Birmingham City Council

The four-storey building, on a derelict site being used as a car park next to Aston Science Park, will form a key element of the Council's business transformation and Working for the Future programmes. It will provide an improved working environment for approx 2000 staff, aiming to deliver better services to Birmingham residents.Set to achieve a BREEAM 'excellent' rating, the development, being built by Thomas Vale Construction, includes a various sustainable strategies such as a brown roof, photovoltaic panels, rainwater harvesting and a combined heating and power system.

To ensure the building's roof-mounted plant room is effectively ventilated, Kingfisher is supplying sub-contractor Apex Roofing & Cladding with almost £100,000 of aluminium KW ventilation and KS screening louvres. Mounted on a counter balance system on the roof and integrated into the façade cladding, the louvres will ensure optimum airflow into the plant room to maintain ambient conditions within to optimize equipment efficiency, whilst preventing ingress of rain.

They will also also play an aesthetic role, creating a more attractive feature on the roof round the plant room. Apex Roofing project manager Alan Village explains, "Kingfisher were not only the most
competitive company we approached for the louvres, but were the most helpful, giving us the information we needed to ensure they would integrate discreetly into the overall design and meet the performance objectives required."

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