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The £420m Manchester Engineering Campus (MECD) benefits from a range of Construction Specialties’ (CS) architectural louvres providing excellent airflow and long-lasting protection from wind-driven rain.
The engineering campus will be home to a community of 8000 students and staff. With the University of Manchester committed to environmental sustainability, a green approach to the design was paramount with the project targeting BREEAM ‘Excellent’.
For the largest building on the campus, 80,000m2 the MEC Hall, CS louvres were specified for the rooftop plant areas to provide both natural ventilation and smoke clearance ventilation. A custom clip in louvre, powder coated in RAL 9005 Black, complemented the vertical grid of metal slats on the façade. In active louvre areas bird guards and motorised uPVC volume control dampers were installed behind louvres, while non-active areas thermally-insulated blanking panels were fitted. On the sides facing internal hall atriums, CS SLA-I screening louvres, powder coated to blend in with the wall colours, were installed in inverted configuration to hide the louvres and dampers from view.
Linked to the MEC Hall by a second floor walkway, the Upper Brook Street Building (Engineering Building B) houses a large teaching lab and lecture hall. CS supplied its high performance rain defence model RSV-5700 and double louvred doors for this building. The louvre modules were fabricated with a glazing frame to allow easy integration within the curtain walling system.
Featuring a complex, extruded aluminium blade profile with multiple draining channels, arranged in vertical orientation, RSV-5700 is a high-performance louvre designed to provide maximum defence against wind-driven rain penetration. Independently tested to EN 13030, RSV-5700 offers class A rain defence up to 3.5m/s core velocity, combined with a class 3 ‘good’ airflow rating.
The custom clip louvre was also specified for the new build extension to the Grade II listed Oddfellows Hall and RSV-5700 system was installed in 3 elevations of the York Street Building.
The specification and installation of CS’ architectural louvres will ensure the buildings can boast striking aesthetics and functionality whilst supporting the sustainability strategy of the campus.
For further project information visit: https://www.c-sgroup.co.uk/blog/manchester-engineering-campus-mecd-manchester-uk/