Rooflights from Brett Martin have been specified to accommodate the key design role of natural light at the œ2.5 billion development of Heathrow’s Terminal 2.
Designed by Luis Vidal + Architects and built by HETCo (Ferrovial Agroman Laing O’Rourke JV) for client Heathrow Airport Holdings, the terminal’s geometrically complex wave form roof was designed and installed by building envelope specialist Lakesmere Group. The specification for the Kalzip aluminium roof included Brett Martin GRP Trilite rooflights to add light to the passenger terminal and reduce the need for natural lighting.
The wave form roof features ten raised ?eyebrow’ sections and includes almost 1,500 metres of Brett Martin Trilite rooflights on the downslopes of the most westerly wave sections which cover the West Passenger Forecourt. Each rooflight measures 24 metres long, with six installed in each of the first nine sections whilst the tenth section has eight Trilite rooflights, all of which were assembled on site. The design also included a handrail and walkway system around the rooflights to allow for maintenance and cleaning.
Pete Chandler, design director at Lakesmere, said:
“These rooflights were easy to install in what was a very complex roof design. The Brett Martin Trilite rooflight proved ideal over the passenger concourse, as it offered the optimum daylight solution and is designed to be integral to the Kalzip roofing system.”
GRP allows an even spread of daylight, illuminating the terminal while eliminating the risk of hot spots and solar glare which could disturb the public. Comprising a liner panel and outer weather sheet, along with an option to include an intermediate sheet to form a triple skin, Brett Martin says the built up profiled rooflight is ideal for pitched or gently sloping roofs such as the roof at Terminal 2A.
For this airport application, Lakesmere installed Brett Martin site assembled in plane rooflights, which were built up using a Trilite GRP sheet 2.4kg/mý outer and Trilite 3.0kg/mý liner, with Hardpak rigid fillers to prevent crushing of the rooflight when fixed and to ensure fast, reliable weatherproofing.
With over 1,000 profiles available and seven sheet thicknesses to choose from, Trilite GRP rooflight sheet is used extensively in a wide range of applications. Offering high strength and durability, the BBA certified rooflights are specified to satisfy project fire ratings and to be Class B non-fragile to ACR[M]001.
Brett Martin says its in-plane GRP rooflights have played their part in the roofing design of Heathrow Terminal T2 and demonstrated that natural light can have a huge impact in improving the atmosphere of the largest of buildings.
