Introduction
Solinear’s latest case study takes place in the village of Silsden – known for, amongst other things, the discovery of 27 gold coins dating back to the 1st century AD and an entry in The Guinness Book of World Records for the biggest onion ever, at 14 lb (6.4 kg) – which has since been beaten. It now also has its own state-of-the-art, purpose-built primary school with which Solinear was delighted to be part of.
Working in conjunction with Bradford Metropolitan District Council, the Silsden Primary School project is a long-awaited new school building, including nursery provisions and playing fields on a sloped site in rural Silsden, Bradford.
After initial discussions, plans and acquisition of land a few years previously, in 2019 Galiford Try was contracted to carry out construction of Silsden Primary School, and in January 2020, began work on building the architectural vision of Rance Booth Smith (RBS) Architects for a contemporary school building befitting the requirements of the 21st century – with environmental considerations given to the immediate surrounding rural areas and the wider environment.
The new school campus on the outskirts of Silsden replaces two cramped school buildings – Hothfield Junior and Aire View Infants – in the town centre and caters for up to 640 pupils.
Task
With a long-standing status as Schueco affiliates and a manufacturing facility just 50 miles from site, Solinear was the perfect choice to design and fabricate the specified Schueco brise soleil system.
The brise soleil system, in this particular configuration, was challenging to design giving consideration to the location and elevation of the project along with exposure to wind loadings from the valley below.
Solinear, renowned for flexibility, adaptability and resourcefulness, negotiated the obstacles by designing appropriate support bracketry to accommodate the above mentioned wind loadings, as well as interface with the available support structure in the soffit/roof.
Action
Once finished, with standard PPC coating to RAL colour 7036 (Platinum Grey) and 30% gloss, the completed product was transported to site with careful consideration to the local area. The new site being located in a sensitive rural locale and bordering residential streets, prompting concerns from residents thus resulting in the council proposing traffic management measures. Therefore, Solinear needed to comply with strict delivery times, routes and noise ordinances.
Solinear then needed to coordinate with the roofing contractor to install support brackets for the system, then allowing the roofing contractor to carry out the required soffit installations before Solinear completed the necessary 2nd fix brise soleil installation.
During the install Solinear operatives also had to exchange mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) to navigate varying levels of roofline. Despite the limitations and delays due to Covid and other factors that plagued the initial building project, a team of two highly skilled Solinear installers fitted the entire system in just 10 days whilst adhering to the guidelines of the time and contending with hostile weather.
Result
The shallow mono-pitched roofs of the building follow the natural gradient of the rural site and classrooms are organised along a light filled, double sided, shared atrium, with a high roof allowing for natural ventilation via the stack effect – the movement of air into and out of buildings through unsealed openings, chimneys, flue-gas stacks, or other containers, resulting from air buoyancy. In addition to this, the Schueco brise soleil system offers effective passive solar shading to the exterior of the school, resulting in a more pleasant ambient temperature for the occupants of the building whilst diffusing the low-level sun in winter and the punishing high-level sun in summer.
Effectively designed, manufactured and installed brise soleil is not only a beneficial form of interior climate control thus helping to reduce running costs, but It also provides architectural enhancement – in this case perfectly complementing the cheerful, vibrant yellow-green paintwork of the exterior walls.
Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for education, employment and skills, Cllr Imran Khan, said: “The new school will provide a much improved internal and external educational environment for children to learn. It will also provide a fantastic facility for the community.
Solinear’s contribution, to this new build, although perhaps small in comparison to others will prove to be a huge benefit to all who occupy this phenomenal building – perhaps nurturing future engineers, builders, architects, etc.…
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