An architectural glazing system from Brett Martin Daylight Systems has been selected by Jaguar Land Rover to help ensure its new plant achieves a BREEAM excellent rating.
The designers of the £500m advanced engine manufacturing facility in the West Midlands incorporated sustainable solutions comprising insulated cladding, photovoltaic, automatic louvres and glazing. These solutions are intended to not only ensure the entire facility would become an exemplar of energy efficiency, but would also enhance the productivity of the workforce.
In looking for a glazing system which would not only maximise daylight but also offer exceptional air tightness, fire performance, durability and UV stability, Brett Martin says its Marlon Clickfix 1040 polycarbonate glazing system met the project requirements and was the most thermally efficient way of introducing daylight into the development’s two buildings.
A spokesperson from Arup Architects said: “The Marlon Clickfix glazing system was chosen for this manufacturing facility because of its thermal efficiency, weather tightness and fire performance. We were able to maximise natural light into the plant and create a thermally efficient building envelope which has helped the building achieve an Excellent BREEAM rating.”
Comprising lightweight 40mm polycarbonate panels offering impact resistance, resilience and structural strength, Marlon Clickfix provides a U-Value of 0.99 W/m²K, for a more energy efficient building. Installation is very straightforward due to the modular design, which consists of interlocking panels that simply click and fix into place for glazed areas of unlimited size and shape.
The Marlon Clickfix 1040 system has a choice of two thermally broken aluminium glazing bar systems depending on the application; the Marlon Clickfix VF glazing bar system has been specifically developed for vertical installations such as façades, partitioning, rain screens and vertically glazed northlights, whilst Marlon Clickfix RL has been designed for use in low pitch rooflights and canopies.
With extensive areas of northlights and façades, Brett Martin supplied over 10,000m2 of clear glass effect Marlon Clickfix polycarbonate panels to provide naturally diffused daylighting in the machinery plant and assembly hall and a further 8,000 metres of Marlon Clickfix VF powder coated aluminium frame profiles for installation by the specialist contractor, Hathaway Roofing.
Keeping with the sleek lines of the project and to satisfy the design criteria, the system’s interlocking glazing panels simply clicked together to create the seamless northlights.
The additional weight that traditional glass northlights could potentially add to the roof structure was an initial concern. However, the Marlon Clickfix system is much lighter than glass at just 4.3kg/m² and reduced the need for additional roof support structures.
The system also features as vertical glazing at upper levels on the north and south facing walls on both Jaguar Land Rover buildings bringing further daylight into each facility.
Chris Czyzyk, regional sales manager for Brett Martin, said: “This was our largest order to date for the Marlon Clickfix system and to meet a fast turnaround of four to six weeks, our production facility was able to supply all the panels cut and prepared for installation, blown free from dust and taped at both ends to reduce the chance of error.
The speed and ease of installation was a key factor for Hathaway Roofing, as the project was the largest installation of Marlon Clickfix panel glazing system the specialist contractor had undertaken. Brett Martin invited two representatives to attend a product installation training session at the company’s Coventry site to practice installing the product on training rigs before installation on site.
Dave Ramsey of Hathaway Roofing said: “The training and technical support from Brett Martin was of great benefit to our site team. Any minor issues were quickly resolved which kept the installation process on track and within the required timelines and budgets.”
