Kilburn Building, The University of Manchester

The Kilburn Building was opened in 1972, its distinctive design featuring very narrow, yet tall windows stacked on top of each other.

Smart supplied new windows and doors from its Alitherm Heritage range for the year-long refurbishment programme, which saw a transformation of this academic building for the university’s School of Computer Sciences.

The distinctive window dimensions were potentially problematic as they could become vulnerable to leakage due to the amount of coupling profiles required to join them together. Over 1,000 separate coupled joints were required, meaning over 2,000 coupler ends required sealing.

At the time of the refurbishment, the Centre for Window and Cladding Technology published a guidance document, recommending consideration for the fact that external sealant joints can break down over time and allow water to get trapped behind the external seals. Unless provision is made for this ‘leakage’ water could escape and damage could occur to the structure.

To address this potential issue, the Smart design team designed an innovative bespoke “drained” coupler extrusion, which featured dedicated end caps that could provide a drainage route for any water that managed to by-pass the external seals. The couplers could also be fitted under factory conditions, so windows simply had to be lowered during installation, with the next window simply positioned in place on top of it.