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• Nottingham Trent University
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International Projects

• RBS Castlerock, US
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case studies /

Shading the Business Brains of Tomorrow

Bexley Business Academy is a state-of-the-art, purpose built school located near to London in Erith, Kent. It aims to motivate students from the age of 11 to 18 to become imaginative and productive world citizens capable of benefiting from, and making a positive contribution to, the challenges of the 21st century.

Shading a Predominantly Glass Building

Designed by Foster & Partners the three storey building is predominantly glass so the provision of sunshading to the east and west elevations was crucial. Levolux was awarded the contract following a tendering process and then worked with the architects to design and install a vertical 500mm motorised aerofoil fin system which, in effect, ‘clads’ the two facades. The fins are mounted on a new extruded aluminium section that contains all of the working parts of the system supported on steelwork which is cantilevered out from the building 1.2m away from the face of the glass.

The building grid is based on bays of 7.2m with the aerofoil fins used to screen a total of 72 of these, 36 on both the east and west elevations. With each bay 3m high, a staggering 3km of 500mm aerofoil fins was used for the project. Levolux undertook the design, supply and installation of the fins, control systems, cabling and steelwork.

An Automatic Solution With a Manual Override

While the principal role of the fins is sunscreening, they also contribute significantly to the building’s aesthetics. Triggered by sensors, the fins move throughout the day as they track the sun but a manual override enables ‘greyout’ to be achieved in individual classrooms should a lecturer require it; at predetermined times the system automatically resets.

During the design process mock-ups were produced of the fins and various options were considered in terms of the finish since an anti-graffiti element was a requirement. As a result a natural silver anodised finish was finally chosen.

A Pro-Active Approach Despite Short Timescales and Limited Budgets

Ian Bogle, project director, Foster & Partners, comments: “Levolux were proactive in their approach to the design and have been very proactive in delivering a product on what was a very, very tight budget in a very, very tight time scale. They had to get through design to completion in order that the building was open for the start of the school term and have done well in working closely with ourselves and the main contractor to deliver their product.”

 

Architect:	Foster & Partners
Products used:	Aluminium Fins