This was a challenging project for MCW architects because
the designers had to work around the constraints imposed
by the requirement for a large ‘box’ like structure to house
a 1MW biomass boiler, four 4MW gas boilers and a 120m³
thermal store.
Proteus HR solid metal skin with honeycomb core was used
around the thermal envelope of the building combined with
polycarbonate cladding in a striking internally lit vertical
“saw-tooth” arrangement. The lightweight, exceptional
flatness, strength and rigidity of Proteus HR panels allowed
the architects to develop a large modular cassette system
(2500x1000mm), which was replicated around the building
providing uniformity across different façade elements.
An equally engaging aesthetic was achieved on the 26m high
stack by wrapping it in the Proteus SC perforated ‘skin’,
creating a sense of weightlessness in what would, at the
height of three London buses, have been quite an imposing
structure. The back-lit random perforations now appear as
though they are pixels being projected outwards from the
12m LCD screen, whilst the elongated landscape perforated
panels play with the eye to visually truncate the stack’s
overall height.
The screen itself provides the university with a useful
information bulletin that showcases courses and events as
well as being an advertising medium, both of which have the
potential to generate a useful secondary income stream.
In order to achieve the ‘random’ pattern for the perforations,
each of the Proteus SC panels on the flue stack had to
be manufactured to a specific drawing reference and to
millimetre tolerances. This involved changing the location,
number and layout of the perforations on each panel. The
pitch of each hole had to be calculated so that they passed
seamlessly over panel joints.
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