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MAY 05 - GLIDEVALE HELPS LIGHT UP NEW HOMES IN HISTORIC YORK

Contemporary homes in historic York are optimising space and light, energy efficiently, through use of innovative technology.

Bellway Homes is building 35 new two-bedroomed apartments and penthouses in Lawrence Square in the centre of the City. Ranging from £125,000, the homes are being fitted out to appeal to the discerning buyer. To enhance the environment of the penthouses in the eaves of each of the 11 blocks, Bellway has chosen to fit Glidevale Sunscoop tubular rooflights .

Strategically located in each penthouse hallway and above stairwells in each block, the Sunscoop lights the area without electricity. A roof mounted polycarbonate dome catches natural daylight, throwing it down a reflective tube through the roof space to a ceiling mounted diffuser in the hallway. Each Sunscoop includes an “LSD” (low sun deflector) that intercepts light even when the sun is low in the sky and would normally miss the Sunscoop’s mirror tube. The specular silvered aluminium tubes allow 95% reflectivity into the stairwells below, whilst the external clear glazed dome provides up to three times the amount of natural daylight into the room than a comparative sized vertical window.

Tony Paler, Bellway Yorkshire Sales Director, commented, “It is acknowledged that sunlight enhances the overall ambience of any room, so we wanted to make the most use of this natural resource as far as possible within the Lawrence Square development.

“Because the penthouses are up in the eaves, it would not have been practical to incorporate windows in the stairwells and hallways, which could have made those areas potentially dark. Glidevale’s Sunscoops gave us an effective and discreet means of maximising natural daylight into those areas, with the added advantage of being environmentally friendly as they only use daylight, no electricity.”

Sunscoop is the first tubular rooflight of its type to meet the new Building Regulations Part L for thermal performance. Manufactured in the UK, its wide range of roof interface flashings have been purpose-designed to fit properly into traditional British roof coverings. The system itself has been designed to enable simple passage through the roof space, and can accommodate up to two elbows to allow precise negotiation of roof void obstructions and location of the daylight where needed. Flashings have been driving rain tested and are manufactured from fire retardant ABS in a choice of five UV stable colours. Its polycarbonate dome gives high impact resistance, and is AA fire rated. Both dome and flashings have been impact tested to EN1873, classing them as non fragile.

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