Winter Gardens are an ideal way of offering high-rise residents access to a contemporary, all-weather outdoor space. They also require a specific set of building materials that meet the required fire safety regulations. It’s for this reason that Pyroguard Balustrades was recently chosen for London’s Deanston Wharf development.
Deanston Wharf is a vibrant new development located on the curve of the River Thames, adjacent to the flagship River Wharf. Featuring four separate building plots, ranging from 9 to 17-storeys, Deanston Wharf will bring over 760 new homes to the local area, comprising a mixture of one, two and three-bedroom apartments; in addition to commercial space, leisure facilities and a luxury sky lounge.
Developed by Oxley Holdings and Ballymore Construction, Elite Architectural Systems was brought onto the project to design, supply and install a series of glazed winter gardens on select apartments. Winter gardens are an architectural trend that has significantly grown in popularity over recent years, formed of an enclosed, glazed and ventilated balcony. As well as offering a modern and striking external feature, winter gardens are ideal for providing residents with access to a garden space that they can enjoy year-round, helping to bring the outside in, and vice versa.
They can also offer a safer alternative to balconies on high-rise residential buildings, occasionally recommended by London planning guidelines due to the increased wind speed and noise that can be experienced several stories above ground.
On the Deanston Wharf development, the winter gardens featured a glazed balcony with a folding partition, enabling residents to open up the space in the warm, sunnier months and then close it up during winter.
Speaking on the project, Noel Gilmartin, Operations Manager at Elite Architectural Systems, said: “Due to the high-rise setting, fire safety glass was a critical requirement for the construction of the glazed balcony space. Knowing that Pyroguard was one of few manufacturers to have a fire-rated glass solution that met the amended building regulations, we came to the conclusion with Q-Railing that Pyroguard Balustrades was the perfect product for this project.”
Pyroguard Balustrades is a range of laminated fire safety glass, developed specifically for use in balustrade applications over 11 metres when installed as part of a certified system. Manufactured to Reaction to Fire classification A2-s1, d0 (according to BS EN13501), Pyroguard Balustrades also offers excellent light transmission and is certified to 1B1 impact resistance rating (according to EN12600).
Noel continued: “Working with Pyroguard on the Deanston Wharf project was a great success, especially with regards to the technical support they offered. Given the stringent fire safety regulations and the emphasis on traceability, we had to supply our client with comprehensive datasheets, test evidence and certifications. Thanks to the support from Pyroguard and Q-Railing, we were able to deliver all of this to the client, smoothly and efficiently.”
Elite Architectural Systems has successfully installed over 80 winter gardens on site, with the overall Deanston Wharf development expected to be completed by December 2023.