A radical and sensitive transformation was required to turn the church into a sports centre, to provide first-rate facilities for the coaches to deliver high-quality sports programmes, for the local community and beyond. Latitude Architects was engaged to work on the plans for the renovation, which were undertaken in consultation with Historic England. Planning permission was granted to include installation of a lift, new internal lighting, the addition of balustrades to the gallery and a new sports floor.

Surrounded by local shops, residential areas and community buildings including a school; sound insulation was imperative to stop noise escaping from the building and disturbing local residents. The striking original single pane stain glass windows could not be changed, so did little to prevent the outbreak of noise. Therefore, Latitude architects specified the use of secondary glazing to provide much needed sound insulation. In addition, it upgraded the thermal properties of the building and provided guarding in certain spaces.

The introduction of secondary glazing, which is fitted to the room side of a building, is one of the most effective solutions for combating outside noise, and a reduction of 45dB is achievable when there is a 100mm-200mm cavity between the primary and secondary windows. Furthermore, secondary glazing traps an insulating layer of air, which can reduce heat loss by up to 50%. With the introduction of low emissivity glass, U-values of around 1.8 can be achieved. The use of high performance twin seals help to fundamentally eradicate draughts.

Cosmur Construction (London) Ltd, were appointed as main contractor and approached Selectaglaze to discuss the treatment and scheduling of secondary glazing works to the windows. Well versed and undeterred by the unforeseen problems that can pop up when working on Listed Buildings; Cosmur had to extensively repair the 150-year-old roof. When inspecting the ceiling it was found to flex when touched, yet initially seemed fit for purpose. Specialist tradesmen had to be enlisted with the required skills to re-plaster like for like with lime as first done in 1826.

The windows were huge and had large curved heads at high level. Therefore to enable exact measurements and a snug fit, a laser measurer was used to plot the arches to simplify the manufacture of the units.

 

The newly created mezzanine level cut the full height windows in two, which left a void in all the reveals. To combat this, the first floor glazing also acted as a guard to the void, which included 12mm toughened glass.

In total 88 units were manufactured and installed, which were a blend of Series 42 fixed lights with curved and standard heads, as well as Series 80 3HS contra sliding units. Some of the Series 80 were 1.9m (h) x 2.3m (w) and weighed over 130kg when all assembled, so fixing points had to be checked for their strength to maintain integrity of the installation. The units came in 3 separate panes to enable manual handling and accessing the specific areas for installation.

Established in 1966 and Royal Warrant Holder since 2004, Selectaglaze is the leading specialist in secondary glazing. It boasts a wealth of knowledge and a range of extensive products to suit all projects.

Selectaglaze will be showcasing a variety of secondary glazing products on Stand D325 at 100% Design at Olympia from 19-22 September.

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