HUNTER DOUGLAS SUN CONTROL & FACADES
SUITE 2 NEWTON HOUSE
KINGS ROAD PARK
MOULTON PARK INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
NORTHAMPTON
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE NN3 6LG
Tel: 01604 648229
Fax:
Suppliers of: Luxalon Cladding aluminium Cladding Sun Louvres External Cladding Facade systems
Hunter Douglas manufactures and supplies high quality, integrated sun control and façade systems. More than 90% of the Hunter Douglas products are made from recycled aluminium.
Products include a wide range of sliding shutters, motorised shutters and louvres, as well as the architecturally versatile QuadroClad ventilated (rainscreen) facade, insulated sandwich wall cladding and MPF single-skin rainscreen systems.
The international Hunter Douglas group comprises more than 160 manufacturing and assembly operations across 100 countries. Hunter Douglas systems are CWCT and LPCB approved and hold relevant British Standard certifications.
QuadroClad is an open jointed, ventilated rainscreen facade system, which offers integrated, fast-track construction for large projects with a repetetive design element. The natural ventilation of the open joints allows rainwater and condensation to escape, preventing the build-up of damaging micro-climates behind the facade.
QuadroClad is based on honeycomb composite technology that originates from the aircraft industry. It has excellent long-term weathering properties and low-maintenance characteristics, combined with superior thermal performance. QuadroClad comes in many colours, sizes and shapes and can be curved or folded. The unique frame and fixing structure enables the incorporation of other panel materials such as timber, stone and glass, as well as fully integrated windows, doors and louvres.
CHARACTERISTICS
- Extremely flat panel surfaces
- Large panel modules (up to 1500 x 6000mm as standard)
- Longer bespoke panels (up to 10m) can be ordered
- Choice of skin materials
- Low weight per m2
- "Total" facades system including windows, doors and louvres
- Open joints for natural ventilation
- Minimal fixings for fewer "cold bridges"
- For new build and over-cladding projects
Sandwich Wall HP+ cladding. Hunter Douglas Sandwich Wall is a bi-modular, insulated facade system. Designed to have an extremely flat surface, the made-to-measure panels comprise two skins of metal surrounding an insulated core of either HCFC-free foam or high density mineral wool.
Panels can be cranked and curved in almost any angle or radius, providing exceptional aesthetic possibilities for architects. A total facade system can be created through integration with windows, doors and sun control. Panels are tested for air leakage, water penetration and fire resistance, and are certified by organisations including Factory Mutual, LPCB and CWCT. Sandwich Wall panels are available in a variety of coated or anodised finishes or colours, and can be plain or embossed.
CHARACTERISTICS
- Extreme panel flatness
- Choice of skin materials (e.g. aluminium, stainless steel, zinc, copper)
- Standard widths but any panel module up to 1500mm can be produced.
- Panels can be supplied up to 12m in length for both horizontal and vertical installation
- Superior thermal performance (U-value) properties
- "Total" facades system including windows, doors and louvres
- For new-build and over-cladding projects
MPF (Multiple Panel Facade) external cladding panels are designed primarily to provide architects with a cost-effective cladding and soffit solution for the highest and longest elevations of new buildings as well as for shop fronts, fuel station canopies and over-cladding on existing buildings.
Operating on the principles of ventilated rainscreen facades, MPF is a fully integrated single-skinned system which is available in plank, tile and cassette formats. MPF has been proven to be a highly flexible system, with the 1-1.4mm panels available in a huge variety of colours, size and finishes. Panels can be easily cranked or curved and can be fully integrated with Hunter Douglas doors, windows and sun control.
CHARACTERISTICS
- Panel flatness
- Standard modules 200/300/400/500/600mm
- Choice of coatings: Luxacote® , PVF2 or anodised aluminium
- Choice of skin materials (e.g. aluminium, stainless, steel, copper)
- Choice of carrier systems for fixing to various sub-structures
- Can be laid flat or in variable curved format
- For new-build and over-cladding projects
- Can be used internally, externally and in soffit positions and canopies/covered ways
Hunter Douglas Sun Control. Hunter Douglas is the world market leader in daylight regulation and solar heat control solutions. The company provides architects with the knowledge and expertise to integrate sun control systems into any building to gain optimum performance and superior aesthetics.
A full range of sun control products are available, from louvres (e.g. Aerofins, Aerowings, Aerofoils) to folding and sliding shutters (either manual or motorised). All sun control products can be fully integrated with any Hunter Douglas facade system and manufactured to bespoke requirements.
CHARACTERISTICS
- Fixed or adjustable systems with manual or motorised controls
- Aluminium or Western Red Cedar timber louvres
- Powder-coated or anodised aluminium finishes
- Variety of shutter screen infills, including reflective fibreglass fabric
Hunter Douglas Trafalgar House Croyden, United Kingdom
"The better a building breathes, the better its users breathe, too." It sounds like it should be a proverb of architecture. It isn't of course. Not in a world where offices framed by closed glass curtain walls are ubiquitous.
