Colt - Solar Shading

Project location:

• Worcestershire

Project details:

• Client:
  Malvern Hills Science Park
• Architect:
  Rubicon Design Ltd
• Contractor:
  Leadbitter Construction

Colt Products:

• Girasol
• Shadotex

Using The Sun To Keep In The Shade

Malvern Hills Science Park located in picturesque rural Worcestershire, is the unlikely home to Qinetiq, a leading international defence and security technology company and supplier of defence research to the UK Government. The Park is also home to cutting-edge building technologies that are winning awards for their efficiency, including an ingenious, sun-flower inspired shading system, which tracks the sun, without the need for electro-mechanical controls.

	Malvern Hills Science Park - a benchmark for low carbon development in the West Midlands

As a reflection of the park's commitment to cutting-edge technology and to accommodate growing interest in its facilities, a groundbreaking sustainable energy building, Phase 3, was completed in June 2007. Supported by funding from Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency, and the European Regional Development Fund, Phase 3 is a benchmark for low carbon development in the West Midlands. It won the 2007 Excellence in Property Design Award, including contribution to environmental sustainability and innovation in design, from the UK Science Park Association.

The building, with 2,000 m² of floor space consisting of offices, laboratories and a bistro, incorporates a plethora of innovative, sustainable technologies. Designed by Rubicon Design architects and built by Leadbitter Construction, the working environment is cool in the summer and warm in winter, and has extremely low carbon emissions.

	Hollow core concrete slabs are used instead of traditional steel ducts, to transport air through the building			The floor/ceiling slabs convey fresh air into the building and serve as an energy store

The building has a heating and cooling system based on ground source heat pump technology, which eliminates the need for a boiler and greatly reduces the overall carbon impact. To transport air through the building, hollow core concrete slabs are used instead of traditional steel ducts. The slabs work as heat exchangers between the supply air and the rooms, using the thermal storage capacity of the building's structural mass to regulate internal temperatures. The floor/ceiling slabs convey fresh air into the building and serve as an energy store, in addition to being part of the structure.

	An array of exterior sun louvres are mounted as brise soleil, shading the south elevation during the heat of the day, while allowing full outward views.

Externally, the building's envelope has a homogenous skin, sealed and insulated with an aluminium rainscreen facade. An array of exterior sun louvres are mounted as brise soleil, shading the south elevation during the heat of the day, while allowing full outward views.

In addition to the brise soleil, Colt International designed and installed a sun-tracking louvre system adjacent to the bistro. In addition to the brise soleil, Colt International designed and installed a sun-tracking louvre system adjacent to the bistro,. This creates both visual impact and an energy efficient way to provide solar shading, harnessing the power of the sun to keep the building cool, without the need for electro-mechanical controls.

	These blades are controlled by Girasol

Six enormous vertical fins, each measuring 2.5m wide x 10.5m high, rotate slowly through the day to track the movement of the sun. Each blade consists of an upper section made of Shadotex louvre comprising. Ferrari fabric, stretched over an aluminium support frame, which absorbs and repels up to 97% of the heat of the sun's rays, thereby reducing cooling loads. The lower section is made of Shadometal, perforated metal.

Given their enormous size, the fins have been specifically designed to withstand high wind pressures and thermal expansion. Shadotex is perfect for this type of application as it is extremely lightweight, allowing large spans to be constructed without the need for additional supporting framework.

Each of these blades is controlled by Girasol, Colt's revolutionary sun-tracking system. Named after the Italian word for sunflower, Girasol uses thermo hydraulic drives to create a completely autonomous system that requires no electrical input to move the louvres. Two collector evaporator tubes, filled with a special CFC-free thermo-hydraulic fluid, are fixed to each louvre blade. As the sun moves across the building, one tube heats up while the other cools down. The increase or decrease in temperature causes a difference in pressure and as the fluid expands or contracts the louvres rotate accordingly.

	The increase or decrease in temperature causes a difference in pressure and as the fluid expands or contracts the louvres rotate accordingly

These drives move slowly and noiselessly to set the louvres in motion. Each louvred section, together with its thermo-hydraulic drive, forms an independent system integrated in the facade. Stored diffusion settings cause the louvres to open completely when the sky is overcast or when the respective facade is not exposed to the sun.

Phase 3 at MHSP provides an excellent example of what can be achieved by employing innovative design and cutting-edge technology. In addition to its environmentally sound credentials, the building's design has proven a large factor in its commercial success. According to Malvern Hills Science Park director Nigel Shaw, "Interest in this development has always been linked to its green credentials." Many of the new phase's offices were leased long before construction was complete.