The BREEAM Outstanding visitor and heritage centre at Tata Steel’s factory in Port Talbot, South Wales is a showcase for AluK’s SG52 and SL52 stick curtain walling systems. The thermally broken systems were used at various points around the £12m development, which is located at the main entrance to Tata Steel’s 16km2 site also houses stores and training facilities.

AluK’s structurally bonded SG52 system was used for the expansive glass façade that dominates the front of the main building, while their capped SL52 system was used for the smaller sections at the side and rear with doors and opening lights incorporated.

Alongside the curtain walling, there are also high security AluK GT55 commercial doors providing the main entrance and escape doors and AluK windows installed in the entrance lobby to create a fully integrated scheme.

Specified by Powell Dobson Architects in collaboration with contractors Dawnus Construction, AluK's fully recyclable aluminium systems met the overall design vision and satisfied the testing performance standards required for the Outstanding BREEAM rating.

The Tata Steel project was actually the first multiple building site in Wales to be rated Outstanding and was a ground-breaking Construction Excellence pilot site that won both a South Wales Building Excellence Sustainability Award and a Construction Excellence Wales Innovation Award.

Alongside the sustainability and thermal performance of the systems, a key factor for Powell Dobson in the selection of AluK products was the fact that all the windows and doors could offer PAS 24 security accreditation and Secured by Design certification.

Peter Savill, the Project Architect, commented: “The technical excellence of the thermally broken AluK systems, together with their aesthetic qualities, provided us with an ideal solution.”