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CMS wins Aberdeen art gallery redevelopment contract

Leading window, door and curtain walling designer, fabricator and installer CMS Window Systems has been appointed to work on a £30 million project to redevelop the prestigious Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Working for main contractor McLaughlin & Harvey, CMS is tasked with providing curtain walling as part of the two year project designed by Hoskins Architects which will transform the city’s Art Gallery, Cowdray Hall and Memorial Hall. This will create new educational facilities, upgrade performance and reflection spaces and provide 21 new galleries in what was previously unused space.

A significant part of the project will be to alter the building envelope and create a new rooftop extension by removal of the existing pitched roofs and skylights, together with a new build extension to the rear. CMS will provide the solutions for this part of the project.

The company, which is based at Castlecary near Glasgow, will fabricate and install nearly 150 sq. m of curtain walling using Metal Technology’s System 17 SP (Silicon Pointed). This structural glazing system’s classic visual appearance provides a continuous and expansive external glass face to the façade in order to meet the contemporary design of the new building elements.

The curtain walling features 32mm insulating glass units (IGUs) which incorporate a 6mm SECURIT glass outer skin, a 6mm PLANITHERM low e glass inner pane and a 20mm cavity with warm edge spacer bar, silicon sealed with toggle glazing insert. The façade on the west elevation offers additional solar control with the inner pane on these IGUs being 6mm COOL‐LITE SKN 174 to manage solar gain in peak sunshine. The façade also features spandrel glazing created with a 6mm EMALIT ceramic painted inner skin insulated with 75mm foil faced rigid PIR.

Aberdeen Art Gallery was handed over to the main contractor in July and CMS is scheduled to begin installing the windows, doors and curtain walling in September. This comes as the gallery continues to raise the remaining one third of funds required for the project, which is already backed by The Heritage Lottery Fund and Aberdeen City Council who have each granted the project £10m.

A public fundraising campaign is helping to bridge the gap, which will see donors digitally acknowledged and anyone wishing to donate can visit: www.aagm.co.uk or call 01224 523670. Donations can also be made by texting AAGM001 to 70970 to donate £5, and AAGM001 to 70191 to donate £10.

Find out more about CMS at www.cmswindows.com.
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The regeneration of London’s 2012 Olympic Stadium

Balfour Beatty, working with Populous, Buro Happold and the London Legacy Development Corporation, have repurposed the iconic London 2012 Olympic stadium, originally built to host London’s 2012 games. Their latest video (see below) talks us through the redesign, highlighting how they are championing sustainable practices throughout the project.

According to the video, the stadium, which is now home to West Ham United FC, will have a capacity of 54,000 people for football matches and 80,000 for athletics events and music concerts.

Sustainability and skills building

Sustainability has been at the very heart of the redesign. So far the work undertaken has included the reuse of 19,000 tonnes of recycled demolition materials, 6,000 m of cable, 3,800 lights and 1,000 mechanical and electrical components. This will undoubtedly help send a message out to the refurb and retrofit industry of what can be done to try and push the industry towards reducing the volume of waste to landfill. (According to a report by the Wates Group, the UK construction industry sends 36 million tons of waste to landfill sites each year.)

The regeneration project has also been doing its bit to tackle the skills shortage, with Balfour Beatty creating 50 local apprenticeships and over 300 training opportunities across the site.

Continuing a legacy

Stephen Tarr, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty’s Major Projects business said, “From the very beginning we were focused on continuing the legacy of this historic venue, transforming it from its original use of a single-purpose venue to a multi-functional world class venue providing numerous opportunities and uses for generations to come.

“We have utilised some of the most complex engineering techniques on this project, capitalising on our in-house capabilities and expertise to ensure the project was delivered safely to a high specification whilst boosting the local economy through employment opportunities; it’s a project we are all immensely proud of.”

Watch the video below:
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