“We devised a system which would be structurally strong enough to span the distance of 11 metres and to also include the two pivoting doors in the centre.”
Altitude Glass has been working with contractor R Walker & Sons on the university’s recently opened Engineering Innovation Centre.
The £35m scheme is a state-of-the-art facility developed to drive engineering innovation in the North West.
Altitude Glass has overcome structural obstacles and fitted stunning glass partition walls in the building, designed to create a clear separation between some of the centre’s facilities. This work involved a major installation of an 11m long by 3m tall glass wall, with two pivoting doors in the centre, which divides the technician’s office on the ground floor of the centre from the workshops.
“The installation of the 11m long wall on the ground floor was technically challenging”
We consulted with contractor R Walker & Sons during several stages of the build, in relation to specifying architectural glass within the building. Our work has involved installing glass partitions which create a really stunning look, bringing in lots of light and separating spaces, but also creating a link between them.
The installation of the 11m long wall on the ground floor was technically challenging, as we had a complicated ceiling to work with and were unable to attach glass directly to it, due to cabling, lighting and the air-conditioning pipework, which had all been left exposed due to the nature of the industrial design.
We devised a system which would be structurally strong enough to span the distance of 11 metres and to also include the two pivoting doors in the centre. The track of the glass was purposefully anodised in a graphite to match the interior. We also specified using a wider base channel for the glass walls, with double layers of 12mm safety glass, this was supported structurally by tying the U channel of the glass via metal hangers into the ceiling.”
David Marsden, contracts manager at R Walker and Sons said: “The new innovation centre really is a landmark scheme for the region. Internally we wanted to create an office space within a live engineering workshop with a striking combination of form and function, a practical work environment, which is also very stylish. The architectural glass within the building plays a key part of this, linking spaces together and pulling natural light into all the different zones on the ground floor. It was fantastic working with Altitude Glass on the project, they provided unrivalled expertise and developed some excellent solutions to the challenges that arose from installing large internal walls of glass in areas with exposed ceiling work.”
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