Archives: Case Studies

We are very proud to be associated with the recent construction of new student accommodation in Belfast.  We think that those settling into the new student accommodation at Bradbury Place are very fortunate.  The building designed by Rapport Architects and constructed by Mascott Construction contains over 150 bedrooms.  The design is a nod to the legacy of Belfast’s red brick warehouse architecture.  Various APS systems have been the preferred choice in the glazing of these to ensure maximum comfort and security.  This location is so close to Queen’s University (and very importantly the night life) and it is hoped it will invigorate Belfast’s Golden Mile.  We are really pleased to play our part in fulfilling all the freshers’ dream homes for the 2024/2025 year & we wish them well.

The new Eurospar in Carryduff (Mulgrew’s Foodhall) just south of Belfast is a fantastic looking store inside and out.  Developed on a site once earmarked by Tesco, this store covers 11,000 sq ft and has created many jobs in the area.   This is just one of many convenience stores that have utilised APS curtain walling and commercial doors throughout Northern Ireland and ROI.  From your closest Eurospar, Centra, Costcutters, Subway, the list goes on, all keeping it local, to the larger stores, Aldi, Lidl & Tescos, our systems are the Number One choice. No matter where you are based from Portrush in the north to Clonakilty in the south and from Ballina (Biden country) in the west to Ardee in the east, it is likely that your local neighbourhood store has a little bit of APS included. We are really thankful to be the preferred system supplier for these contracts by our well established reliable approved fabricators and we are proud to be associated with these brand names on all their previous and continuously ongoing projects.

APS is delighted to have been involved in the new state-of-art Chemotherapy Unit for McMillan Cancer at the Ulster Hospital. The new unit sits at the heart of the Ulster Hospital and is part of a £261 million redevelopment program by the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust. The project has seen the modernisation of the 1960s building with a major new floor extension added to the rooftop. The additional floor has a fully glazed façade perimeter as the exterior walls to create a relaxing and therapeutic environment for patients and visitors, capturing amazing views over the Castlereagh Hills and beyond.

The external façade was created using our ACW Logic50 curtain walling.  The profiles are white internally, with our extra deep 100mm cap fitted externally to mullions and transoms. The scheme was designed so the transom and mullion caps have a 50mm shadow gap between and the transom is continuous around the full façade perimeter. Another additional detail to this unique project by Whittaker & Watt Architects.

The project also includes our AP200Therm+ insulated polyamide doors, which lead to a peaceful roof garden area. APS are enthralled to work with the team at Whittaker & Watt on another of their impressive projects and congratulations to everyone involved

This exciting new development Lesley Parklands, comprising of 90 apartments over 3 blocks, is perfectly nestled among mature woodland close to the busy Knocknagoney junction. It provides the perfect balance of parkland and city living. The location of the project offers access to main routes and amazing views over Belfast Lough and the George Best City Airport runway. We were pleased to work with the Coogan Architects team again on another of their exciting & prestigious projects.  It really is finished to an exceptionally high standard.

The project has been designed and built with a full range of our APS systems. The curtain walling is from our high rise ACW Logic50 range. The high performance thermal windows are from our AP134Therm+ range. The pedestrian doors from our AP200Therm+ range and the impressive lift and slide doors from our AP400Therm+ system.  All by an APS approved fabricator.

But the pièce de résistance has to be the architect’s use of Brise Soleil to the roof terrace, this was from our SR200 Brise Soleil range.  All systems are fully stocked in Lisburn.  If you require help in specifying any of these products, please get in touch.

he Wylies Guest House is the latest project to hit the Northern Ireland market for tourist and business accommodation.  The project located in the hills overlooking Belfast is state of the art with indoor pool, sauna and an indoor hot tub overlooking the city. The project features six of our AP400 lift and slide door system, our ACW Logic50 curtain walling and AP134 and AP200 window and door systems. The finishing touches personally selected by the Wylies on the project are the best of the best.

Staff at the recently refurbished Shankill Road JBO will have enjoyed the “benefit “of the APS AP100Therm+ window during the summer months.

Many of the original timber/aluminium composite windows no longer opened and large areas were unventilated. The scheme was approximately 750m2 replacement windows to all the office space on the ground floor and the 4 upper floors. Now each office has thermally efficient AP100Therm+windows managing heat loss and also heat gain and providing the means for either trickle or rapid ventilation.

The 5 storey land mark which has commanding views over the greater Shankill and the west of the city was overseen by Central Procurement Department (CPD) and was completed in 3 months.

