Maccreanor Lavington’s Macfarlane Place scheme features 142 affordable homes provided across two large brick buildings, replacing a former BBC multistorey carpark. With over 500 roller shutters, Macfarlane Place is the largest residential installation of this type in the UK to date.
The roller shutters were needed to reduce overheating and to avoid noise pollution by reducing the need for occupants to open their windows.
In Europe roller shutters commonly found in apartment blocks have foam filled profiles and are installed with the window as a unit. However, to comply to UK fire regulations, the roller shutters were supplied in extruded aluminium with the casing installed in front of the window. A laser-cut patterned fascia panel was designed to conceal the shutter box behind a decorative lintel. The roller shutters were motorised instead of manually operated, as they were deemed less prone to human error and to require less maintenance.
Prisca Thielmann, associate director at Maccreanor Lavington, has said she would absolutely use the shutters again, ‘Ultimately they’re for climate change-resistance, for the UK, it’s the future.’
We totally agree which is why we started to research roller shutters 12 years ago. There is so much scope for using shutters in the UK, not only for affordable housing but also for hospitals, schools and office buildings.
See below link to the article published by the Architects Journal
‘Shutters are the future’: Maccreanor Lavington’s White City housing
For more information on roller shutters:
External Roller Shutters | Enviroblinds