Granada’s secondary glazing has helped to deliver comfortable and creative inspiration for art students the School of Fine Art in Leeds
Ranked as fifth for art and design studies in the UK, the School of Fine Art in Leeds occupies an elegant building on University Road. The facility has invested £7.6m relocating to the refurbished building, providing students with an inspirational learning environment.
Large windows characterise the outside of the building, allowing in plenty of natural light to aid the students’ creativity. However, the 1927 building’s design and function of the primary single glazed windows required some creative thinking from Granada Glazing’s technical team.
One of the many challenges in the restoration project was the addition of a sympathetic secondary glazing system, which not only had to maintain the existing appearance of the sizeable windows, but also allows their original opening lights to remain functional. Secondary glazing was specified to reduce the carbon footprint of the classic revivalist building, which was Grade II listed in 1996, and blend in seamlessly with the existing architectural features.
Total functionality
To maintain total functionality of the primary glazing, Granada advised the installation of heritage hinged units which can be easily opened for cleaning and maintenance. The original windows opened from the top, making it difficult for students and lecturers to open the windows for ventilation and cooling the room.
With no transoms or mullions to spoil the view, heritage hinged secondary glazing windows provide an unobtrusive glazing system. Retaining the character of existing primary windows, they deliver superb acoustic performance, enhanced thermal efficiency and security, plus condensation control.
Granada also developed a bespoke gearing solution to allow the primary and secondary glazing to be opened simultaneously.
Preferred choice
For listed properties or those within a conservation area where the primary windows cannot be changed, secondary glazing is often the preferred choice to improve their environmental performance. Secondary glazing can be installed within these types of buildings, enabling them to achieve levels of comfort suitable for the 21st century.
Granada Glazing worked in close partnership with the contractors and Architects. The architect noted, Granada Glazing “did a magnificent job of an almost impossible task”.
Having demonstrated excellent product quality and product functionality, alongside expert project management on this project, Granada Glazing was specified again by the Architect to supply their heritage hinged unit with bespoke gearing system for the University of Hull.
