Pilkington products have been used to deliver a double glazing solution for a new office space, showroom and distribution centre for furniture supplier, Pineapple Contracts
Whilst full-height glazing can create a desirable, bright space for working environments, replacing bricks and mortar with glass can make the building’s interior climate difficult to control.
For its new headquarters, Pineapple Contracts – a Kent-based contract furniture supplier – required a wall of glazing across the full height and width of the front of the building. Designed by Mitchell Design & Construct architect Richard Diebelius, the building comprises a showroom for the company’s products, a distribution centre and an office space for 45 employees.
The glazing was to be extended back across a quarter of both sides of the building to ensure the creation of a double-height atrium space for the customer-facing envelope. However, with such an emphasis placed on glazing, the design put the building at risk of overheating during the summer, and getting unbearably cold in the winter.
Pilkington glazing solution
To remedy this, 4,500 square feet of advanced double glazed units were specified. The solution comprises a combination of technologies that work to limit the heating effect of direct sunshine, whilst reducing radiation of heat away from the building.
Pilkington Optitherm S1 Plus was specified for the inner pane: the low-emissivity product makes use of an off-line coating to ensure that the units are able to achieve U-values of 1.0W/m2K.
Meanwhile, an outer pane of Pilkington Eclipse Advantage offers solar control. The blue-tinted glass is finished with an on-line solar control coating that works to reflect a proportion of the energy in the sun’s rays, whilst remaining transparent to visible light.
The glass has been designed to reduce reliance on air conditioning by limiting solar gain. It also works to keep heating costs down in the winter by reducing the amount of heat escaping from inside the building.
