Working alongside main contractor Kier Construction, the McMullen team is now on-site at the Peterhouse Technology Park where new headquarters are being developed for microchip manufacturer ARM. Designed by Scott Brownrigg architects, the new building has been planned to achieve a BREEAM sustainability rating of 鈥楨xcellent鈥� and will connect to ARM鈥檚 existing campus via a covered link.
Kier was awarded the 拢48m main contract in August for the 18,000 m2 development. []
A key feature of the new building is the projecting bespoke silver anodised aluminium perforated vertical fins. These are said to reference ARM鈥檚 core business of creating processor designs for silicon chips by depicting the underlying technology of integrated circuits, inspired by the crystal lattice structure of silicon. The building emulates this concept with three levels of crystalline blades. As each blade is revolved one can see Kikuchi bands composed of a pattern that imitates the atomic structure of silicon forming a pattern across the body of the blade.
There are also horizontal shelf Brise Soleil solar shading that will be installed to the ground and first floor levels to create a six-metre high 鈥榮aw tooth鈥� pattern.
McMullen鈥檚 package of works includes the building鈥檚 main fa莽ade, comprising 8,000 m2 of Sch眉co FW 60 stick curtain walling system around the steel and concrete structure. Installed as a vertically capped system, a structurally glazed toggle system will be used horizontally to maximise the flow of natural light. McMullen will also design and install the glazed roof lights, double and single banked louvres, aluminium rainscreen cladding and the building鈥檚 bolted glass entrance with revolving door.
With work now underway, McMullen expects to be on-site until spring 2017.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
