Maximising access to natural light is a key consideration for the majority of newbuild projects, from domestic to commercial. Here, Adrian Lukic, Divisional Sales & Commercial Director from Brett Martin discusses the alternatives to traditional glazing and looks at how these systems can be utilised to add colour and variation to your project’s facade.
Research has shown there is a clear correlation between the levels of daylight we are exposed to and our overall wellbeing. A well-lit environment is important to guarantee visual and thermal comfort, which in turn enhances mood, alertness and productivity, while exposure to vitamin D contributes to improving mood and overall health. Ensuring adequate daylight can also have a positive impact on the energy efficiency of a building, reducing its reliance on artificial lighting and cutting energy costs. As such the provision of daylight in building design is critical and often a key requirement on modern projects.
Traditional options
While windows, rooflights and structural glazing have always been viable solutions to help introduce more daylight into a project, when glass is used extensively the glare and solar heat gain generated can be an issue for occupants. Traditional methods may also be unsuitable for a project if the weight of the system needs to be considered. Likewise, if a building design doesn’t allow for the implementation of rooflights to achieve complete light penetration into a large space an alternative solution needs to be considered.
Polycarbonate panel glazing
Polycarbonate panel glazing is a lightweight solution that enables significant diffused light penetration into a building. Only semi-transparent, it can ensure high levels of privacy in comparison with traditional glazing methods, and it also provides an additional way to integrate colour and design.
Polycarbonate panel glazing systems in particular offer outstanding levels of light transmission with up to 74% penetration. Crucially, this light is devoid of solar glare and the heat created by the radiant element of the solar wavelength, ensuring a comfortable internal environment. Furthermore, a UV absorption layer can be added enabling the further protection for inhabitants as well as preventing damage to the panel itself for long term optical clarity.
Despite its light weight, polycarbonate is very strong, with an impact resistance up to 200 times greater than glass. It can retain its physical properties in temperatures from -40°C to 100°C in the long term and up to 130°C short term, making it resistant to damage from extreme weather conditions and vandalism. Furthermore, in the case of fire, polycarbonate solutions will soften and open to allow smoke, heat and gases produced to escape, limiting internal damage.
Finally, in terms of thermal insulation, many polycarbonate panels are produced using an insulating multiwall design that enables it to achieve U values as low as 0.99 W/m2K. Combined with the energy savings possible through increased natural light penetration, polycarbonate panel glazing offers a highly energy efficient solution.
Design possibilities
With a modern modular design and simple tongue and groove connection, polycarbonate panelling products, like Brett Martin’s Marlon Clickfix, have extensive spanning capabilities. Catering for limitless horizontal spans and vertical facades of up to 12 metres in height, they are ideal for large scale applications and a low-maintenance way to incorporate a wide range of colours into to a facade design.
An extensive range of colour options including bespoke tints and different intensities are available as well as clear and opalescent finishes, allowing for the creation of an eye-catching, light-box aesthetic. The Belfast Waterfront conference facility for example, was designed by TODD Architects and features Brett Martin’s Marlon Clickfix polycarbonate panelling along its 150m riverfront facade. Over 1,750m2 of multiwall polycarbonate panelling was required in total, in three distinctive colours that were extruded in two different intensities to create an eye-catching graduated flow of colour along the waterfront elevation.
Panel glazing can also be used to easily incorporate non-traditional shapes and design elements into a facade, for example Scott Brownrigg’s Cardiff Ice Arena incorporated 420m2 of Marlon Clickfix in a series of geometric shapes, allowing daylight into the building and creating a lightbox affect when backlit at night.
Sustainable solutions
Brett Martin’s Marlon Clickfix range includes Marlon Bioplus, a solution that offers the same performance benefits as Clickfix for projects where sustainability is an important factor. It is made with 89% renewable hydrocarbons, using cooking oil in place of fossil based raw materials to dramatically reduce the system’s impact on the environment. Brett Martin also uses 100% renewable energy to produce all its products, sourced from the company’s own wind turbine on its site in Northern Ireland.
When looking to increase daylight penetration on a new commercial or residential project, panel glazing can be used to create an effective daylight strategy in combination with traditional glazing methods. With the potential to create an attractive design feature, panel glazing ticks all the boxes in terms of structural integrity, efficiency and ease of installation, while ensuring maximum daylight penetration with minimal associated discomfort.
To learn more, visit https://www.brettmartin.com/