Sustainable Buildings

Architectural design continues to push the boundaries of possibility. It is no longer just the visual success of a building that defines its place in today’s cityscapes, sustainable architecture - environmentally-conscious design techniques in the field of architecture - is framed by the larger discussion of sustainability and society’s economic and political issues. 

Norking Aluminium Ltd has been at the forefront of many of the country’s flagship sustainable buildings.

Intelligent energy solutions have been pioneered through Building Schools for the Future (BSF), one of the UK’s largest capital investment programmes for 50 years. Central to the buildings’ design is the reduction of the buildings’ carbon footprint benefiting the wider community.

In 2005 the new buildings at MANCAT (the Walker Simpson designed North Manchester Sixth Form College) opened with impressive environmental credentials. Featuring 1500m sq of curtain walling, electric louvers, external brise soleil and Schueco Royal S50 composite ribbon windows, the ecologically innovative photovoltaic (PV) rainscreen cladding provided renewable energy to the building by converting sunlight into electric energy.

Following this was the £1.9m contract for Gateway Sixth Form College in Leicester.  Designed by architects Nightingale Associates, ISG were the principal contractor for Gateway Sixth Form College’s £33m project. Norking developed and designed site specific installations to achieve Gateway’s aim of substantially reducing the carbon output of the college.

To the south facing elevation of the building Norking glazed 79 sq metres of 38mm polycrystalline PV panels into the entrance block’s curtain walling constructed using Schueco FW60+. To naturally regulate the temperature inside the building, to the south facing teaching blocks Norking designed, manufactured and installed bespoke brise soleil. Independently suspended from the Glulam beams the gull wing profiles were supported off the suspended structure and offset by 1.8m - calculated to perfectly balance the amount of heat and shade to the building. 1300m sq of fully automated opening windows from the Velfac 200 series were linked to a sophisticated Building Management System enabling automatic control of lighting, heating and ventilation to individual classrooms. An LCD monitor was installed in the college to provide an instant visual report on the performance of the PV units and the energy use of the school raising pupils’ awareness of energy and sustainability.
Norking continue to lead the market in the design, manufacture and installation of bespoke facades for sustainable buildings. Contracts have been signed for installations at Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Warwick and the £39m Tresham Institute of Further and Higher Education at Corby; work will begin at all three sites during 2010.