Client: Pleckgate High School, Blackburn
Architect: Aedas
Developer: Blackburn Council
Contractor: Balfour Beatty
Glazing Contractor: Dortech
System Supplier: SAS (Senior Architectural Systems)
Glass Fabricator: Dual Seal
Glass: High Selective SN62/34
Pleckgate High School in Blackburn is the first school to be built as part of Balfour Beatty’s recent contract with Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen councils to rebuild 26 schools in the northern area by 2015.
The contract was agreed at the start of 2010 at a cost of £450 million. Work on the first project, Pleckgate High School, started immediately after the contracts were signed and was expected to cost around £25 million to complete.
The project designed by Aedas Architects who have offices all over the UK, as well as Continental Europe, Asia, America and the Middle East. They have created a modern, fascinating school design, which leaves a lasting impression. The high performance glazing used was installed by Dortech, and uses SAS (Senior Architectural Systems) Hybrid – Series 2 Aluminium Timber composite window system combined with Guardian High Selective Super Neutral 62/34 glazing, fabricated into insulating glass units by Dual Seal in Huddersfield.
The Hybrid composite window system from SAS has a slim profile which allows maximum glazed area with a very sleek, contemporary look. The High Selective Super Neutral glass provides exceptional U values of 1.0 W/M2k, combined with excellent solar control, with a solar factor of just 34%, therefore rejecting 66% of solar heat gains from the building. The performance is further enhanced with its high light transmission of 62%, making the glazing exceptionally neutral with some of the best performance available on the market today. This High Selective glass is just one of the products which will be planned for production from the UK once our Coater construction has been completed.
The Pleckgate High School project uses 3,000 m2 of curtain walling and window systems, which were specified with High Selective glass to help control the environment inside the building, by limiting solar gain and providing optimum thermal insulation with excellent light transmission.