Glass and glazing systems transform Olympic media centre

Here East is a new campus for the creative and digital industries, transforming the former press and broadcast centres on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park into 1.2 million sq ft of commercial space. Wrightstyle supplied three full-height steel curtain wall internal atriums, to a total project size of over 800 m2, combining fire resistance to 60 minutes of integrity and insulation with a high level of acoustic performance.Wrightstyle also supplied a large number of its unlatched 6050F1 doors to integrate seamlessly into the atriums over various levels, part of Wrightstyle’s commitment to offer complete and guaranteed glazing system solutions.



Supplying to Lakesmere, the leading roofing, cladding and facade specialist, one of the atriums is now part of BT Sport’s new broadcasting centre, while the rest of Here East will include shared workspaces, public areas and a range of bars and restaurants. The ambition behind Here East is to create a community of offices, studio spaces and a data centre, alongside new facilities for University College London, Loughborough University and Hackney Community College – a place for collaboration, entrepreneurship and learning.



Wrightstyle also helped to transform the media centre for the 2004 Olympics and Paralympics in Athens, supplying over 41,000 m2 of steel glazing systems to create Golden Hall, now one of Greece’s foremost retail centres. The company, which is a European leader in the design, fabrication and supply of advanced steel and aluminium glazing systems, was also a supplier to the 2012 London main stadium and the adjacent ArcelorMittal Orbit, the 114.5 metre tall sculpture and observation tower.



Pyroguard supplied Pyroguard T-EI60/25-3 VI for the project, a double-glazed fire resistant glass specifically designed for use in steel profiles. The solution provides an hour of integrity and insulation from fire and optionally can be combined with counterpanes which offer additional performance characteristics such as solar control, thermal insulation, sound reduction, or attack protection.



The Here East project was complicated by the need to accommodate sloping head screens and, due to the size of the building, significant vertical and lateral movement. Wrightstyle’s design solution was to incorporate a specially-welded anti-racking configuration with bespoke brackets. Wrightstyle worked closely and successfully with both Lakesmere and Laing O’Rourke, the main contractor, to comply with stringent supply chain management, as well as training the Lakesmere installation team to ensure compliance with the more complex requirements of the project.



“Here East is all about transformative legacy planning – a hugely imaginative project to create jobs, encourage creative entrepreneurship, and foster further education,” said Lee Coates, Wrightstyle’s technical director. “Our advanced glazing systems allow ambient light to flood through the building, removing the more traditional internal walls that the designers saw as being barriers to networking and collaboration,” he said.



“The building-height internal atrium at Here East uses steel-framed curtain walling with Pyroguard fire glass. On the ground floor, there is a subtle continuation of the stunning ‘dazzle camouflage’ frit pattern that wraps around the facade of the building, whilst upper floors mix in black spandrel panels. This project demonstrates that the use of fire rated glazing does not require any compromise in terms of design or performance,” said Simon Ellison, UK Head of Project Sales at Pyroguard. “The result at Here East is a transformational project that will further rejuvenate the east of London, became a destination for other Londoners and serve as a model for other regeneration projects across the UK,” he said.