Tag Archive for: Commercial glazing

Britplas opens Yorkshire office

Britplas has opened an office in Yorkshire in order to meet the requirements of a healthy sales pipeline into 2020 across its commercial glazing services.

The Huddersfield office will initially be home to a design team who will work closely with the existing design department based at Britplas’ head office in Warrington.

Group Managing Director John Blackwell commented “With a number of significant project wins recently secured, the new Yorkshire team brings a wealth of experience and will help us to continue to provide the best possible service to our national client base.

This is an exciting development in the continued growth of the Britplas Group and we look forward to welcoming the new team into the Britplas family.”

Jason Cross joins Britplas as operations director

Britplas is pleased to announce the appointment of Jason Cross to the new position of operations director.

With overall responsibility for delivering operational excellence across the design, manufacture and installation of Britplas projects, Jason brings considerable operational experience and skills to the role, having worked in the commercial glazing sector for some 32 years.

“I am thrilled to be joining Britplas at such an exciting time” commented Jason. “This is a progressive business with strong values and a unique proposition in the market. Our pipeline is strong and I’m looking forward to delivering continuous operational improvement with the support of a great team.”

Britplas Group is forecasting another year of impressive turnover growth, and Jason’s is one of several recent appointments which have been made in order to support the continued expansion of the business.

We are also delighted to welcome Gill Gribbin as financial controller to lead the accounts and finance team. In the factory, Ian Mitchell has been promoted to Commercial Line Production manager.

The sales team has also recruited a new member, with Matt Gorman moving from the estimating department to take on a business development manager role.

Britplas secure glazing package for Edinburgh St James, one of the UK’s largest private sector regeneration projects

Britplas has recently secured a contract worth in excess of £8m for the design and installation of the glazing to a large section of Laing O’Rourke’s landmark Edinburgh St James development.

With a total investment value of £1.7billion, Edinburgh St James is one of the UK’s largest regeneration projects, located at the top of Leith Walk. Its predecessor, the St James shopping centre, was built in the 1960s and has recently been demolished to make way for 850,000 sq. ft. of retail space, a luxury hotel, 150 new homes, 30 restaurants and a cinema.

At a pre-construction level our team worked with Laing O’Rourke and BDP Architects to deliver both the aesthetic and performance requirements of Edinburgh’s new centrepiece. The end result was a multi-faceted package consisting of:

  • Kawneer AA100 capped curtain walling
  • Kawneer AA720 window/ door suite
  • Kawneer AA4110 sliding door
  • Kawneer AA190 thermally broken and non-thermally broken commercial doors

Work on the site started in 2016, with extensive demolition and excavation required (to a depth of some five storeys). Britplas are due to begin installing the external facade in February 2019, finishing 10 months later in Q1 2020. The whole program is scheduled to be completed in 2020.

Britplas chosen for emergency services reshuffle

Britplas have been appointed to provide the external envelope of Milton Keynes’ new Blue Light Hub. The £14 million development will create a state-of-the-art combined fire, police and ambulance centre to serve as a central command centre, replacing several dispersed services spread through each borough.

The project is being led by Kingerlee Limited who are contracted to complete works on site by August 2019, with Britplas due to start their £2 million external envelope package in late October 2018 and finish late June 2019.

The in-house design team at Britplas worked closely with Kingerlee to create an envelope which worked for the specific needs of this unique building. composite cladding, Schüco FWS 50 curtain walling and Schüco AWS 65 windows/ doors are due to be installed on the landmark project which will form part of a 3 acre site in Thornbury, West Ashland.

As part of the development, services provided by Bletchley and Great Holm Fire stations and Bletchley Police Station will move to the Blue Light Hub.

Britplas start on site at Honeybourne Place

Britplas are starting work on site at Honeybourne Place, a new £12m office development in the heart of Cheltenham.

The Honeybourne Place façade schedule is due to run until mid-2018, and represents £3.5m to Britplas for the design, manufacture and installation of the majority of the external envelope, a striking glazed façade designed by architects Roberts Limbrick. Located in central Cheltenham, the 60,000 sq. ft. scheme is the first of its type in several years for the Gloucestershire town, with demand for high quality office space outstripping supply.

The initial SFS load bearing sub-structure is being installed prior to the arrival of the first glazed units and cladding next week. When completed, it will feature Schüco FW50+ curtain walling, steel fire resistant screens, finished with a large range of cladding varieties.

Britplas are due to install stone, ceramic, composite, brick slip, aluminium rainscreen, brise soleil and architectural fascias and soffits creating a challenge for our procurement and on-site teams.

