One of the North West’s leading glass partition firms, Altitude Glass based in Blackburn, has completed work on two commercial office schemes in Lancashire. Altitude Glass has supplied and fitted the glass for a new office scheme in Ribchester for design and digital agency, Workhouse Marketing; and completed a stunning acoustic glass fit-out for the accountancy firm, Towers and Gornall. Workhouse Marketing were extending their existing office floor space into a new barn conversion, creating a large mezzanine floor with a modern, contemporary feel. Altitude Glass were tasked to install more than 14 linear metres of internal glass partition walls and doors, to create separate offices within the building. The new office exudes a fresh and elegant look, which ensures maximum use of natural lighting and effective use of the space. The second project, for accountancy firm Towers and Gornall, involved a significant remodelling of the building to create three separate offices, a reception area, boardroom, kitchen and storeroom. The offices were on the top floor in the loft space, an area where natural light is limited. The solution needed to create a more open plan, modern feel in the area, yet also maintain privacy. To meet the brief, Altitude Glass worked with acoustic glass to create the all-important light-filled space. This type of glass was ideal for the project due to its soundproof qualities. Sharon Snape, managing director of Altitude Glass, said: “Open-plan spaces are losing some favour because of the lack of privacy and the distraction that noise has on employees. Organisations instead want to create a mix of both open and private spaces that are linked together and flooded with natural light. Glass partitions are the perfect solution for this. This trend is driving demand for internal glazing, in particular, acoustic glass, to create private but connected spaces that significantly reduce noise in the workplace.” She added: “The Towers and Gornall project focussed on the sound transference element. For this reason, acoustic glass was selected for the partitions, and framed glass doors were incorporated to ensure minimal sound transference. We also designed the graphics for the glass partitions, which for privacy purposes, were sized to reach halfway up the glass. “The graphics featured a subtle use of colours generated from Towers and Gornall’s logo, to complement their branding and offer consistency throughout. The resulting office, with the acoustic glass, was a great success as the sound rating was around 48db once the door was closed instead of 32db.” Altitude Glass are experts in glass partitions and panels. The team develop and install products including glass partition walls, balustrades, doors and bespoke glass panels. The company has worked on many major glass projects for commercial office buildings, spas and hotels.

Architects behind the development of a new building at Wolverhampton Girl’s High School have called on Sto’s new rainscreen cladding system. Seymour Harris Architects deployed the StoVentec Glass solution on the project because it matched the firm’s vision. “The design of the school’s new sixth-form building was extremely important given its location and context, and this played a major role in driving the specification of the most appropriate materials,” explained Joe Harris of Seymour Harris Architects. “In contrast to previous pastiche additions to the school, we wanted to use modern materials which would complement the original architecture of the school. The new building is harmonized with its surroundings through the colour and pattern of the high-level cladding and by physically reflecting the attractive landscaping of the site, and the school’s original buildings which date back to 1911.” The original idea of cladding the building with a reflective metallic finish was changed, as the school environment could easily lead to the metal being scratched and dented. “We chose the StoVentec Glass system instead,” added Joe. “It’s tough and scratch-resistant, but it still provided the high degree of reflectivity that we were looking for. Sto worked closely with us, providing many samples and helping us to arrive at the final choice. The StoVentec Glass proved to be an excellent way of translating our design into reality.” The BBA-accredited StoVentec Glass system incorporates an adjustable sub-construction, which is designed bespoke for each project. This can easily be adjusted to suit any uneven substrate and creates a ventilated cavity which keeps the wall dry and allows it to breathe. Tempered safety glass panels are bonded to unique StoVentec carrier boards in the factory, and then fixed to the sub-construction at the project site. The glass panels are manufactured in bespoke shapes and sizes to suit individual requirements. As well as being available in any RAL or custom colour, with reflective, non-reflective or metallic finish, they can also be screen printed with individual logos or designs. The project included perforated Adapta cladding that was supported on a structural frame penetrating the StoVentec Glass. This necessitated close and careful co-ordination between the architect, Craft Interior and Sto to ensure that the cut-outs in the glass mirrored exactly the location of the steel beams. The manufacturing process includes the fusing of colours on to the back of the glass, before the toughening process. The colour melts into the glass providing permanent coloured glass panels that will not wear, scratch, fade, or incur water damage.  “We have installed the StoVentec Glass system previously on several projects, but this one was without doubt the trickiest in terms of design and co-ordination. The positioning of the Agraffe fixing rails to the rear of the Glass Panels ensures that the final install is a relatively quick and easy process,” added Graham Chadwick of authorized Sto applicator Craft Interior. “The result on this project is a stunning piece of architecture that all parties should be proud to have been involved with, and that is extremely important on a high-profile project such as this.”