A mixture of modular and traditional curtain walling from leading architectural aluminium systems supplier Kawneer features on one of the tallest residential buildings in London.
Kawneer’s AA®201 unitised or modular/off-site curtain walling has been used on the fourth to 43rd storeys of the award-winning landmark Stratford Halo tower at 150 High Street, Stratford, while the traditional stick-system AA®110 mullion-drained curtain walling with 65mm sightlines features on the ground to third levels.
Kawneer worked closely with the architect and main contractor using their AA®201 unitised system to develop a project-specific solution to meet the challenging design features of the building.
These called for the main elevations to be faceted at varying angles, with a flat rear elevation incorporating a 7˚ inclined slope between the 29th and 43rd floors. The very top of the building featured a ‘crown’, sloping and faceting from front to rear.
Kawneer developed many project-specific production dies to meet these design requirements and provided all the design and assembly drawings for the project via their Special Projects Department.
At 132 metres, the tallest building in the UK to feature Kawneer’s curtain walling, Stratford Halo lies at the heart of the former Olympic Village. It is the flagship of seven buildings built by Ardmore Construction for Genesis Housing Association.
As well as more than 700 mixed-tenure homes, the fast-track regeneration development provides almost 3,000m² of retail/commercial/community floor space for Class A1-A4/B1/D1 uses, and contributes to the large-scale regeneration of Newham, East London and the Thames Gateway.
High-spec apartments and penthouses benefit from high-speed lifts and carefully-designed landscaped spaces between the buildings, providing opportunities for residents and the public to walk, sit and play.
The façade was designed to express verticality and provide interest by the introduction of coloured spandrels which fade from dark to light blues to the rear and upwards. To reduce the appearance of distinct horizontal bands, four transition zones are introduced to soften colours where they change vertically.
Natural ventilation to each living space and bedroom is provided by purge ventilators located behind aluminium perforated screens running the full height of the tower.
Ardmore said: “The integrated approach, combined with our prefabricated bathroom pods, enabled rapid fitting out and early phased handovers. The tower core was jump-formed and the central stairs formed in pre-cast concrete. The early installation of lifts enabled phased occupation of the lower levels as fit-out continued above.”
