Leicester University – Engineering Building – Curtain Wall Stick System and Roof Installation
Pops Facades carried out the new installation of a replacement glass roof and façade to a grade 2 listed building originally designed by Architects James Stirling & James Gowan.
The building was first completed in 1963, Thomas Pearson quotes:
The Engineering Building is a design of such radical and uncompromising power that it has divided critics dramatically from its first unveiling in 1963.
Historically the building had major water ingress issues to the point were an internal gutter system had to be installed rather than repair the leaks to the obscurely designed façade.
A new bespoke system was designed to meet modern day performance standards and a cloud point survey had to be carried out to the original steel work that could not be replaced. With severe tolerance issues each roof screen had to be installed from a single point on the steel with varying mullion heights to compensate for 1960s steel trusses and the curvatures that remained in them.
Each Diamond shaped screen at the interface with the wall façade was unique to mitigate the intolerances within the steel structure and had individual set out instructions and individual triangular interface screens.
Upon completion of the “most complex roofing system in the world” Pops handed over the façade with zero defects and most importantly no leaks!
