A popular community primary school located in the heart of Salford, Manchester, has been welcomed into its new home, created with the help of Kingspan Light + Air. The bright facility comprises high performance Kingspan Kapture Prismatic Skylights with climate control glazing, which offers savings of up to 80% on artificial lightning energy consumption.
The Deans Primary School had to be relocated due to the high demand for school places in the area. The new building has been designed by Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, to offer the best environmental conditions for learning, including high-quality daylighting within the classroom and corridors. It also aims to enable students and teachers to work comfortably within bright spaces that contribute to the overall sense of positivity and wellbeing around the school.
“Our vision is to create an environment which is both stimulating and interesting for our pupils, allowing their talents and personalities to flourish. It was important that the new school building embodied and supported this vision. The Kingspan skylights have helped to create a calm ambience throughout the top floor of the building, supporting the learning that takes place there,” commented Stephen Kirkpatrick, head teacher of The Deans Primary School.
The technical team at Kingspan Light + Air used climate-based daylight modelling of the proposed building to design a skylight system, comprising Kingspan Kapture Nano-Prismatic Skylights with climate control glazing. The unique contoured form of the Kapture Skylights allows light to be captured at low sun angles such as in the early morning and late evening, ensuring the internal spaces are illuminated all day.
Research has shown that exposure to sunlight has considerable physiological and psychological benefits for the learner, improving their attitude, learning rates, health and attendance. Therefore, the Kapture skylights were specified in Kingspan Light + Air’s climate control glazing option as they can achieve a solar heat gain coefficient as low as 0.45, with an overall light transmission of 81%.
After installing the products, the team at Kingspan conducted a full site report that confirmed that the Kingspan Kapture Prismatic Skylights achieved a Daylight Factor of 5% in the classrooms and 3.5% in the corridor. The scheme also achieved a uniformity of over 90%, complying with the requirements of CIBSE Lighting Guide 5 Lighting in Schools, and the Education Funding Agency (EFA).
