Staff and pupils at Arbroath Academy should be a lot more comfortable this winter and fuel bills should be lower. This is in no small part owing to the new thermally efficient curtain walling that has been manufactured and installed by Penicuik Commercial. Forming the major part of a £1,000,000 refurbishment project undertaken by main contractors Muirfield Contracts, the new façade also dramatically improves the appearance of the Academy.

Originally built in the 70s, the Academy’s old façade consisted of an aluminium grid with in-fill panels and single glazed windows. Not only was thermal insulation poor, it was very unattractive, having been painted and patched in an ad hoc fashion over many years.

The new façade is constructed from Spectus Systems’ curtain walling, which comprises aluminium transoms and mullions with a PVCu capping. In all, 1,247m2 of curtain walling and 454 windows have been installed. The majority of the work was carried out during the schools summer holiday.

Neil Clunie, Commercial Director of Penicuik comments, “The first phase has now been completed and the transformation is remarkable. It looks like a new building. In some places the old façade, scheduled for phase two, abuts the new curtain walling. The contrast is startling”.

“Improving the building in this way will provide a substantially improved environment for the occupants, and will bring down heating bills. It is also a very cost efficient form of refurbishment. Replacing and upgrading the façade on an otherwise structurally sound building is a lot less expensive than many of the other solutions. And, of course, because the windows and capping are PVC-u, maintenance is minimal”.

The windows are predominately of a tilt and turn style to allow cleaning from inside. An anti-sun finish has been used to reduce solar glare. In addition, ‘self cleaning’ glass has been used in some difficult to access areas. Throughout, the windows meet the requirements of Document L Part J of the Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations.

This is the second project Penicuik Commercial has carried out on behalf of Angus Council, Forfar Academy having received a similar re-furbishment in 2001. Penicuik, which has a turnover of over £10million, has been better known as a well-established provider of domestic windows, doors and conservatories. Penicuik Commercial aims to capitalise on the Penicuik brand, utilising these advantages in the commercial arena.

Neil Clunie said: “Until now, Penicuik’s commercial business direction has been fairly haphazard and I intend to change that. We will now market Penicuik Commercial aggressively and are actively seeking new business opportunities. The company’s track record and reputation is excellent, and I aim to capitalise on that for the future. We have already expanded our Trade Supply business considerably and are seeking to capture a significant share of the New Build supply market in Scotland during 2005. Most exciting, we have developed an innovative ‘One Stop Shop’ product for the Home & Commercial building extension sector”.