US
• HALO, Illinois
• Schlumberger, New York

case studies /

Counter the effects of solar heat gain

Standing in Edinburgh Park, AEGON House has north, south and core atria which each have large areas of roof glazing. With the need to provide a shading system to counter the effects of solar heat gain while also allowing access to clean the glass, Levolux was brought in to design and provide a system of bespoke retractable baffles.

Some 500 staff working for the asset management and finance group AEGON UK, of which Scottish Equitable is a part, occupy the building. Installed at high level in each of the three atria, the Levolux system is made up of a total of 81 baffles that run on tracks. For the majority of the time, the baffles remain in place to diffuse the light and provide shading but, to enable maintenance of the glazing to be carried out, they are retracted and stored at either end of the atria.

A Fully Motorised System

Each of the 400mm x 74mm atrium baffles has a ‘spine’ with extruded aluminium nose profiles and on both sides of this are perforated aluminium panels. The baffles are 6000mm long and at either end there are self-lubricating plastic wheels which run in steel tracks so that the complete belt driven assembly can be moved horizontally to one side during maintenance work. Operated by a keyswitch, the system is fully motorised and stops automatically in either open or closed positions.

The system that was finally installed is far simpler than the one initially conceived. Originally the concept included aerofoil fins that tilted to follow the path and angle of the sun but, through careful design of the baffles and calculation of the necessary spacing between them, Levolux created a scheme that was less complicated but equally effective.

expertise in providing solar shading

Stephen Boyd of architects the Lee Boyd Partnership, comments: “We chose Levolux because of their expertise in providing solar shading. They were very helpful and supplied various samples and we were able to use some of their standard sections to make up the profiles. In terms of developing the design they suggested various ways in which we could achieve what we wanted in the simplest way”.

Colin Pentland, building manager for Scottish Equitable, concludes: “The system certainly functions in exactly the way in which it should”.

 

Architect:	Lee Boyd Partnership
Products used:	Aluminium Fins