Award for Technal school

The ‘best new school building in Scotland’ was designed by Elder and Cannon Architects, with extensive use of aluminium glazing systems from Technal. The £16m scheme won a Glasgow Institute of Architects Design Award for Education.

The joint campus shared by Niddrie Mill and St Francis Primary Schools has been acclaimed as ‘the best new mainstream state school building in Scotland’.

The schools and their nurseries are arranged around a central shared ‘drum’, and occupy separate wings along two streets, which reflect the identity of each school.

The glazing is designed to provide high levels of natural light and ventilation to the teaching areas and into the centre of this deep plan building. This is achieved with large top hung picture windows from Technal’s high performance FXi65 casement range, and Visible Grid and Trame Horizontale curtain walling, which contrast with the red brick cladding.

More than 100 configurations of glazed screens were specified for the project, using different combinations of window and door frames and panel sizes, to meet Secured by Design security requirements, as well as the building’s ventilation strategy and architectural design.

The large format unbroken expanses of glass create a light and transparent feel for the shared entrance foyer, the circulation spaces and dining areas. The addition of timber louvres to the classrooms control glare from the sun, Technal’s PXi doors provide access to the internal courtyards and CD double doors have been used for the main entrances. The systems were fabricated and installed by Solaglas, and were all finished in dark metallic grey.

Stephen Hoey, project architect of Elder and Cannon Architects said: “We have worked extensively with Technal on a number of projects. In our view, their systems provided the very best value for this project and enabled us to successfully achieve the balance of aesthetics, quality and performance, and with all the low maintenance and longevity advantages of aluminium.”

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