Kawneer Systems Help Tobar Take Off

When architects Feilden+Mawson included striking use of colour in their design for a £7.5 million toy distribution and call centre, they decided that Kawneer's aluminium systems would provide the specific look required.

The building, on a former Second World War airbase near Beccles in Suffolk, used Kawneer's AA(r)100 curtain walling with a mixture of clear and coloured glass and AA® 601 top-hung casement windows for the two-storey 2,600m_ main reception and office area which has a 7,000m2 mezzanine. In addition, Kawneer's AA® 601 fixed light casement windows were used in a ribbon effect for the 10,500m2 high-bay warehouse. AA® 605 swing doors and 190 narrow-style doors were used throughout the whole of the building.

The innovative use of the coloured glazing matches the corporate colours of the client - Tobar (for Hawkins Bazaar) - and gives the steel-framed centre its distinctive character on the intersection of the two original runways.

Feilden+Mawson's brief was to design a purpose-built building large enough for Tobar to consolidate two distribution sites into one. The client also wanted a spring completion date to ensure it would be fully commissioned for Christmas, requiring the entire project to be finished within 12 months.

This was achieved by making the building watertight with built-up and composite cladding early enough to allow the main warehouse floor to be laid and racking and conveyor systems to be installed. Local planners perceived the scheme to be of a high standard of design considering the use of the building.

Stuart Jones of Feilden+Mawson said: 'We met it by producing a design that we consider to be more than just a shed, locating the building on the site to cause minimal impact in planning terms, achieving planning permission in five weeks, and using a local contractor [PJ Spillings Builders] who was enthusiastic and positive about the project.

'We specified the Kawneer product as it provided us with the aesthetic that we required. We had used cladding horizontally to visually reduce the height of the building and wanted to add to this by using a glazing system that could do the same.

'Kawneer's system did this by having minimal vertical structure but with exaggerated horizontal structure. This combined with the coloured glass created a colourful box on what was a very plain box. The Kawneer system provides the overall scheme with a clean aesthetic that draws the eye to the main office element of the building.'

"The landmark point of the project was making the building weather-tight to allow the main warehouse floor to be laid, enabling partial handover to the client. This was key as it meant the installation of the racking and the conveyor system could be done and therefore meet the client's programme."

The dry-jointed curtain walling with 50mm sightlines and integrated doors and windows were all supplied in a matt grey, a contrast to the mixture of yellow, green and red glazing, and installed by Kawneer-approved sub-contractor Elliston Steady & Hawes.

Stuart Jones added: 'The client is very pleased with the building and the impact the coloured glazing has. It featured from the very first concept sketch and became a very important element to the client, so much so that it survived value engineering. He was adamant that it was a key feature and it has certainly been critical to the success of the design.'