A lively and colourful residential and commercial development in Glasgow, which features innovative use of glazing systems from architectural aluminium specialists, Technal, has won another major award.
Designed by Davis Duncan Architects, The Matrix has been voted Urban Housing Development of the Year in the Building Communities Awards. It has already won award commendations in the Scottish Design Awards and the National HomeBuilder Design Awards, and was highly commended in the Built Environment category at the Scottish Enterprise Agency’s Dynamic Place Awards.
This futuristic landmark building has been described as ‘arresting’ and as ‘art to live in’. The judges at the Building Communities Awards said, ‘This is a scheme in an inhospitable setting that has a distinctive design and provides tranquillity’.
“We are delighted to be associated with such an innovative scheme as the Matrix and would like to congratulate the design team on transforming the site into a stylish, serene and very appealing place to live and work”, said Bob Welsh, General Manager of Technal. “This project demonstrates just what can be achieved with imaginative use of curtain walling and the very different effects it can create.”
Technal’s visible grid curtain walling, which is framed by black rainscreen cladding, carries large 2.4m high panels of glass, and spans the full height of each storey on the south elevation to flood the living spaces with natural light.
The glazing specification met the required acoustic performance, and architectural interlayers in a palette of rich colours were applied to both clear and reflective glass. This has created a vibrant glowing effect at night and complements the coloured aluminium panels during the day.
Commenting on the design, Grant Robertson, Director, Davis Duncan Architects, said, “Technal’s curtain walling system has a slim profile and yet is sufficiently robust to allow us to use large expanses of glass that achieved both the artistic composition and the functional form we were looking for. We could also fit doors, windows and insulated panels into the system.”
Technal’s FXi52 balcony doors and casement windows were inserted into the curtain walling. All the glazing systems were finished in a dark grey polyester powder coating for a contemporary appearance and were fabricated and installed by Saint-Gobain Solaglas.
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