Caice has provided over 300m2 of elliptical A300 Brise Soleil along the length of the South façade of the Exwick Heights Primary School in Exeter. The challenge was how to merge two existing primary schools on separate and remote sites into one fully integrated learning facility and to also meet the various requirements of the community.

The two-storey building is split in two by a central corridor. Community activity areas being on the North side and teaching activities to the South. The classrooms open up onto landscaped areas in order to make the most of the external environment. Sustainable elements include natural ventilation and lighting which have gone towards the building achieving a high BREEAM rating.

As the main teaching areas are south facing, it was important to ensure that the windows were adequately protected and shaded against solar heat gain and glare. In addition, the central atrium was top ventilated which requires cooler incoming air to cross flow through to the atrium from the classroom windows.

In order to achieve this, Caice installed its Brise Soleil system. The Caice system protects both ground and upper floor windows and is cantilevered out from the building to ensure full window coverage and to follow the curvature of the façade. It is supported by secondary steelwork supplied and fitted by Caice and fixed back to Glulam beams.