Show-stopping Retail
When a long-established jewellery store prepared to make a move to a better-trafficked location, the owners saw an opportunity to embrace a new look that would appeal to a fresh generation of shoppers. While they wanted the new retail environment to honour their established customer base, they also hoped to appeal to new customers and current tastes.
Meet the Designer: Samantha Drummond
This month, Inex Editor, Rebecca Kemp, sits down with Samantha Drummond, Managing Partner at Habitus Design Group, to find out more about her design background and probe into her work on the famous Marina Bay Sands Resort.
The Magenta Moon Campus in Berlin, by Deutsche Telekom, invites visitors of all ages to discover trends and events in a playful way – and to rethink current education concepts.
Flooring Needs a Clear Set of Sustainability Standards
Green building is far from a new concept. But in a world permanently altered by the pandemic, the focus on sustainability in the building and interior supply chain is increasingly expanding beyond efficient use of energy and natural resources to encompass the health, wellbeing and productivity of the people within the buildings, says James Scully, MD at Quadrant.
Ben Pentreath, renowned architectural and interior designer, collaborates with Morris & co. To create a joyous collection of colour and iconic pattern, new for aw20.
Danish manufactured Troldtekt panels are commonly specified throughout the UK and Europe to improve the interior acoustic environment. Two recent Danish projects are the transformation of an old building into a car dealer’s offices for Karvil Biler, while the other is an extension of Randers Architects’ own headquarters into a mix of offices and exclusive residential units.
Osmo customers Steph and James Lynch had bought a house in 2017 which was a project property. With a lot of wood featuring both internally and externally, the couple needed to find a company that provides a high-quality finish that protects and enhances the wooden surface.
Premier Public Relations’ office is a self-contained 19th century industrial building spread over five floors in Bucknall Street, London. Premier has over three decades of experience delivering marketing communications campaigns for the entertainment, arts and cultural industries and was awarded ‘PR Moment Large Agency of the Year’ in 2017.
Originally used as a warehouse, the thermal and acoustic controls in the large yellow brick Victorian building were inadequate for its new use as an office space due to the inefficient single glazed original windows.
Premier approached Selectaglaze for a cost-effective window improvement to their offices. This was to ensure a more agreeable working environment to achieve a high level of thermal insulation. Although this was the main aim, Premier was also interested in what could be achieved to improve noise attenuation. With Premier located close to a busy thoroughfare in WC2, high levels of outside noise can distract and affect staff efficiency.
Following on from a productive set of consultations on the best treatments for the draughty openings, Selectaglaze installed 115 windows across the ground, first, second and third floors. A wide range of products were combined for the specification, the majority of which were two and three pane horizontal sliders. The Series 30 lift-out unit was used for one particular opening to allow easy access for cleaning. Another primary window was fitted with a single side hung casement, designed to suit the existing fenestration. The minimal frames created clean lines complimenting the existing primary windows, making them unobtrusive and virtually unnoticeable. Units were installed over a few weeks to ensure that staff were not distracted by the works.
‘Sustainable St Albans’ provided Selectaglaze with a thermal imaging camera which measured the changes in the thermal integrity of the primary windows before and after the addition of secondary glazing. Imagery is created by thermography which identifies heat patterns in the infrared wavelength spectrum. Sensors within the camera identified these heat signatures and translated them into visible pixels. Although the resulting images were of a low resolution, the remarkable differences are apparent between treated and untreated windows.
The successful installation of secondary glazing has greatly enhanced the working environment, with staff noticing a significant difference in thermal retention, with draughts virtually eliminated. It has also improved the working environment considerably across all the office floors.
“We were very pleased with our secondary glazing from Selectaglaze. Providing both sound insulation in noisy Central London and a much warmer office space in the winter.” Joe Chandler, Premier
Selectaglaze is the specialist in secondary glazing, established in 1966 and Royal Warrant Holder since 2004. Each window is bespoke built and can be coloured in a range of finishes to make an effective feature or statement in a space. Selectaglaze has a range of RIBA approved CPD seminars, which provide a better understanding of the applications and implications of specifying secondary glazing. Selectaglaze distributes monthly Spotlight e-bulletins, with recent updates, new blogpost and events – so sign up on spotlight blogs to not miss out.
Designing for Wellbeing
The global impact of COVID-19 and resulting lockdowns have shone a fresh spotlight on considerations around our physical and mental wellbeing. There is a growing body of research that shows how the design of our environments can impact our overall quality of life. Given we spend nearly 90% of our lives inside buildings, it’s important to explore the emotional benefits we can foster with the design of our everyday spaces, writes Donna Dent, Concept Designer at Interface.