River house is a multimillion pound building in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter, Belfast that has become a talking point around the city. This building on High St went unnoticed before as it was dull and aesthetically boring but it has now evolved into a modern eye-catching land mark and APS products have helped contribute to this big transformation.
A major multimillion pound renovation project involved a complete new front façade and window replacement to the rear. APS were involved from a very early stage with the project’s architects, Povall Worthington and are proud to have our systems selected and installed on the project. The architects had several requirements and design issues, which we helped them achieve. These included

• A bespoke finishing cap, which is applied to every 5th bay to help break up the mass span of glass horizontally.
• The cap creates the image of a steel girder projecting through the glass façade, all of which integrated within the system and keeps the continual seal of the façade weathertight.
• Transoms are structural silicone pointed. This makes life easier during the cleaning operation via abseiling.
• The new glass frontage using Logic 50 curtain walling was installed from the top down allowing the fit-out to follow behind the curtain walling installation and reducing scaffold hiring costs and completion time.
• The whole façade is glued to the existing structure achieved with a two part resin injected into a drilled hole in to the existing floors, which bonded a stainless steel threaded bolt. This allowed the existing concrete panels to remain behind the new facade.
• APS structural projection plates provide fixings for mounting the large signage while keeping continuity of glass and weatherseal behind the sign rather than mounting back to the existing structure. All supported directly by the APS curtain walling system.
• The facade glass is a top spec solar control anti-sun to prevent any solar heat gains, yet has a high U-value performance to reduce any thermal loss.

Charles Hurst have opened a new Jaguar Land Rover base in Belfast as part of an £8 million investment designed to create a luxury showcase destination for the iconic car brands in Belfast. The dealership is in a new location at the former Diageo headquarters on Boucher Road.
APS are pleased to have supplied ACW Logic50 curtain walling system and ACD sliding doors to the 40,000 sq ft high end showroom. It is specifically designed to feature the two premium car brands in dual stores that simply connect at a glass-fronted entryway.
We are obviously very proud to be involved in the construction of this building given that the striking design elements are key components in the brands’ global corporate identity programme currently being rolled out globally by Jaguar Land Rover. The new futuristic space showcases more cars in a space built from high-end materials.

APS are pleased to have worked closely with the design team from the early stages of this project at the uniquely designed offices, in Cookstown for the DARD Rivers Agency .  This stunning building is glazed using APS AP100 Therm+ high performance window system along both sides of the building envelope.   The windows span 7500mm in height and include APS extruded, thermally broken cill and end caps.

The central focal points have to be the two main glazed gables giving the building a modern individual twist.  These have been installed using the Logic 50 curtain walling system with Super Neutral 51/28 glass.  The addition of the new SR200 Brise Soleil solar shading system to both the gables gives an aesthetic but also a practical solution to solar gain.  The aero foil louvre system has been mounted directly to our Logic 50 curtain walling.  This saves on additional structural steel and also keeps the curtain walling weather seal, by preventing structural mountings breaching the façade’s integrity.

As Lidl is a company famous for maintaining brand quality yet cheaper than its supermarket competitors, APS aluminium architectural glazing systems have proven very relevant for inclusion in their stores. Their ‘Concept’ stores are designed to be state of the art energy efficient buildings which ensure a greater focus on energy efficiency.

APS- supplied Logic 50 curtain walling systems, AP100 polyamide windows and AP200 polyamide doors, triple glazed, have been installed to meet high thermal  requirements while achieving expected levels of energy conservation and, of course, aesthetics.  For example APS 275mm 7.3m curtain walling mullion has structural properties allowing large spans fixed top and bottom without intermediate support.  This is known in the business as ‘simply supported’.  These allow Lidl to construct their ‘Concept’ stores with 7m high glazing without secondary steel support for the glazing screens.

Since it first set up base in NI in 1999 Lidl has grown their market share to include almost 40 NI stores and over 150 in ROI with plans for another 50 new stores in the next 5 years throughout Ireland.  APS are pleased to have supplied architectural glazing systems for installation in many of their 180+ stores, most recently at Banbridge, Lurgan, Belfast Connswater to name a few and the new Roscommon store under construction at Castlerea.

Car dealerships want their customers to have a great experience from start to finish. To do this they require a state of the art aluminium glazing system that can showcase top of the range cars easily from inside and out and in a comfortable yet secure setting.  Nowhere is this more evident than the new showroom at Audi Portadown.   APS aluminium glazing systems were chosen for their ability to achieve a glazed facade that was second to none.  ACW Logic 50 curtain walling on three of the elevations ensures the building is bright and undeniably eye-catching but still maintains a high degree of thermal efficiency using 34mm triple glazing throughout to replace original 11.5mm laminate.  ACD automated commercial sliding doors allow vehicle access to the showroom.  This system is capable of achieving a clear opening of 6m wide x 2.4m high. The finished building surpasses everyone’s expectations.

The Innovation Growth Centre at the Omagh Enterprise Company is a new purpose built high spec facility spanning 14,000 sq. ft. which aims to attract businesses to the area through offering support to local entrepreneurs and SMEs in the small business technology sector. It made sense that APS Polyamide Window System was the preferred system for glazing this high spec building. The AP100 window design facilitates the facetted and curved feature glazing aspect effortlessly. The clients were delighted with the innovative glazing of this signature building.

Supermarket giant Tesco have recently opened a new 57,000 sq. ft store at Dundalk.  APS curtain walling was the perfect solution for glazing the Tesco ‘Extra’ store.  Large curtain wall screens along the front elevation achieve sharp, clear sightlines maximising natural daylight.  As always the APS team worked closely with the glazing subcontractor and architect from preconstruction stage until the design concept was delivered.

APS Solar Shading – 150m2 of APS Solar Shading is installed on the south facing elevation of the Tesco Extra building at Dundalk where the cafeteria is situated.

APS supplied aluminium sheets polyester powder- coated red and grey to manufacture panels and flashings which clad large sections of the Tesco building.