Product category:
Cladding and Facades
News Release from: Hunter Douglas Construction Elements | Subject: Facade specialist
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 17 March 2008
Hunter Douglas create 'wow' factor at
hospital
New extension to Birmingham Children's Hospital has transformed with the help of facade specialist Hunter Douglas.
The hospital has been transformed significantly from its Victorian beginnings And this time it's been designed with a 'wow factor specifically geared to aiding the recovery of young patients
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 2 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Six Metre Luxalon QuadroCladn Facade Panel
Providing architects with massive scope for an innovative, eye-catching look to the building facade using very large single panels, is the Luxalon QuadroCladn Rainscreen Facade System.
Prestige Facade For Rolls Royce
The prestigious new state-of-the-art Rolls Royce aerospace engine facility near Glasgow has been completed to incorporate an architecturally striking facade using the Luxalon Bi-Modular Sandwich Wall.
Facade specialist Hunter Douglas has ensured that the architect's vision for a stunning yet practical new children's hospital wing could become a reality.
The design brief from Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was to take healthcare refurbishment to a completely different level with its new Burns Centre, Neonatal Surgical Ward and expanded Education Centre in Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham.
Birmingham-based architect RPS has now created a building which meets all the 21st Century operating requirements and working conditions of the hospital staff - but it has been designed specifically for the children who are treated there.
Further reading
Installation Child's Play For Luxalon
Oxford's prestigious new children's hospital, the John Radcliffe Hospital, will incorporate the Luxalon HP+ Sandwich Wall system from Hunter Douglas Construction Elements.
Luxalon HP+ Sandwich Wall smooth performance
Luxalon HP+ Sandwich Wall Bi-Modular façade system is unique in combining design flexibility and construction quality with unparalleled thermal and fire performance.
Luxalon Multiple Panel Façade adds copper top
Architects on Princess Alexandra Hospital extension utilised approximately 150m2 of the Luxalon Multiple Panel Façade which features pure copper skin complete with a pre-finished patination.
Simon Houldcroft, principal associate at RPS Planning and Development, said: "The design, both the inside and outside, attempts to reflect the sprit of the children, adolescents and families".
"The building recognises the hospital's crucial role in their lives and attempts to empower its young patients by encouraging interaction and healing and an identifiable 'home base' territory for patients, staff and visitors.
The striking design and vibrant colour scheme of the building's exterior were achieved with an advanced Sandwich Wall system from Staffordshire-based Hunter Douglas.
Each of the three very different architectural effects - the yellow "cheese wedge", the cantilevered blue "drum" and the curved red cladding - were all achieved with this same product.
Although the Hunter Douglas Sandwich Wall was partly specified to achieve this unique flexibility, it was also deemed to be the best solution to helping the architect meet the extreme conditions stipulated in the brief, such as high levels of insulation, impervious barriers, acoustic performance and structural movements.
Not to mention sustainability.
The Sandwich Wall facade system, which includes integrated windows, contributes to, and complements, the overall insulation requirements of sensitive areas like operating theatres.
The facade panels are composed of two aluminium skins surrounding an insulating core of mineral wool.
As a facade system, it offers one of the highest thermal performances on the market, and no other insulated panel system offers the same combination of flexibility, performance and design.
When it came to building the four-storey blue cantilevered tower, Hunter Douglas had to develop brand new details to cope with the curved and angled, integrated window units and to allow for the deflection of the floor slabs which support the cladding at each level.
This custom-designed movement joint, installed immediately below each floor slab, was additionally important due to plans to install a helipad on the roof of the blue tower.
Andrew Lee, general manager of Hunter Douglas Facades and Sun Control Systems, said: "Although it's not visible like the coloured panels, wedge and curves of the building exterior, this joint, which is unique to the Birmingham Children's Hospital project, is actually one of its most significant achievements".
"The design and flexibility of the Sandwich Wall panels themselves, with the integrated windows, has enabled the architect to create a building which not only prevents rain penetration and heat loss, but also omits sound penetration from the adjacent road network"".
"Health and safety consideration formed an integral part of the design from initial concept, and careful consideration was given to accessing all areas of the external facade for maintenance - including the proposed helipad".
"The unique "top-down" installation of the Hunter Douglas Sandwich Wall panels helped to meet this goal".
"The installation of cladding and glazing from top to bottom means the roof, parapet and walls can be installed in sequence".
"It also allows scaffolding to be struck as work proceeds".
"The fact that the lower panels are installed below those already installed ensures minimal site damage during installation".
"This is particularly beneficial as it allows the bottom panels to be left until the later stages while adjacent groundwork operations are completed".
"The top-down method also allows the contractor to make a close inspection of the base detail to ensure that "sealing up" for air tightness at the most vulnerable points is carried out properly".
"And, if damage does occur during erection or after handover to the end-user, it is invariably the lower portion of the building which would need repairing or replacing".
"The Sandwich Wall system therefore affords easy access as the last panel in becomes the first panel out".
"A spokesman for the Trust said: "The Trust set an audacious goal for the design team to create a building which would cause a child to go 'Wow'".
"We also required a building which would provide excellent clinical facilities, meet all requisite building standards and would stand up to normal hospital wear and tear better than most".
"It is the Trust's opinion that the design team have achieved all these objectives.".
• Hunter Douglas Construction Elements: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Buildingtalk email newsletter
• Buildingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
