| A
27-metre-long rooflight from Brett Martin Daylight Systems
is capping a £5 million refurbishment of the South
Kensington salesrooms - one of the busiest salesrooms in the
world - of Christie’s, the world’s leading fine art
business. |
 |
| It
was specified by specialist contractors McConnell Roofing in
conjunction with Abacus Project Services and SHH architects
to replace the leaking Georgian wired glass roof of a fine
arts salesroom colloquially known as The Hangar. |
|
The five-metre-long Xlok Ultra
25mm structured polycarbonate panels were assembled in Brett
Martin’s Coventry factory with extruded aluminium bars which
interlink on site for a fully water managed system. |
|
Class B non-fragile and easily
compliant with Part L regulations, the wide-span and
heavy-duty Xlok panels are designed for simple, fast
installation – a crucial factor in this project which
McConnell’s had to complete within two months to be ready
for Christie’s major autumn sales. |
|
Brett Martin’s own installation
team actually fitted the massive UV-resistant Xlok Ultra
rooflight, which features four electrically-operated,
top-hung opening vents with rain sensors and
internally-drained glazing bars in a light grey powder
coating to comply with Conservation Area criteria, in just
three days. |
|
The Hangar refurbishment was the
final phase of a three-year, six-phase programme of
improvement works at Christie’s Old Brompton Road auction
rooms that was designed to improve and simplify customer
interface areas, circulation and signage and open up
connecting links to create better entrances and viewing
corridors. |
|
McConnell Roofing removed the
offending three tiers of Georgian wired glass and prepared
the slate pitched roof for the new rooflight, protecting the
antiquities underneath with a temporary “shrink wrap” roof
and internal scaffold crash deck above a high-level frame of
structural steelwork that supports lighting. |
|
Director Rob Davis said: “The
original rooflight of Georgian wired glass was leaking and
obviously as the main viewing hall, there were some highly
valuable items of art and antiques on display. |
|
“We have used Brett Martin
rooflights many times before, mainly in the industrial
sector, but we recommended the Xlok for this project because
aesthetically and budget-wise, it was the most suitable
method to deal with their problem. |
|
“We had a finite window in which
to operate due to Christie’s auctioning activities but the
client [Abacus] has been very pleased with the whole
project, especially the way it was managed in the time
constraints. We actually finished a month ahead of
schedule.” |
