Jacobs Winnersh
Located on Winnersh Business Park near Reading, this state-of-the-art office development for engineering firm Jacobs, gives a modern facility for their teams from across the UK and Europe to converge in.
Segro
Architect
EPR Architects
Contractor
Wates Construction
With the outline proposal already approved, our remit was to bring together the detailed façade design, which included GRC banding at slab levels and integral vertical solar shading, and carry the complete responsibility for the building performance. This included the requirements for air-tightness, water-tightness, thermal and acoustic performance.
With very fast installation requirements to deliver this development, we worked closely with the main contractor to fulfil the clients vision.
A concrete frame construction off a podium slab meant that the superstructure build was fast and efficient leaving the façade firmly on the critical path as a full internal fit-out needed to commence. Using a proprietary structurally glazed stick system, as much pre-fabrication work as possible was carried out to aid the speed of installation which was carried out through a scaffold-less methodology. Working in full height vertical sections, the glazing wrapped around all elevations and was installed with a secondary support design at each slab edge between columns to minimise the slab edge deflections.
Once the gridwork was installed, glazing commenced and temporarily restrained until the building was watertight. The elevations were then revisited to finish the façade works with GRC banding and vertical brise soleil installed.
Other areas of complexity included large cladding soffit panels to the undercroft adjacent to the main entrance which required lateral bracing to support the size. 4.5m high automatic swing and revolving doors completed the double height entrance which gives a fitting vista to the front.
The focus on design and planning were rewarded by the total façade installation being achieved in 15 weeks. This success allowed the completion of the building ahead of time and is a model in terms of bringing modern architecture to market efficiently.
