PROJECT DETAILS
Specially adapted facade systems from WICONA were specified for the £26m Laidlaw Library project - a magnificent and inspirational undergraduate facility for the University of Leeds.
This state-of-the-art learning hub helps the University to attract more students in an increasingly competitive higher educational environment and provides a major cultural centre to enrich the student and wider community experience. This is a gateway to the University, and the design is a bold and confident statement for the future of the institution.
The scheme occupies a sensitive location in a conservation area, surrounded by listed buildings and is located in a streetscape that had remained almost unchanged for 50 years. This was the fourth building on a challenging teardrop-shaped site, and the design had to be carefully articulated and considered fenestration to the facades.
Portland stone cladding adds weight to the building and helps to present it as a place of importance to the University, complemented by extensive use of glass constructed from WICTEC 50SG structural glazing.
The curtain walling was designed to create an even distribution of light and an elegant appearance, as an alternative to punched openings or a grid across the building envelope. Large, flush picture windows were also formed using the WICTEC system, providing dramatic, panoramic views across the campus and the cityscape.
A ‘veil’ of anodised aluminium vertical fins floats in front of the glazing and the stone cladding for optimum solar shading to the east and west elevations, whilst allowing key and oblique views and unifying the façade elements.
The WICTEC 50SG structurally glazed system created a flush glass finish and was specially adapted for the project to anchor the solar shading fins. It also had to meet stringent acoustic requirements and a rating of RwDB38 because of the building’s city centre location and the impact of high traffic levels.
The curtain walling was finished in bronze anodising externally and light champagne internally. WICSTYLE 75 aluminium doors were used for two entrances on the ground floor and for access to the roof where there are 50,000 bees living in hives.
This is a sustainable building which is constructed to a BREEAM ‘excellent’ standard with low energy passive design and renewable energy generation. There was also robust thermal detailing to the envelope to deliver energy efficiency, as well as a sharp and contemporary appearance that reflects the ambition, vision and values of the University.
