Kawneer systems help with healing in Fife
The full range of Kawneer systems have been used on the new Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy
Curtain walling, windows and doors from architectural aluminium systems supplier Kawneer not only met performance specifications for the new Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy but were also of a high standard aesthetically, according to the architects.
BDP were familiar with Kawneer as one of the market leaders in their field, having used the manufacturer’s systems on previous projects, and it was the full range that was called on for the £170 million, 500-bed extension to existing facilities.
The new wing features Kawneer’s AA®110 dry-jointed curtain walling with 65mm sightlines on the “waveform” concave and convex main west elevation and on the courtyards, the latter of which also features Kawneer’s AA®601 top-hung vents within the curtain walling and AA®605 low/medium-duty swing doors.
In addition, Kawneer’s AA®602 horizontal pivot windows with trickle-vent latch facilities feature on all elevations, complemented by series 190 heavy-duty commercial entrance doors at several of the ground-floor entrances.
The three-year construction project achieved an average U-value through the total glazing element, including the glazed spandrel panels in a range of carefully selected colours, of 1.9W/m²K.
The Kawneer systems were installed over an eight-month period by approved Edinburgh-based specialist contractor Charles Henshaw & Sons for main contractor Balfour Beatty whose specialist PPP healthcare vehicle Consort Healthcare was joint client with NHS Fife.
The state-of-the-art building comprises 11 operating theatres and departments ranging from maternity and paediatrics, renal, cardiology, haematology and oncology through to critical care and A&E.
Some of these were relocated from elsewhere on the 11-hectare Victoria Hospital site which originally housed a Victorian sanatorium. The new building is a steel frame with concrete floors and a lightweight metal frame envelope.
BDP’s Malcolm Inglis said: “Kawneer products were used for all the curtain walling and windows and most of the glazed entrance doors in the hospital. They met all the requirements of the performance specification and are aesthetically of a high standard.
“Natural daylighting is an extremely important part of the healing process, as well as making a building more pleasant to work in, so maximising the window area to allow as much light in as possible was vital.
“Alongside this primary function, the feature ribbon windows included coloured glazed spandrel panels which were the main decorative feature of the external envelope.”
He added: “Aluminium’s recyclability, as well as its durability and low-maintenance characteristics, are significant inherent advantages which influence specification.”
ENDS
Tracy Twitchin
Director
TLC pr
0151 227 4957
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