£1.7 million facelift transforms Leeds tallest building, Leeds landmark makeover

‘We won the £1.7m contract to fit rain-screen cladding and windows on Tower North Central,’ says Alan Hilsdon, of Warley Holdings. ‘We won it because we were able to offer practical design input, quality products to add value and a one stop facility. As an example, our competitors were quoting for a steel sub-structure but we knew the better solution lay with aluminium. Apart from the life-costs being lower with aluminium, it also meant 100 fewer tonnes being lifted up the building. That in turn meant one hoist instead of two which brought cost and time savings as well as a whole host of product benefits such as ‘longer-life.’

Warley invested £500,000 in Alcan‘s Alucobond technology. Hilsdon continues, ‘We design, manufacture and install curtain walling, windows and cladding systems and work closely with our clients to achieve best value packages and right lifetime costs. Given the size of this job, there were special considerations and the product had to be right. With this in mind, we felt Alucobond rain-screen and Smart Systems’ windows offered the ideal solution.’

6,000 square metres of rain screen cladding were used on Tower North Central. ‘We chose Alucobond because it’s a very light, exceptionally flat material and worked in tandem with the 500 windows which we also designed and installed. It was a matter of orchestrating two companies in the group – H&H Architectural providing the sub-structure and rain-screen cladding with Anderson Architectural providing the windows,’ said Alan Hilsdon.

‘We identified the risks and decided we needed to workshadow staff at Alcan to ensure we knew the product as well as they did. Key staff were sent off to Singen in Germany. When they returned, it was clear we needed to invest in new CNC (computer numerically-controlled) punching equipment, sawing and routing machines, drilling, crimping and beading equipment as well as the people to run this job. It all came together really well as it was planned, as with all good jobs, with military precision.’

Returns on refurbishment

The Warley Holdings team has turned a 1960s building into one fit for the 21st century. That means its owner will not only maximise returns on this building in the short term, in terms of higher rents, but also in the long-term, as aluminium looks good and lasts longer than steel, says Warley. A large bank has already expressed an interest in Tower North Central for its HQ in the North as a direct result of the refurbishment.

This job worked so well because Warley Holdings really applied themselves to the technology,’ says Alcan’s Graham Hopkins, Sales Manager for Alucobond. ‘As with any job on this scale, there were plenty of places this could have gone wrong but because it was all in one company’s hands – the job was delivered to the specification agreed at the start.’

Window specification

Guy Morris, marketing manager at Smart Systems who provided the windows said: ‘Visoline windows were the natural choice for Tower North Central. They’re tried and tested (achieving BS 6375 Part 1), aesthetically pleasing and the profile both suited the project as well as being compatible with the rain screen cladding. The windows were outward opening, top-hung, internally-beaded and painted in deep grey (RAL 7031M) and feature a specially-designed vent profile incorporating a Eurogroove.’

Pilkington’s Bristol Sales Manager, Vincent Smith, said, ‘we were pleased to supply the glass to Warley Holdings for this high-profile building renovation. The main specification was met using insulating glass units incorporating 6mm Pilkington K Glass, 6mm Optifloat Grey Toughened and a 16mm argon cavity. This type of project is normally fraught with problems leading to lengthy delays but it went incredibly smoothly because of Warley’s tight project management.’

‘The lesson we all take out of Tower North Central is how clients really do respect you for telling them, ‘if it was my building, this is what I’d do’,’ said Alan Hilsdon. ‘Our industry often lacks that conviction. The key lies in doing it in such a flexible way that gets the client feeling totally comfortable and confident as you deliver a highly innovative solution, fitted to the highest quality standards.’