Ringing endorsement for Pilkington with church works

Pilkington glazing has perfectly brought together the old with the new at St John’s Church in Egham, Surrey.

When the church chose to add a new community centre to its landmark Georgian building, it needed a sensitive way to link the new and contemporary with the existing and historic.

The community centre is designed using natural stonework and curtain walling, in stark contrast to the church itself, with the decision made by the architect to connect the structures with a glazed atrium.

Phil Winch, principal architect at CPL, an architecture practice specialising in church projects, commented: “The new centre is now in use and provides St. John’s with extensive, new, versatile spaces, which embrace the new community centre project.

“Structural glazing is an excellent way of connecting buildings with different architectural styles, and also provides a dramatic visual impact to the entrance area.

“In the case of an historic building such as St John’s, a glazed link allows the original building to retain its traditional appearance while, creating a route into the new centre that has the bright and airy sense of the outdoors, but which is also warm and sheltered.”

Pilkington Planar™ structural glazing was chosen for the central glazed, 6.5-metre-tall glass box with a partially glazed roof.

The double-glazed units used in the atrium contain Pilkington K Glass™. This is designed to reflect heat back into a building, greatly improving its thermal efficiency, whilst maximising natural daylight.

This reduces the amount of heat radiating out, thus helping to lower heating bills during the winter.

Jason Eggerton, Pilkington Planar™ Business Development Manager, said: “This was a very complex and precise design which had to fit exactly between the existing church and the new community centre.

“Thanks to close co-operation between the team at Ide Contracting and the Pilkington design team, the challenging installation was completed smoothly, and the result is a visually striking structure that seamlessly links the old and the new.”

The new St John’s community centre, with its excellent town centre location, will provide significantly improved facilities.

The space will enable the church to develop the invaluable range of services that enrich the local community; including the expansion of their pre-school Nursery and Playgroup, debt counselling, food bank and bereavement support.

It also features catering facilities, ensuring the new building will be an ideal venue for meetings and conferences of local organisations and charities.

Contact:

Pilkington United Kingdom Limited,
Greengate Works,
Sherdley Road,
St. Helens,
Merseyside,
United Kingdom,
WA9 5 DZ

Phone: 01744 692000
Fax: 01744 692569

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