Sir Ludwig Guttmann Health Centre

Waverley installed large electric roller blinds to the four storey entrance atrium at The Sir Ludwig Guttmann Health and Wellbeing Centre in East London.

The Location

The Centre is situated in the Olympic Park at 40 Liberty Bridge Road.  During the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games the building was used as the Medical and Doping Control Centre. After the Games it transferred to NHS ownership in Autumn 2013 and is now one of the largest non-hospital NHS buildings in the country.

The Requirement

Architects are increasingly using full height atria to ensure as much of a building’s interior as possible is exposed to natural daylight. This reduces the need for artificial lighting and improves the health and wellbeing of occupants by providing greater visual connectivity to the outside world.  However, this increased use of glass makes it more important than ever to incorporate high performance solar shading blinds in buildings, so that the inside temperature can be controlled and occupants do not suffer from the effects of uncontrolled glare.

Waverley were called in by the management team to suggest a solution for the large expanse of glazing at the entrance of the building. From mid-morning throughout the rest of the day, staff at the Sir Ludwig Guttmann Centre were struggling with glare and heat gain, particularly the staff on the Reception desk which directly face the area where blinds are now installed. The Management wanted to maintain visibility through the glass as this is a main thoroughfare for all the various departments.

The Challenge & Solution

Waverley supplied and installed large motorised roller blinds in Verosol SilverScreen fabric to the full height glazing. The blinds cover a 9m drop when fully closed. We took care of provision of all wiring including wall mounted controls which enable the blinds to be operated at the touch of a button.

The blinds are installed 13m above the floor level and a specialist compact scissor lift had to be used. As the centre is open 24 hours a day and the area where the blinds are installed is directly above the main entrance, the work was carried out at weekends and evenings when the centre was least busy. The area had to be cordoned off with safety barriers.

The Outcome

The end result is an easy to operate solar shading system which can be lowered to any level to maintain a comfortable working environment, without blocking the view through the glass or harming the impressive appearance of the building’s main entrance.