Eastside Locks is a 17-storey student accomodation block located in the heart of Birmingham. High-performance windows and doors from Technal have been incorporated into the off-site, modular design. 

This £30 million construction at No. 1 City Locks is on what was a brownfield site alongside the Digbeth Branch Canal and forms part of the city's long-awaited Eastside Regeneration Project. Working in co-operation with Sisk Construction, Glenn Howells Architects and Elite Aluminium Systems Ltd, Technal won this project by 'value engineering' the original curtain wall design. 

By re-evaluating the project's technical, logistical and budgetry challenges, a Dualframe 75Si window wall specification provides a cost-effective solution which could be pre-fitted into the precast concrete modules that make up the building's elevations. This solution also enables any replacement glazing and maintenance to be done from inside, which isn't possible when using conventional curtain walling. This project also features the use of Technal Elegance 52 ST curtain walling to enclose the stair towers, and STII thermally broken commercial doors for main access routes.   

Project Architect David Hickman commented: “We are really pleased with the building overall, while the windows work really well both in terms of their colour and their proportions in the tower. We opted to go for the full height frames which means as soon as you enter into the student rooms they give a really good connection between the inside and outside of the building; and great views over the city.

“We have worked with Technal previously, including the student and wider residential market. In this instance the idea of a modular solution and installing the Dualframe assemblies at the precast plant evolved during the tender submission process, and proved very effective.”