Brett Martin: Marlon Clickfix Brightens Farnborough Airport’s New Domus III Hangar

Brett Martin’s Marlon Clickfix polycarbonate panel glazing system has provided a key architectural feature for Farnborough Airport’s new state of the art hangar – Domus III.

Incorporated as part of the hangar’s extensive door system, the Clickfix panels allow daylight to flood the hangar and reduce the need for artificial lighting in the highly sustainable facility.

Farnborough Airport is widely considered the home of British aviation, as the location of the first powered flight on UK soil in 1908. In summer 2022, Farnborough Airport embarked on a bold £55m investment programme, to significantly enhance its facilities and infrastructure to improve customer experience. This programme included the development of a striking 175,000 square foot, four bay hangar facility which would increase the Airport’s overall hangar capacity by over 70%.

Ambitious environmental targets

With some of the most ambitious environmental targets in the sector and a commitment to identifying and minimising the effects of aviation on the environment, Farnborough Airport was keen to set a new benchmark in terms of aviation design with the hangar and ensure sustainability was at its heart.

As such, aviation specialist architectural practice Gebler Tooth designed the facility – known as Domus III – to incorporate the latest state of the art technology and drive environmental performance. This included the use of translucent automated doors along the entire length of the building, to optimise the level of natural light inside. Alongside an intelligent artificial lighting system that dims when the daylight is sufficient, this would ensure that the facility is highly energy efficient. The doors would also ease aircraft manoeuvrability and help to mitigate unnecessary emissions from aircraft handling.

Jewers Doors was awarded the contract to supply and install the doors by main contractor McLaughlin & Harvey. Jewers Doors specified its Esavian Type 126 power operated steel frames, powder coated RAL 9007 with Brett Martin’s Marlon Clickfix VF90 clear glass polycarbonate cladding panels to create the doors. Each door measures approximately 7.3m wide by 10.6m high and has four equal-width leaves that run on four independent tracks.

‘Ticked all the boxes’

Marcus Allen, Director of Jewers Doors Ltd, comments: “Marlon Clickfix was ideal for this installation as it provided the required natural light penetration, evenly distributed and devoid of solar glare. Efficiency was also an important factor in its specification; but with a U-value of 0.99 W/m²K, Marlon Clickfix ticked all the boxes for this project and integrated well with our door frames.”

Marlon Clickfix is manufactured from premium multiwall polycarbonate. The 40mm interlocking modular panels have low thermal conductivity, resulting in its low U value and providing a highly efficient wall construction. With two framing system options, façades of up to 12m in height can be created with a seamless finish and continuous corners. As well as the clear panels installed at Farnborough Airport, Marlon Clickfix also comes in a pearlescent finish, with special colours and colour matching available on request.

The hangar also features a 280m-long symphonic rainwater harvesting system, eco-friendly heating systems and fully integrated building control and energy monitoring system to further minimise energy consumption. It will be rated by BREEAM, the world’s leading sustainability assessment method for infrastructure and buildings and is set to achieve some of the highest environmental standards.

Simon Geere, CEO at Farnborough Airport, comments: “Domus III represents a monumental leap forward in aviation hangar technology, setting new standards in the industry with a state-of-the-art facility that not only cements Farnborough Airport’s position as London and the South East’s premier hub for air connectivity, but also reflects our commitment to drive environmental performance across every part of our business.”

For more information about Brett Martin’s Marlon Clickfix polycarbonate cladding, visit https://www.brettmartin.com/plastic-sheets/our-products/product/marlon-clickfix