Fentrade’s expertise invaluable in large-scale design-led curtain walling project

Aberporth Primary on the Ceredigion coast has a striking new Mondrian-inspired façade thanks to the skills of trade fabricator Fentrade and contractor LEB Construction. 

Chris Reeks, Managing Director at Fentrade, said: “The design, size and timescale on this project were all extremely demanding, but we were more than up for the challenge.” 

The project began when LEB Construction approached Fentrade for their support. LEB Construction had worked with Fentrade on previous projects, and knew the team had the expertise that would be required.  

It involved replacing almost 400m² of original steel single-glazed screens with AluK’s SL52 capped curtain walling system. As if the scale wasn’t demanding enough, it also featured a daring design from architect Mathew Tench involving primary-coloured aluminium-faced panels in irregular rectangular shapes, all inspired by abstract artist Piet Mondrian. 

Fentrade worked with AluK’s design team to recommend a switch from the original casement windows within the curtain walling to tilt and turn windows in AluK’s 58BW HI system to accommodate the larger sizes required. Fentrade also recommended replacing the double doors in the design with wider single doors in AluK’s GT55 system to achieve higher levels of security while still providing the necessary fire escape access. 

The fabrication phase could only have been completed by an experienced fabricator committed to attention to detail.  

The primary-coloured aluminium-faced panels were all irregular rectangular shapes and needed to fit alongside the windows and doors within the same curtain walling sections. Unlike conventional stick curtain walling with regular ladder-type sections, these panels were required to run across the mullions to achieve the Mondrian-style look. 

Fentrade and AluK’s technical teams calculated that the noses of the mullion caps in the SL52 system could be machined sufficiently to allow the panels to cross over without negatively impacting on the performance of the curtain walling screens. 

However, achieving this required more than 100 separate manual calculations and a great deal of precision machining.  

Chris commented: “Each cap was calculated by hand across the four façades to ensure a correct fit on site – and then machined, batched and clearly labelled to make installation straightforward. It represented many months of work, and we were incredibly proud to deliver on time and on budget.” 

The aluminium powder coating was finished to a marine-grade finish to ensure durability, longevity and low maintenance, even in Aberporth’s coastal location. 

Installation was carefully planned to minimise disruption to the school. The headteacher and pupils are delighted with the results, and there’s a renewed sense of pride in a building that’s warmer and brighter than before. 

Chris concluded: “The project was a perfect example of the quality of work that can be achieved when the entire supply chain collaborates from start to finish. It’s an incredible project that we’re proud to have been part of.” 

Fentrade brings over 30 years of fenestration experience, and a commitment to quality and results. These benefits were more than in evidence in this latest project.