Introduction
After designs were completed by UMC Architects and planning approved in Autumn 2019, IM Properties began construction of Mercia Park, a significant new business park in northwest Leicestershire, adjacent to junction 11 of the M42.
IM Properties’ appointed contractor, Winvic Construction, who started work on site in May 2020. The first phase of work included earthwork excavation, ground remodelling, drainage, and preparing the development’s main building moving on to construction of the park’s first building, as well as work to deliver site infrastructure including new internal roads and utilities.
Specialist contractor, Speedclad was contracted to supply façade elements for the project and Solinear would subsequently be contracted to design, manufacture, supply and install a bespoke motorised solar shading system.
The 238-acre development has been built to accommodate leading international businesses and the site supports up to 3,400 jobs when fully occupied. The site includes measures to reduce visual impact and provide landscaping and amenities.
Work has been carried out whilst implementing and frequently reviewing appropriate safety measures in line with Government and Public Health England guidance on Covid-19.
Task
Initially Solinear’s system wasn’t specified by UMC Architects for this project, however, Solinear was the only brise soleil specialist able to offer an equivalent system at the time and deliver to schedule and within budget. Speedclad made the decision to contract Solinear to manufacture a system suitable for the project. Having developed a great relationship with Speedclad – being long-term client and delivering excellent performance on previous projects – it had the potential to once again be a highly successful collaboration.
This project was an exciting prospect for the Solinear team as it centred around creating a vast, bespoke brise soleil motorised solar shading system. As drawings, budgets and deadlines were discussed and confirmed, Solinear began manufacturing the Solex Halo 400 system louvres to be mounted within a vast single unit.
Action
Design, manufacture, and supply procedures would not be without their challenges, however, this is what Solinear thrives on.
Once the individual aluminium louvres had been manufactured and passed Solinear’s meticulous quality checking, they then had to be unitised taking into account the motorised elements.
Due to quantity of actuators required to drive the system, the Solinear team had to carefully consider the position of each individual actuator, so they did not clash with one another. Consideration also needed to be given to the length of the cabling from the actuators and feed point back into the building to allow connection to the BMS (Building Management System).
Accommodating these large-scale modules during and after assembly meant that they became a dominant feature in the factory. It was vital to consider module sizes at an early stage of development to make sure they would fit comfortably on a delivery vehicle.
The vast completed units had to be packaged appropriately to prevent any damage during delivery to site, manoeuvred and loaded onto transportation at Solinear’s UK manufacturing facility. Once delivered to Plot 6, Mercia, they were painstakingly unloaded and lifted into position. Each unit was then installed, and motorised elements connected and tested to confirm that they worked without any flaws in performance.
Result
This was a truly mammoth project and proved that Solinear is a market leader in the design, manufacture, supply and install of large format motorized solar shading/brise soleil.
With each of the 12 modules sized at 2400mm (w) x 4400mm (h) and each weighing over 150kg and incorporating a motorized system, a multitude of problems could have occurred, but the highly skilled team was meticulous with attention to detail from start to finish. As the great Frank Lloyd Wright said, “You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledgehammer on the construction site.” No sledgehammers were needed! Fitting was smooth and faultless with four installers taking just seven days to install the system.
Solinear’s bespoke motorized Solex Halo 400 system allowed the architect and this project to meet specification conditions and achieve overall design intent, with the system granting the end user the flexibility to connect the motorized solar shading/brise soleil to the building’s BMS system. This facilitates an autonomous system driven and controlled by varying sensors and controls. i.e., CO2 sensors, heat sensors, light sensors, timers, etc. taking the effort, headache, and guesswork out of climate control.
It was a pleasure to, once again, work alongside highly respected names – UMC Architects, Winvic and Speedclad. We look forward to collaborating with them in the future.
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