Case Study: Joseph Black Building
Smart Architectural Aluminium
The UK's Leading Supplier of Architectural Aluminium Systems
Where heritage meets modernity
The refurbishment of this iconic building was designed to give it a completely new lease of life, preserving its design heritage while improving its efficiency and performance. As a result the building is now a better research, learning and teaching environment for staff and students.
The building is home to the University’s School of Chemistry and houses a combination of lecture rooms, laboratories and offices. The refurbishment programme was therefore subject to detailed planning to reduce impact on the building’s users.
The first phase of work covered the replacement of all the windows and doors in the external envelope of the 17,000m2 building, with more than 1,100 Smart Alitherm Heritage windows being installed. A stunning feature of the building is the 10.8m-tall window units, installed above the main reception and stairwells, the design of which has been faithfully recreated using the Alitherm Heritage system.
Alitherm Heritage has helped maintain this aesthetic integrity, but at the same time enabled the staff, students and estates management team to benefit from the comfort, performance and cost efficiencies that modern aluminium materials deliver.