Bird’s Eye View of the Pavilion, by Wolfgang Buttress, courtesy of UKTI

Fenestration systems designer Senior Architectural Systems has been chosen to supply the windows for the UK Pavilion at Milan Expo 2015.

The Yorkshire based company will supply 15 Hybrid timber composite windows to compliment the winning inspirational design by Nottingham sculptor Wolfgang Buttress.

Architects BDP, who formed part of the winning bid, specified Senior’s Hybrid Series 1 tilt turn windows with black powder coated aluminium externally for durability and low maintenance and spruce engineered timber internally for a natural look and feel.

Mike Davenport Senior Architectural Technician at BDP said “We wanted to use timber composite windows to give the building a sustainable, softer feel and were looking for a UK based manufacturer to showcase UK products and systems.  We considered a number of UK systems and Senior’s Hybrid window system was by far the best option, offering local UK manufacture and being the only one with the quality we needed. In fact the quality is equivalent to that of the Scandinavian systems we have used in the past and we will definitely use Senior’s Hybrid systems again in the future.”

The Hybrid frames will be fabricated in Huddersfield by Hepworth Framework and double glazed units with solar control glass will be supplied by Senior’s dedicated glazed unit manufacturing facility in Scarborough.

The final windows will be assembled in Tockwith by main contractor Stage One – the company behind the unforgettable 2012 Olympics opening ceremony – and shipped to Italy before Christmas. This local manufacturing reduces transport miles adding to the sustainabily credentials of the project.

In conjunction with project managers RISE, Stage One will build the winning design which is inspired by the vital role of the honeybee in pollination for food production.

Watch The UK Pavilion on Youtube.

The UK Pavilion features a fruit orchard and natural wildflower meadow leading to a golden orb made of fine steel lattice based on the design of a honeycomb which will pulsate and buzz with the noise of a real bee colony. Senior’s Hybrid windows will be installed in the conference and VIP suite, offices and kitchen area and will be electrically operated to allow automatic mechanical ventilation.

Mark Wadsworth Managing Director at Senior said “We are extremely proud that our Hybrid windows have been chosen for such a prestigious project. With over 20 million visitors expected at Milan Expo 2015, it will allow us to showcase our sustainable timber composite Hybrid range and the best of British manufacturing on a global stage.”

The government funded £6M UK Pavilion project is spearheaded by UK Trade & Investment who are using the best of British design, technology and construction to build what they hope will be a stand-out pavilion. Their aim is to use the global platform of Milan Expo 2015 to showcase UK capabilities across the world and leadership in international development through an international programme and ‘Grown in Britain’ campaign. To help keep costs down, Senior Architectural Systems have donated their Hybrid windows free of charge.

Milan Expo 2015 is a non-commercial Universal Exposition and will run from May to October 2015 under the theme ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’. It aims to highlight one of the most pressing challenges of our time – how to feed and sustain an expected rise in the world’s population to 9 billion by 2050.