Ticks all the boxes

To achieve a 5-Star Green Star rating, every aspect of an office design is put under the microscope, including glazing and joinery specifications. For the Club Tower project, Alutech Windows and Doors worked closely with the NZGBC Green Star accrediting agency, Beca Consultants, to target and achieve the thermal criteria, says Alutech project manager Darron Robinson.

"This was not a straightforward, monolithic curtainwall with one-size-fits-all detailing," he says. "The door and window design needed to be thermally efficient, user-friendly and aesthetically interesting."

Robinson says to achieve thermal efficiency targets, Alutech undertook thermal modelling of the various suites and configurations under consideration. This included calculations for shading coefficients, spandrel glass panels, the APL 150mm Structural Glaze curtainwall system, Architectural Series sliding doors in 106mm and 158mm frames, strip windows from the 40mm series, and flushglaze and 40mm chair frame windows for the ground-floor retail areas.

IGU double glazing features throughout the building. This provides 6mm Sunergy Green low-e glass to outer panes, a 12mm argon-filled gap, and clear glass to the inner pane. The only exception to this was the glazed spandrel panels where high-performance IGU glazing was used with Tempaclad on the inner pane.

"Careful attention to the detailing of all the window/cladding and door/cladding joints was required to provide weathertight, aesthetically acceptable solutions," says Robinson. "Joints to balconies, composite panels, pre-cast concrete panels, Hardigroove soffits, balustrading systems and couplings between varying window types had to be worked out, and resulted in an unusually large number of working drawings."

For details, contact Alutech Windows and Doors, PO Box 36045, Merivale, Christchurch 8146, phone (03) 343 0242, website: www.alutech.co.nz.

Story by: Trendsideas