Three’s the magic number for Senior at Dixons Trinity Academy

A trio of high-performance aluminium fenestration solutions from Senior Architectural Systems has been put to the test at the new Dixons Trinity Academy in West Yorkshire, which is set to become a new all-through primary and secondary school.

Located in the Chapeltown area of Leeds, the new educational facility has been designed by Faulkner Brown Architects and built by Willmott Dixon, with Senior’s long-term supply chain partner Aire Valley Architectural Aluminium Ltd undertaking the fabrication and installation of the fenestration package.

With sustainability a key part of the envelope design, Senior’s patented PURe® aluminium windows have been used to provide the required low U-values and help future-proof the building for the pending changes to Part L of the Building Regulations. The energyefficiency of the façade design has been further strengthened by the use of Senior’s thermally-enhanced SF52 aluminium curtain wall system which also maximises the use of natural light. Providing safe and secure access, Senior’s SPW501 commercial doors were specified

throughout, with the robust design of all the aluminium fenestration systems providing a low-maintenance and highly durable solution that is perfect for use in a busy school environment.

The unusual design of the new Dixons Trinity Academy sees the facilities divided into two parts by the A58 highway, with the north site encompassing the main school building and playgrounds. Located across the road is the south site comprising the main site car park and a number of new sporting facilities including a 4G all-weather pitch, games court and multi-use games area (MUGA). A 26m long steel Vierendeel truss bridge spans the road to link and provide access to the two sites. The school first opened in September 2017 in a temporary site, when it took on 30 reception pupils, and aims to be an all-through school by 2023.

Senior’s commitment to engaging early with specifiers to devise the most appropriate fenestration package has led to the manufacturer securing numerous contracts in the education sector, many of which are part of framework agreements. As well as providing detailed technical guidance and support, Senior’s continual investment in its product range has led to the development of its patented PURe® range of aluminium windows and doors

which offer exceptionally low U-values that exceed current regulations and provide greater flexibility to meet the expected changes to Part L.

The unique construction of Senior’s UK patented PURe® system features a highperformance expanded polyurethane (PUR) thermal barrier to give exceptional thermal performance, with the PURe® window system having the ability to achieve U-values as low as 0.71W/m2K when calculated as a commercial CEN Standard window. As well as helping to prevent heat loss to reduce energy consumption, the PURe® system also offers ‘cradle to cradle’ recyclability, with even the PUR thermal barrier able to be reused with no requirement for landfill. The impressive environmental credentials of the system have led to it being widely specified across various sectors, including on a large number of educational buildings where the need to reduce carbon calculations and improve efficiency is paramount.

For more information, visit

www.seniorarchitecturalsystems.co.uk

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New challenges, trusted solutions

PURe® is a UK patented range of aluminium windows which features an innovative expanded polyurethane (PUR) thermal barrier to achieve ultra-low U values and outstanding thermal performance.

Window systems

*IGU and PSI dependant. **Based on commercial CEN window size.

Windows that work for you

Our comprehensive window range is suitable for a wide range of projects. Combining sleek and stylish frames with robust durability and exceptional thermal efficiency, our aluminium windows can be powder-coated in a choice of colours and finishes, and are fully compatible with our high-performance aluminium door and curtain wall solutions.

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See the complete range at:

www.seniorarchitectural.co.uk

info@sasmail.co.uk | 01709 772 600

“When I grow up, I’d like to design door and window systems” – was the statement no child ever said to their careers advisor.

Engineering is a broad term and sticking your neck out you could say it’s a career that young people usually get involved in from an early fascination with vehicles. Bikes, cars, planes, trains and the plethora of parts and systems that make them work. Whether right or wrong about the primary drivers one thing is certain Brunel didn’t lie awake at night dreaming of windows and doors.

Despite this it is a very real fact that everything around us in the world has been designed and engineered somewhere along the line. All the products you see in the pages of this magazine are only in existence because someone out there thought of them, then had the opportunity to commit those thoughts to paper and finally someone else financed them to manufacture.

The lack of glamour in fenestration products means it is hard to attract real engineering talent into the industry which Made for Trade have learned and certainly know a thing or two about as the business

is actually run by qualified Mechanical Engineers as we learn more from MFT’s Chris Wann.

“My background is all Oil & Gas machinery design, which I did for about 8 years. Over that time my employer realised I could also communicate with other human beings (a trait many engineers lack) and so I was moved into concept sales and business development which gave me a real taste for business. Coming into a completely different industry with MFT, which at the time I was worried was career suicide has actually been a massive breath of fresh air. This realisation is something I try and push to all the young engineers I meet as part of our recruitment efforts” Chris continues “most of these sexy industries, like automotive, O&G and aerospace only offer an opportunity to look at a really small part of the overall system, or they force you to design things that have been seen and importantly proven before, they don’t like risk. Here at MFT we like to throw the rule book out of the window and start projects, where possible, from

first principles pushing the industry forward.” The Korniche line of products are exactly what MFT claim to be the new first principal designs that are pushing the envelope and have certainly turned things on their heads with the Lantern roof. It was the fist product on the market that wasn’t just a converted conservatory roof and its only now, some 4 years later that companies are starting to bring out similar sorts of things. For those of you that don’t know about the Korniche lantern it was the first in house designed product from the trade fabricator and it threw the conservatory roof rule book entirely out of the building. It made installation a doddle for even the most inexperienced fitter, delivered to site precision cut with no requirements to do anything other than assemble the simple kit with the provided hex tool. Also, the innovation of the glazing retainer design meant it can be glazed in under a minute which MFT demonstrated to astounded audiences at trade days and trade shows across the UK and Europe. Rumor has it that a couple of industry journalists managed to build one in front of a live audience in under 10 mins. Impressive stuff!

To keep creativity and design at the forefront of MFT’s business they have now built up a team of 8 engineers working from

a dedicated research and development office at their Wynyard headquarters. They have some pretty impressive facilities that would be more at home in a full-blown test house. The team works using SolidWorks 3D CAD and analysis software and have 3D printing and workshop facilities to develop prototype designs. 2021’s investment also went into impact, PAS24, and weather testing rigs to pre-test new bi-fold parts way before any official testing took place. Ashley Gaunt, Technical Director commented “Pre-testing all our designs in house cuts out a lot of the to-ing and froing from our chosen accreditation testing partners saving us a considerable amount of time and cost. Its also great for all the engineers to be able to test their designs themselves as it provides insight into what does and doesn’t work and why which is invaluable for trying out innovative new designs.” Its refreshing to see a company in the industry that are taking design and development this seriously and that their products are making a real success story of it. With some interesting patents on proprietary features of their up-coming Korniche bi-folding door which could clearly be applied to other products we can’t wait to see what’s next off the Made for Trade drawing board!