Product category:
Access Control, Door Entry Systems
News Release from: Dorma UK | Subject: Duke Of York's Headquarters Refurbishment
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 31 May 2004
DORMA At Duke Of York's Headquarters
Refurbishment
Chelsea's King's Road £120m redevelopment of the Duke of York's headquarters.
Chelsea's King's Road is adept at reinventing itself for each new generation of discerning shoppers and the latest phase in its history is the sophisticated £120m redevelopment of the Duke of York's headquarters, probably one of the most significant urban regeneration projects of recent times Phase one, completed in late 2003, incorporates a major retail complex along with residential and commercial accommodation
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 21 May 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Later phases, to be completed by 2006, will include a school, medical facility, luxury housing and a stunning corporate office headquarters.
Notably, the 10-acre scheme incorporates the first new public square in London's West End for over a century, about the same period in fact since the young Welsh grocer Peter Jones set up his department store just along the road.
The magnificent Duke of York's headquarters has its origins in the reign of King George III, when the present site (along with the manor house, which had previously been the seat of the Cadogan family) was bought by the government of the day as the location for the 'Royal Military Asylum for the Children of Soldiers of the Regular Army' - the foundation stone being laid by the Duke of York.
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The Palladian style asylum, designed by John Sanders, a pupil of Sir John Soane and completed in 1803, was to house 1,000 orphans, with 300 girls in the south wing (on the Royal Hospital side) and 700 boys in the north wing, which runs parallel with the King's Road, the parties carefully segregated by the mess rooms that made up the large centre block.
Keeping the site intact In more recent times the building has been home to a number of famous regiments and organisations, but despite its illustrious history, in 1999 the MOD took the decision to sell the site to Cadogan Estates.
Cadogan were the preferred purchasers because of their experience of this type of development in the area and their long-term objective of keeping the site intact.
The entire complex is Grade II listed and to transform it into its present use may seem an unlikely fate, but the area has been out of bounds to the public for over 200 years so perhaps it is rather fitting and ultimately in its long-term interests.
The architect's, Belgravia based Paul Davis and Partners, have longstanding experience of working in the Chelsea area and one of the scheme's virtues is the evident empathy demonstrated in the placement of key building elements within the overall composition of this historic site.
Their principal objective was to 'retain the sense of grandeur, proportion and appearance of the existing military buildings, yet avoid any sense of pastiche in the new buildings'.
Central to the scheme's commercial and aesthetic success is the blend of pedestrian squares, streets and passages that work so well together in reflecting the style and culture of this historic part of London.
Glazing is a major feature One of the most striking features of the development is the combination of glazing and architectural ironmongery throughout - with DORMA very much in evidence.
First on parade are their Manet glass sliding door systems.
It was recognised early on that a link direct to Sloane Square was an extremely important element in encouraging visitors through to the retail area and an access arcade was built to provide this link.
The thoroughfare uses a series of plasma information screens to entice visitors through and Manet sliding door systems have been chosen for the unusual task of protecting plasma screens that have been placed along this so called 'plasma corridor'.
"We needed the partitions to be movable, so that the plasma screens could be accessed when necessary.
Obviously though, with the plasma corridor being a public area, security was very important and any system we chose had to be lockable to avoid theft and damage", explains Nik Muir of Paul Davis and Partners.
He continues: "In this instance, the glass screens with the Manet systems sit on granite planks and are fixed in using the Manet locking system for security." At the heart of the Manet system is a flush fitting, single-point fixing.
This assembly guarantees the easy fixing of glass elements and fits flush with the wall due to the use of countersunk holes, instead of through-holes.
All components are made of stainless steel.
The conical fixing sleeve and corresponding countersunk hole means the glass element is held firmly without being squeezed by the fixing, reducing stress loadings around the fixing.
A modified version of the flush-fitting single point fixing is the key basic component of the DORMA Manet sliding door system.
In this assembly, the single point fixing acts as a connector module from which the solid glass door is suspended.
The fixings connect to a stainless steel yoke, which carries a steel roller.
The roller travels almost silently along a tubular steel track above the door to give a satin-smooth action.
The track is a key element of the structure and comes complete with either glass of masonry fixings.
The supply and installation of the plasma schemes and Manet system in the thoroughfare was carried out by Romford based glazing and architectural metalwork specialists, F.A.
Firman.
Strength and reliability are of the essence In the main shopping area itself there are more than fifty shop fronts featuring DORMA Universal patch fittings and BTS 80 floor springs.
The Universal patch fittings range for the construction of toughened glass door assemblies is based on a modular system consisting of a base unit, functional inserts and clip-on covers in a wide range of finishes, stainless steel on this occasion.
DORMA BTS 80 floor springs are suitable for virtually any size and design of door up to 1400mm in width and 300kg weight and offer fully controlled closing with adjustable speed and a hold-open range, or delayed action range, of between 75? - 180?.
DORMA BTS 80 floor springs have also been specified for the caf?, which holds centre stage in the new square and is very much a focal point with its fully glazed walls.
This 'see-through' effect is enhanced by the fact that the floor is an extension of the outside paving, giving the appearance that the building floats on the surface of the square.
DORMA worked on the caf? and retail section of this huge development in collaboration with PollardsFyrespan, part of the Hansen Group, Northern Europe's leading independent fenestration specialist.
ENDS.
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