VS-1 curtain walling specified for Hiscox’s York office

GLASSOLUTIONS has developed a new structural glazing system for a £19 million underwriting and customer experience centre in York for Hiscox. 

Located adjacent to the Grade II* listed early-17th Century Black Swan Public House, the new bespoke office has been designed by Make Architects to reflect the character of the Hiscox business and York’s rich architectural heritage.

The building’s curtain walling comprises the VS-1 mullion-only system, which eliminates the need for horizontal frame members. This has enabled Make Architects to achieve clean viewing lines on a curved atrium screen which forms a key feature of the four-storey building. 

GLASSOLUTIONS supplied and installed the curtain walling structure for main contractor BAM Construction as part of a £1.8 million contract. 

VS-1 curtain walling

VS-1 is an innovative mullion-only curtain wall system, where the glass is held away from the mullion so the glass wall visually ‘floats’, without the use of obtrusive bolt fixings or transoms. In this project, the mullions are fixed back directly to primary structural columns. 

The simplicity of the VS-1 system reduces the risk of component failure, improves constructability and reduces costs of programme delays in both the construction and post-construction phases.

The installation at the Hiscox Building features Wicona curtain walling to the punch hole windows and louvres, roof terrace curtain wall, a bespoke structurally bonded rooflight and GLASSOLUTIONS’ patented VS-1 glazing system to form the main atria screen and terrace parapet. 

Articulated in both convex and concave curved insulation units, the largest of which is 2.0m wide x 4.2 high, the VS-1’s argon filled laminated heat strengthened units have high performance coatings to limit solar gain, achieving g-values as low as 0.34. 

To achieve the internal thermal comfort targets, glass units with centre pane u-values of 1.1 W/m²K have been used.  Combined with the thermally efficient frames, this creates screens with weighted average U-values of 1.3 W/m²K.  

Contact:

Herald Way
Binley
Coventry
CV3 2ZG
UK
Tel: 024 7654 7400

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