From Police To Penthouse With Kawneer
HQ Chester
4 August, 2010
Curtain walling from leading architectural aluminium systems supplier Kawneer has helped to prove a fitting juxtaposition to the traditional setting of a contemporary landmark building in the historic city of Chester.
HQ Chester, a £50 million mixed-use, circular development of Grade A offices, luxury hotel, retail units and residential apartments, features a total of three types of Kawneer’s curtain walling and two types of Kawneer windows.
The manufacturer’s frameless AA®110 structurally silicone glazed curtain walling was installed on the external elevations of the buildings by approved sub-contractor Bennett Architectural Aluminium Solutions for main contractor Pochin Construction.
In addition, AA®100 dry-jointed capped curtain walling with 50mm sightlines was installed by Bennett’s on the internal, courtyard elevations and AA®110 capped curtain walling with 65mm sightlines in barrier load areas such as stairwells, along with AA®601 top-hung casement and AA®603 tilturn and AA®603 tilt slide windows.
Christened HQ after the ugly and unloved police headquarters which most recently inhabited the three-acre site, the 250,000ft² project comprises 35 luxury apartments and penthouses over seven storeys, 67,000ft² of Grade A office space over six storeys, a luxury four-star Abode hotel over seven storeys, restaurants and landscaped grounds.
Set within the city walls and overlooking the famous racecourse and Welsh hills beyond, on a site that dates back to the Roman and Medieval times and previously housed a nunnery, HQ’s design for Liberty Properties centred around a courtyard piazza and was constructed of a concrete basement and podium with steel frame above.
Graham Bateson, an associate with AFL Architects who were brought in by Pochin to work up the construction details, said: “There were a lot of conservation issues as the building is next to the city walls and opposite the castle. Extensive archaeological works had to be carried out before the scheme could go ahead on site.”
For further information, please contact:
Jane Ashley
Marketing Executive
Kawneer UK Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 1928 502500
Fax: +44 (0) 1928 502501
Email
CPD Seminars
Architectural Services Team
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