A range of architectural aluminium glazing systems from Technal has been used for the redevelopment of Moor Market in Sheffield – the only new, purpose-built market to be constructed in the UK in the last 30 years.
The £18 million project for Sheffield City Council is a vibrant addition to the city centre, replacing the Castle Market which had fallen into disrepair. The building forms part of the first phase of the major redevelopment of The Moor, one of Sheffield’s primary retail sites, and features a striking glass canopied roof, copper shingle cladding and timber arches. The architects were Leslie Jones Architecture and the main contractor, Bowmer and Kirkland.
The brief for the two-storey scheme was to create a landmark building and 73,000ft2 of retail space for over 180 market stalls for local traders. The contemporary design of the building envelope takes its inspiration from classic European markets with the use of ‘timber weave’ cladding alternating with projecting courses of red brickwork – echoing the Victorian red-brick architecture of Sheffield.
Over 1,200m2 of Technal’s GEODE-MX SG structural glazing were used for the scheme’s perimeter and brass-clad entrance arch. This façade option has a specially-designed ‘toggle’ which removes the need for silicone to hold the glazed units in place, making it faster and simpler to install. The curtain walling was faceted to follow the curved contours of the building’s entrance and spans up to 13m high. This contrasts with the rectangular frames of the ground floor retail units created from a mix of GEODE-MX Visible Grid and GEODE-MX SG curtain walling – demonstrating the design flexibility of Technal’s GEODE-MX suite.
This was a particularly challenging façade project because the roof lights are located on the facet. Allowances also had to be made in the glazing specification for a degree of movement of the building structure.
Technal’s top hung actuated casement windows were used to form the large clerestory roof lights and north facing roof lights for natural ventilation. All of the systems were finished in a low maintenance ‘slate grey’ polyester powder coating. According to Magnus Wills, Project Architect at Leslie Jones Architecture, “We were looking for a range of façade systems that would reflect the building’s contemporary appearance. A key design requirement for the curtain walling was to have slim sight lines to maximise natural light. We achieved this with the use of Technal’s structural glazing. This system gave us the benefit of discrete 50mm sight lines and clear expanses of glass to create a striking entrance to the market hall.”
“We are pleased to report that all Technal’s glazing systems are performing well and we would certainly consider them again for other projects.”
The projecting roof is clad in triangular brass shingles and supported by glulam-timber struts. These have created a ‘geodesic’ arch, which is formed from a network of triangles connected by 124 steel nodes. Internally, the building is a modern interpretation of a traditional market hall with extensive use of exposed timber, which was chosen for its aesthetic as well as its structural and environmental qualities.
The Moor Market has strong sustainability credentials, with underfloor heating and energy-efficient cooling and lighting incorporated into its design to achieve a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating.
Technal’s specially-designed ‘toggle’ system offers an alternative to structural sealant glazing. It gives the benefit of clear sight lines, no caps, flush corners for greater transparency, and high quality aesthetics with uninterrupted spans of glass to maximise natural light and architectural appeal.
The GEODE-MX suite has a number of other design options for low to high rise façades, including Trame for horizontal or vertical emphasis, visible grid, beaded, sloped, acoustic, and roof glazing for a wide variety of architectural compositions. Each option uses the same mullion and transom grid, giving specifiers all the design and construction advantages of one fully integrated system.
