A residential refurbishment of the iconic 1920s Dock Office in Salford Quays has included a stunning two-storey steel framed structure at roof level, incorporating TECHNAL GEODE MX Toggle curtain walling, fabricated by Quest Solutions (UK) Ltd, to all sides to achieve panoramic views across the city. Technal’s FY65 windows were also specified, providing an aesthetic in-keeping with the original art-deco design.

Originally built as offices and a bank by Harry Fairhurst and Son in 1927, the landmark building sits within an area of Salford in Greater Manchester that has been undergoing drastic redevelopment since the 1980s. The re-development by Liveman Properties has converted the Dock Office into a mixture of one, two- and three-bedroom apartments, with an additional 14 new duplex apartments constructed on the existing building roof.

DV Architects, Liverpool, specified TECHNAL’s GEODE MX Toggle Glazing curtain walling for the steel frame extension and SOLEAL FY65 windows. Architect Billy Hodge commented, “The Dock Office is a local heritage asset and great care has been taken to make sure that the character of the building is not altered.

“Two additional storeys have been added to the height, stepped back from the main facade and designed to have a flush surface with no projecting framing. We wanted the design to be clean and modern so that it contrasts with the older facade - appearing as a simple dark box on top of the crisp white building below.”

TECHNAL’s GEODE MX Toggle curtain walling allows for the creation of a flush glass facade, which, in addition, can be either concave or convex. The double-glazed units are fixed to the transom and mullion profiles through a specially designed, thermally broken toggle to allow quick and easy installation.

Billy continued, “TECHNAL FY65 windows and the glazing are also a key feature of the new facade. Timber windows have been replaced with TECHNAL’s FY high performance double glazed aluminium frames in white, which were chosen as they have a similar pattern to the original window design. As the building is listed, the new windows complement the character of the existing white concrete facade, whilst also improving the thermal efficiency of the building.”

The TECHNAL systems were fabricated and installed by Quest Solutions (UK) Ltd who commented, “Quest installed the traditional high performing TECHNAL SOLEAL FY65 window for the lower floors and TECHNAL’s Toggle glazed GEODE MX curtain walling system with black ceramic glazing which was used to create the cap-less flush glass facade that protrudes from the roof with visibly less aluminium.”

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