That's changing, however, as ventilated façades -- which incorporate passive or active air exchange into a single- or double-skin envelope -- increasingly become a common-sense strategy for natural thermal control and air movement. One of the most successful new examples is Trafalgar House, a green office building in the South London neighborhood of Croydon, England, designed by PRC Group architects.
Aiming to create a structure that would increase worker productivity and deliver energy savings, the architects used solar controls and façade systems by Hunter Douglas to control heat gain. The 5,500-square-meter, un-air-conditioned structure met stringent environmental requirements to earn an "Excellent" rating from the UK's Building Research Establishment.
The nine-story office block in South London's commercial center of Croydon, will house the headquarters of the UK Land Registry. A government agency that issues land titles and records property dealings in England and Wales, its program comprises mostly open and cellular office space, as well as a gym and restaurant on the top floor.
The client's number-one priority was to earn a rating of "Excellent," the highest possible, for Trafalgar House on the environmental assessment by the UK's Building Research Establishment (called BREEAM). This rating assesses the overall sustainability of a building with regard to aesthetics, accessibility, recycling management, land and energy use, emissions, and effects on its users' well-being, among other criteria.
PRC Group's design for the structure sought to meet a comprehensive range of BREEAM requirements to achieve this rating... and help them thread the city's stringent approvals process. The clients and architects began by selecting a site for Trafalgar House on a brownfield close to both train and bus lines.
After that, the architects designed a naturally ventilated and solar-shaded building envelope to house the working spaces within. Rather than simply combining single-application products, the functional façade specified by PRC Group was designed to work as a system, reducing heat loss, guarding against excessive heat gain, and facilitating drainage and air circulation, all making the building more energy-efficient and livable.
The architects selected Hunter Douglas' QuadroClad rainscreen façade system, aerofoil louvers, and Venetian blinds to manage the building's air flow and temperature control, along with complementary windows and doors. All featured extensive use of recycled aluminum, another plus for BREEAM certification.
About 2,500 square meters of the ultra-smooth and lightweight, made-to-measure QuadroClad panels were individually fitted to a carrier system mounted to the building's concrete frame. Panels that abutted to windows and doors simply hang on special hooks without any additional flashings or fittings.
Joints between panels were left open to allow mounting of sun louvers. The openings also allow fresh air to pass in through these openings and into the raised floors when automatic intake vents are open. That air, heated by the building's normal solar gain, rises through the floor and into the concrete floor slabs, story by story, until the overall temperature rises to the point at which top-floor vents open and release the air.
In summer, when heating accelerates, Venetian blinds allows users control heat gain locally. And in winter, when the building doesn't warm quickly enough, the mechanical HVAC systems will activate perimeter radiators. Meanwhile, most heating and cooling will happen naturally, greatly reducing energy costs and CO2 emissions.
The QuadroClad façade and Aerofoil solar shading also helped the architects clear another hurdle: How to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the building. Early on, in its recommendation that the project go forward, the Mayor of London had expressed reservations about the design quality, suggesting that the building would be "very difficult to detail in such a way that it would have a satisfactory appearance."
But the range of options afforded by the integrated materials made this a non-issue, according to PRC Group architect Hitesh Dhorajiwala. "Potentially saving on energy bills was a primary factor behind the overall design," he explains. "But we've also achieved some remarkable visual results with this building, particularly with the use of sun control, which will really make it stand out from the crowd."
The horizontal sun louvers add visual interest to those looking at the building from street level. Additional solar controls in the top-floor restaurant and fitness buffs in the gym allow diners and fitness buffs to appreciate the vertical louvers that shade them while preserving expansive views of London beyond.
Such integrated solutions are becoming an increasingly common means of reducing energy consumption without significantly boosting construction costs. Cyril Sweett of building.co.uk reports, for example, that a naturally ventilated office "in a good location (a brownfield site well located for transportation and amenities)," as in Croydon, "can achieve an 'Excellent' rating for as little as a 2.5% increase in capital cost."
Energy savings and a happier, more productive workforce over the life of the building, he concludes, will mean that building developers, operators, and occupants will all benefit from such a minimal extra front-end investment. That should lead to a whole lot of people, not to mention buildings, breathing easier.
Hunter Douglas - South Molton Street Building
It has already been likened to the Flat Iron Building of London, a red spine of a book, or a "burgundy tongue in the beak of a fantasy bird“ – the new residential and office building is a bold architectural design that triggers a wave of different associations. The impressive building dominates the open space in front of it and acts as a landmark that helps people find their way around. Alongside the unconventional shape, the design of the façade is particularly striking,comprising vertically arranged, pillar-shaped ceramic elements. The unusual shapes and the special color of the glazed panels were specially developed by NBK for this project, which – despite its exceptional originality – blends harmoniously into its surroundings.
