Peoplebuilding (phase 2)
Peoplebuilding at Hemel was commissioned by the team responsible for Stockley Park and Chiswick Park. Close to the M1 motorway, this was the site of the first purpose-built factory in Hemel Hempstead, a post-war new town. The location required an elegant but extremely cost effective solution. To enhance the quality of the setting, a number of public amenities were planned, to set it apart from traditional business parks. The gently sloping site is the gateway to Hemel's business district.
The first phase of the project utilised fully-glazed facades overlaid with ‘translucent’ perforated aluminium louvres that were mechanically activated to track the sun’s path. For the second phase of the project we explored ways of further increasing the thermal efficiency of the buildings, in a design using masonry columns and beams.
Large windows are set within deep reveals to take advantage of views across the site, and within the reveals a delicate system of metal brise-soleil can be adjusted seasonally to ‘tune’ their performance.
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