Norman & Underwood and Kawneer, the UK’s leading manufacturer and supplier of architectural aluminium systems has recently contributed to the construction of the £13 million development of Neptune Marina, Ipswich. Designed by BUJ Architects and erected by Jackson Construction Ltd, the impressive structure makes extensive use of Kawneer AAâ603 Tilturn Windows throughout.

Neptune Marina is an impressive eight-storey development comprising 113 one, two and three bedroom apartments and incorporates a number of ground floor commercial units. The luxury penthouse apartments, constructed with curtain wall glazing, have large roof top sliding doors and terraced gardens with panoramic views over Ipswich and the River Orwell.

Included in the development are glazed curtain wall shopfronts to Duke Street, the Marina offices and entrances to the ground floor. On the ground and first floors overlooking the Marina, is a waterfront restaurant with a  curtain wall facade. The majority of the apartments utilise Kawneer AA®603 Tilturn windows in the bedrooms and Kawneer sliding doors leading onto projecting balconies. Due to its central location, the development also had to meet stringent acoustic requirements to prevent disturbance to residents from the busy Duke Street. Compliant with Part E of the Building Regulations, Kawneer’s AA®603 Tilturn windows contributed to the development’s acoustic requirements.

Due to the main contractors tight programme requirements the vast majority of the glazing had to be installed into the inner skin of blockwork with the exterior render wall system being installed later, making the build particularly challenging.The majority of the windows were installed into punched openings. Due to the necessity of the windows to accommodate the external render line the internal blockwork reveals became deeper, thereby presenting further challenges for safety restrictors, whilst still meeting the requirement to fully open the windows to enable internal access for cleaning.
 
The Penthouses were all constructed using Kawneer curtain wall with the larger apartments having two-storey, full height glazing to maximise vision. Many elevations also had curved heads to follow the curvature of the roofs.
Kawneer 1202 thermally broken curtain wall was installed to ground and first floor offices, as well as shopfronts and restaurant areas and the high level Penthouses.

Denis Collier of BUJ Architects commented: “The bold and contemporary design of Neptune Marina created a significant departure from the architectural style of earlier waterfront developments and has helped to establish a benchmark for the design quality of future regeneration projects in the Wet Dock area.  “Kawneer’s innovative products were selected for the project  on the basis that their systems are proven with a great track record, which guaranteed performance even in an adverse coastal climate.”