Coopers puts housing association in the shade

Swaythling Housing Association new HQ in Southampton benefited from Coopers Blinds shade solution in the form of a Brise Soleil solar protection system.

Before the Swaythling Housing Association could move into their new headquarters in Southampton, the problems of sun glare through the office windows had to be sorted out.

The large window areas on the south and west sides of the building would have allowed the sun to penetrate and cause severe glare and heat problems for staff.

Coopers Blinds, was called in by the building contractors to provide the solution in the form of a Brise Soleil solar protection system.

Brise Soleil comprises a series of external fixed louvre sections, which were installed over the south and west facing windows.

The installation was completed by Coopers' engineers within ten working days from start to finish, in spite of the problems encountered as a result of uneven structural steelwork.

The tolerances required for structural steel in the building industry are to within 10mm - Coopers Brise Soleil is manufactured to within 3mm tolerances.

The louvred section had to be specially manufactured in order that they could be installed perfectly level.

The curved 'bull nosed' front elevation of the offices also added to the fabrication problems in what proved to be a challenging project.

Mark Gillmore, the Project Manager for the GBP25,000 installation pointed out, " Coopers has many years' experience in overcoming installation problems in buildings of all ages and styles, so we are used to having to adapt our systems to fit any structure, even when tolerances differ to such an extent".

"It's that level of experience that gives us the edge over our competitors".

Glare within the new building has now been dramatically reduced, providing the Housing Association staff with a comfortable working environment.

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