Imperium Building, Reception Desk Canopy
Year of Completion:
2008
Architect/Designer: Taylor Hammond Main Contractor/Customer: Dovehouse Interiors
Architect/Designer: Taylor Hammond Main Contractor/Customer: Dovehouse Interiors
The Imperium Building in Reading was undergoing a full refurbishment and a new receptionist’s desk being going to be fitted right in front of a wall of glazing. This vertically glazed entrance faces roughly east which meant that the sunshine had potential to cause some problems with glare and blind the receptionist. Architen Landrell was drafted in to help solve the problem.
Architen Landrell was initially asked to undertake a sun path analysis to project the trajectory of the sun and therefore its impact on the working conditions. Once it was established that glare was likely to be a problem, we were asked to propose a design to counter this problem as well as adding a bit of architectural decoration.
The report provided by the sun path analysis was invaluable in providing information on where shading and how much coverage was required. We originally specified a certain amount of hypars and banners in the design to resolve the issue with solar glare. However, to provide a more economical solution the banners were removed from the scheme.
The client specified that the sails should be brightly coloured, however, the typical range of fabrics used for this purpose did not provide the range of colours needed. Instead we sourced a Kayospruce fabric which provided the right colours and translucency for this project. Although a fabric we had never previously used for this purpose, it proved a great success and has allowed us to offer a wider variety of colours to other clients.
