Yorkshire Bank Counts On Pilkington

The building, situated in the city centre, incorporates 350m2 of Pilkington’s world renowned frameless structural glazing system.
 
Used as the head office for the bank and its 700 staff, the building is situated on a raised site off a main road so it was imperative construction times were kept to a minimum to reduce disruption in the surrounding area. Pilkington Planar™ has a proven track record in the most demanding applications and the versatile nature of the system can assist in an accelerated installation process – an essential criteria for Yorkshire Bank. The refurbishment work took a mere six weeks to complete on-site, leaving a highly attractive working environment for staff with more light and a greater feeling of space.
 
The combination of the curved-on-plan clear Pilkington Planar™ glazing and the specifically designed lightweight tension structure support system creates a new welcome and vibrancy to the building. The ability to supply multi-functional glazing in this way gives architects extensive design freedom to achieve a wide range of glazed solutions in many building applications. The design flexibility, safety performance, appearance and transparency can be utilised to create aesthetically pleasing refurbishments such as the Yorkshire Bank, Leeds.
 
Ollie Taffinder, Managing Director of Specialist sub-contractor O.J. Taffinder Ltd, installer of the system said: “The use of Pilkington Planar™ in this project was necessary in order to create a large, clear façade for the building’s front. The building is wide and curved at the front, so we needed a system that would enable us to fit in a curved glazing system without resorting to bulky and unsightly framing.
 
Pilkington Planar™ enabled us to maximise the amount of light let into the building, whilst ensuring that the security and structural integrity remained in place. As this is the headquarters of a bank, we specified toughened glass to make sure this was achieved.”
 
The lightweight tension structure support concept is a development from the more traditional steel structures and provides an elegant visual appearance. Similar in transparency to the glass fin walls.   
 
With a proven track record in the most demanding applications, the Pilkington Planar™ System continues to lead the way in tension structure technology with many successful applications worldwide. The Yorkshire Bank HQ project Leeds represents the latest addition to this prestigious portfolio.
 
Pilkington Planar™ Specification:
350m2 Curved glazing: 12mm Pilkington Optifloat™ Clear T (Heat-soaked Toughened Glass).
15m2 Pilkington Optilam™ laminated glass, comprising:
10mm Pilkington Optifloat™ Clear T Plus (Heat-soaked Toughened Glass)
1.51mm Clear PVB Interlayer
6mm Pilkington Optifloat™ Clear (Heat Strengthened Glass)
 
 
For more information visit www.pilkington.co.uk/planar