Regeneration project in Scotland chooses aluminium building systems

A high-specification glass and aluminium façade has been created using advanced Wicona-brand curtain walling solutions for a £24 million regeneration project overlooking the River Clyde in Glasgow.

The new administrative headquarters for Police Scotland will provide Grade “A” office accommodation for more than 1,000 officers and civilian staff.

Designed by Cooper Cromar Architects and built by Morgan Sindall, Riverside East forms part of Clyde Gateway – Scotland’s largest and most ambitious regeneration project which is delivering a physical, social and economic transformation on either side of the Clyde in the east end of Glasgow and South Lanarkshire.

Constructed to the highest possible technical and environmental specifications, the building’s design had to respond to specific operational and security requirements and be both open and welcoming to the local community. It is targeted to achieve a BREEAM “excellent” rating.

Around 5,000 square meters

Riverside East has a bold and transparent appearance that was created using around 5,000 square meters of Wicona’s WICTEC 50 structurally glazed curtain walling. The system was used for all elevations and allows impressive waterfront views.

Fabricated and installed by Glassolutions Installation, the highly glazed façade provides an effective contrast to bands of dark grey aluminium spandrel panels and white stone-clad colonnades at ground floor level.

WICTEC 50 SG curtain walling can support large spans of glass up to 3.2 meters high. The structurally glazed façade features 150-millimeter deep caps for the vertical and horizontal profiles, creating a “picture frame” appearance for the vision areas.

Structural glazing

“Wicona’s WICTEC 50 structural glazing worked really well for this scheme. It met our specification requirements and gave us the benefit of a versatile façade solution with exceptional aesthetics,” says project architect Iain Smith of Cooper Cromar Architects.

Wicona also provided more than 1,600m2 of structural glazing for the internal atria using the WICTEC 60FP system to deliver a 30-minute fire rating.

Wicona is one of Sapa’s aluminium building systems brands.