Roofglaze News

Apr 2009

In a contract worth more than £500,000, Roofglaze Limited has installed more than 3,280m2 of glass monopitch skylights at Wolverton Park, a stunning redevelopment of the 10.5 acre former railway works at Wolverton, Milton Keynes.

Designed and installed by Roofglaze using the Lonsdale patent glazing system, the skylights bring natural light to the three Grade II listed buildings which form the heart of the scheme – the former Royal Train Shed, the Triangular Building where locomotives and carriages were built, and a Reading Room which was an educational facility for the works’ employees. The Royal Train Shed and Triangular Building now provide 76 contemporary apartments and town houses and the Reading Room is due to house a cafe restaurant.

The continuous runs of glass skylights provide a durable, practical solution which meets current Building Regulations whilst complementing the aesthetics of the 200 year old buildings.

Many of the buildings’ original details have been retained and refurbished, including complex roof timbers in the Reading Room and the original gantry crane in the Royal Train Shed, which is dramatically lit by the Roofglaze skylights to provide an unusual entrance feature for the new apartments within the building.

Harry Robinson, Operations Manager for main contractor Willmott Dixon, said: “We’ve worked with Roofglaze on a number of projects and we have come to expect and rely on their high standards and professionalism.”

The design team at Roofglaze were involved at an early stage of the project, to provide solutions to some unusual requirements, including the need for many of the skylights to be ‘blacked out’. This was to give the appearance of continuous skylights from outside, to meet the requirements of the Grade 2 listing - without transmitting any light to certain parts of the interiors. Roofglaze Director, Richard Cliffe takes up the story: “We looked into using thermoplastic sheets for this purpose, but in the end it was decided that black ceramic glass would provide the best solution. The end result works very well. From outside it’s impossible to see the difference between the clear glazed and blacked-out sections of the skylights, thereby realising the designer’s vision.”

The Wolverton Park scheme is being delivered by Willmott Dixon for Inspace for Places for People.