Spire Hospital, Manchester
May 2017

Architectural aluminium glazing by KAWNEER was chosen by Halliday Meecham Architects for the £65 million new flagship Spire Hospital in Manchester.

Kawneer’s AA100 SSG (Structurally Silicone Glazed) mullion-drained curtain walling, some of it curved on plan, features on the third-storey conference suite and is complemented by the AA100 zone-drained capped system used elsewhere including internal screens around the reception areas.

The company’s AA720 top-hung casement windows were also used as courtyard windows, AA720 doors as internal doors at upper levels and series 190 heavy-duty entrance doors at ground level.

The systems were installed by approved sub-contractor APiC UK for main contractor Vinci Construction.

Mike Wakeman, an associate with Halliday Meecham who regularly select Kawneer, said: “We specified the Kawneer products because they are tried and tested systems we have never had problems with so they were our first point of call. It was also critical to us that we had a system that worked with the brise soleil and Kawneer’s relationship with Levolux was a big selling point in this regard.”

Halliday Meecham added: “We wanted something with high transparency, like fully-glazed bedroom walls and meeting spaces, but also something flexible for plugging things in such as spandrels and louvres so the building is future proofed. This was a difficult balancing act with the Part L requirements and meant the glass was carefully chosen with good ‘G’ value whilst maintaining as much transparency as we could. Several glass samples were sought and reviewed prior to final specification.

“The external envelope of the building has been really well received by the client.”