Berkeley Group selects Deceuninck’s Tilt & Turn for Imperial College

Working with the Berkeley Group, Deceuninck fabricator, Dempsey Dyer installed 1,100 frames in the Woodward Buildings complex for Imperial College London. The development houses 590 students in a series of high rise buildings, including a 19-storey tower with a bull-nose aluminium façade.

This was a technically demanding project and the client had complex requirements for aesthetics, weather performance, acoustics, safety and durability. Dempsey Dyer met all the criteria with Deceuninck’s high performance 2500 Tilt and Turn window, meeting the original specification for aluminium with the same performance and aesthetics, while saving 30% on the overall cost of windows.

The windows were installed in high-rise buildings, so they needed to be strong enough to withstand elevated wind and water pressure. The 2500 Tilt and Turn comfortably met these demands with Class 4 Air permeability; Class 8A Water tightness and Class A5 2000Pa exposure. The windows also achieved low U-Values of 1.5 and G-Values of 0.27 to prevent overheating in the building.

Acoustic performance was an important consideration, with the lower floors and elevations facing main roads demanding higher acoustic values. Deceuninck’s technical team worked closely with Dempsey Dyer to develop windows with seven different levels of acoustics, ranging from RW34db to RW43db.

Safety and durability were also key concerns to the developer. Deceuninck’s Tilt and Turn window is ideal for high-rise and student developments because it can be locked in the tilt mode for added safety and unlocked by maintenance teams when cleaning is required.

The windows were finished in Iron Grey Decoroc on all four sides of the profile to match the appearance of aluminium. Decoroc is an extremely durable, low maintenance colour finish that can be easily repaired if damaged, so it’s a popular choice in high-rise developments. Deceuninck’s Decoroc colour finishing system is micro-sprayed for a highly durable, easy-clean matt finish and comes with a 10-year guarantee.

The installation process included full EPDM shrouding and on-site water testing and was completed on time and in full. Due to the success of this project, Berkeley Group has awarded Dempsey Dyer more contracts with Deceuninck products.

Deceuninck works closely with commercial fabricators and gives comprehensive support on specifications, contract generation, tenders and technical requirements. The company’s full product portfolio is available from the NBS National BIM Library at www.nationalbimlibrary.com/deceuninck-ltd.