Westgate Oxford opens to the public

Oxford’s new £440million Westgate Shopping Centre, where Britplas delivered the full external glazing package for two blocks, was completed and opened to the public on the 24th October.

Britplas were appointed to the two stage project, which brought with it various challenges particularly around access, by main contractor Laing O’Rourke. Westgate block 1 comprised the installation of multiple aluminium door varieties and a unitised curtain walling system creating a technical challenge for our design team which was overcome with collaboration from the system supplier, Schueco. Block 4 involved the manufacture, supply and installation of aluminium doors, Schueco FW60+ curtain walling and fixed light glazing. Together these packages totalled £2.4m and represented several months on site for our installation team.

The Westgate development was a joint venture between Land Securities, The Crown Estate with Westgate Oxford Alliance to improve facilities in Oxford City Centre, with the revitalisation of the 1970 built shopping precinct central to this. 125 shops including the major new John Lewis with its Britplas façade are expected to bring in triple the amount of shoppers as previous years.

Britplas secure Honeybourne Place contract

Britplas have secured a £2.9m glazing contract at a new commercial development in Cheltenham, Honeybourne Place. The mixed use development consists of ground level retail units and penthouse apartments, with the bulk being office space.

The £12m build will complete the redevelopment of the old St James railway site in the heart of Cheltenham, and provide a much needed 64,000 sq. ft. of office space as well as bringing 500 jobs to the area. Britplas are again working with contractor Barnwood Construction who broke ground at the site last month, with Britplas due to start on site towards the end of 2017.

Britplas’ package of works includes the design, manufacture and installation of Schüco FW60+ curtain walling, Wrightstyle SR60 steel fire resistant screens, finished with composite and brick slip cladding.

Britplas have lift off at The University of Cambridge

Working closely with Kier Major Projects and Techrete, the first precast and glazed concrete panel was secured into place on Project Capella today, a new 18,000m2 biomedical research building which is under construction for the university.

The Schüco FW60+ curtain walling sections are manufactured and installed offsite to allow for minimal disruption on site and give the fastest possible weather tightening of the building. The end result will comprise a full façade spanning 2,750m2 all manufactured and installed by Britplas. The completion of composite cladding, curtain walling and concrete sections is on target to be delivered on time for June 2017.

Kier are a longstanding Britplas client, having worked together previously on projects such as St Bernards Hospital, numerous mental health projects, Marlborough School, Cedars Manor, Preistmead and Aylward primary schools. The working relationship stretches back over 10 years in the mental health, education and commercial sectors.

Project Capella reflects the University of Cambridge’s commitment to medical research, with the £79m state of the art facility designed to house a number of small pioneering companies currently scattered across the city. Britplas are proud to have been appointed to deliver the façade package on this prestigious and significant project.

Bunker Building is a winner in RIBA Awards

RIBA North West have announced that ten projects were winners of 2016 RIBA Regional Awards, in recognition of their architectural excellence, including the Bunker Building in Liverpool where Britplas completed the fenestration package last year.

The Bunker Building is the former Littlewoods storage building which has been remodelled by architects Shedkm to provide flexible office space for developer Capital and Centric.

Britplas provided aluminium curtain walling, casement windows and doors to the project.

Having shortlisted 17 buildings, the RIBA judging panel visited all shortlisted projects over a week in March and reached a decision to award 10 RIBA Regional Awards at a prestigious ceremony hosted by BBC 6 Music’s Stuart Maconie at The Bluecoat in Liverpool, attended by members of the profession from across the North West.

North West Regional Jury Chair, Mushtaq Saleri, commented:

“The 2016 North West Awards are testament to the strength of architecture in the region today. With a record number of entries even the shortlisting process was difficult, the judging even more so.

“The judges were impressed by the dedication and commitment of the architects we met along the way, matched by clients who were clearly thrilled to have been involved in the special projects recognised by the visits. The vastly differing functions, scale, complexity and budgets make comparisons between the winning schemes impossible. The fact that we were equally moved by a delightful private residence and (in the same afternoon) a state-of-the-art laboratory facility proves that architects can have a positive influence in all areas of our lives.

“It has been inspiring to have been privy to these remarkable buildings and to have shared the stories behind their conception and construction. We congratulate all the architects and design teams involved and in particular the clients who continue to support our profession and all it represents The RIBA Awards recognise how this unique relationship can deliver something truly special”.

Britplas’ case study on the Bunker Building can be viewed here.

The full list of RIBA North West winners can be seen here.

 

 

Tag Archive for: Commercial glazing