St Marks: An Exercise In Creative Ingenuity

With 1,372 en-suite rooms over ten blocks, St Marks is a central hub of student life at Lincoln University. This marathon of a project was made into a sprint when sudden timeline changes required major reshuffles. Thankfully, scalability is one of the stand-out contributions of Advanced Glass. Not only did this project demand a bespoke solution from the outset, but it also saw part of the project’s timescale reduced from 16 weeks to 7, as well as last-minute project changes, design changes, and the associated approval requirements. Join us on this whirlwind case study, which focuses on some of the unique challenges of this outstanding project.

The Project

On the surface, the project specifications for St. Marks were textbook requests for the team at Advanced Glass. The student accommodation required windows, doors, curtain walling, barrier-loaded perforated feature panels, and automatic doors. This package required attention to ergonomics, safety, thermal efficiency, and acoustic performance. Durability, practicality, reliability, and longevity are also major considerations. As such, we supplied market-leading Technal FY65 Windows, stylish and secure MX52 Curtain Walling, STII doors, and noise-reducing louvres. Creating spaces that are ideal for the demands of student life.

The Background

The whirlwind journey of St. Marks started in 2019 but really took hold in 2020, a year that will forever be remembered for the Covid-19 lockdowns. This project was set against a backdrop of soaring material prices, social distancing, and working from home. Considering the hands-on complexity of window design, fabrication, and installation, all the projects that took place during lockdown required special mention. For our team, it meant social distancing inside our office, which was only made possible by having multiple staff working from home. The fabricators also had to social distance, leading to multiple practical headaches and the additional costs were never recovered. Like the rest of the world, Covid-19 was something that we had to accept and adapt to. However, this made the sequence of project challenges even more unique!

Bespoke Design

This project began with an unusual request: the developer wanted to complete the inside of the building before building the outside. There is logic behind this strategy. Many buildings such as schools, hospitals, frontline accommodation, and military accommodation have urgent timescales for occupancy. To do this, the structure must be made weatherproof, with windows and doors playing a crucial role.

To make the outside of the building secure and weatherproof, our in-house design team created special bracketry. To do this, we worked closely with both the architect and other tradespeople to integrate the windows into other parts of the project design more efficiently. For instance, our solution involved dressing the internal fire-rated plasterboard into the windows in a way that reduced the workload for the plasterboard installers. As such, project efficiency was given a boost at multiple levels.

Timescale

An exciting twist in this project was the sudden requirement for completed apartments well ahead of the planned schedule. The client needed to shave nine weeks off the project and asked Advanced Glass to step up to the challenge. This had a sudden effect on every level of the supply chain and fabrication process, as well as having a major impact on installation. As a result of this schedule change, crucial components such as piles could not be ready on time. As such, our team had to alter our sequence of work to refocus on other areas of the broader St. Marks development. Extra demands from this included accelerating designs and securing approval for a completely new block of windows.

When situations such as major timescale shifts arise, scalability is everything. At Advanced Glass, we were able to accelerate the entire supply chain by increasing the number of fabricators. This enabled us to have more high-quality aluminium frames on site, thus increasing the installation rate. This was made possible by increasing the number of installers, something that was effortlessly achieved by calling on our trusted reserve resources. At the same time, our designers drew upon their collective experience to produce a clear and achievable solution for the additional blocks of windows. Based on our impeccable history, approval came swiftly, and the project progressed at pace.

Airflow

All projects have unique challenges, and in this case, the issues involved airflow. A safety matter that impacts both fire safety and occupational health, airflow is heavily regulated. It quickly became clear that due to the size of the building, the layout of the apartments, and the quantity of kitchens, the stunning barrier-loaded feature panels that the client and architect requested were not compliant with Approved Document F – Ventilation. This was a problem because they primarily required to provide a safety barrier, preventing any risk of falling, whilst having an added aesthetic appeal.

Our aim was to increase the airflow without impacting the aesthetics or safety of the design. For this, Advanced Glass created a bespoke solution. This involved moving the barrier panel away from the window and designing special brackets to support the load. The in-house design team at Advanced Glass then created concealed fixings to ensure aesthetic integrity was not compromised. This solution not only satisfied the airflow requirements, it exceeded the architect’s expectations, demonstrating how a little creative ingenuity can amplify the impact of a project.

Outcome

Set against a backdrop of lockdowns and social distancing, and with bespoke project demands meeting a tide of major timescale shifts, St. Marks was a stand-out project. The outcome is that 1,372 students are currently living and sleeping in their accommodation, blissfully unaware of the challenges and innovations that went into creating these cosy, practical, and safe spaces.

“The workmanship that you have delivered on this project has been outstanding and we look forward to working with you again.” said the senior contract manager.

Find out more

If you have a project that requires bespoke design solutions for windows and panels, or if you have a project that is likely to encounter alterations to its timescale, the team at Advanced Glass are ready to offer our experience. For more information, please send our team a message by clicking here.