Blackburn Shopping Mall Atria Case Study

The glass atria over Britain’s malls and shopping centres are designed to give an outdoor “high street” feel to the retail experience. They protect shoppers from the worst of the weather as they move between stores while allowing light into the mall. The problem is, like all large expanses of glass these glazed domes act as a giant magnifying glass by massively increasing the effects of solar heat and glare. Facilities consultants for “The Mall” in Blackburn contacted Lustalux about such a problem. We carried out surveys to assess the extent of the work, to establish which solar control window film in our range was compatible with the glazing system and finally a health and safety survey to ensure that the work could be carried out safely and with no disruption to the shopping centre.

The film selected was our ever popular Internal Silver 20, one of the most efficient films in our range for dealing with this type of issue. With over 60% total solar energy reduction and 80% glare reduction the film will be the ideal solution for previous solar control issues.

Access to the inside of the glass was achieved using two electric access booms. The work was carried out by George Lancaster and Matt Wilson two of Lustalux’ s experienced film installers over four nights  to avoid any disruption to the smooth operation of the centre.

Lustalux has over twenty-five years’ experience in dealing with this type of issue in almost every type of building imaginable. All our operatives are qualified in the operation of powered access (IPAF), working at heights and erection of mobile access platforms (PASMA).

Other similar installations in the past have been the application of solar control film to two similar shopping centres north of the border in Scotland and the installation of a glazing containment safety film system at Manchester Crown Court where they had been experiencing instances of spontaneous breakage.

For anyone experiencing issues with overhead glazing, from a small conservatory to the biggest atrium Lustalux should be their first port of call.

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