Feethams Leisure, Darlington

Built on the site of an old bus depot, Feethams Leisure Scheme in Darlington represented a much-needed regeneration project for Darlington Borough Council. Working closely with developer Terrace Hill (now renamed as Urban & Civic plc) the scheme comprises a nine-screen cinema, an 80-bed hotel, plus bars and restaurants.

Niven architects who designed the £multimillion project had four main technical criteria when choosing the glazing system for the scheme:

1. Flexibility – the glazing system had to be flexible enough to be used throughout the development whilst knitting the scheme together with a cohesive appearance.
2. Aesthetics – a contemporary, innovative design was needed with a building envelope that had the correct sense of mass to suit the scale of the building.
3. Acoustics – the Premier Inn guarantees “a good night’s sleep”, so it was important that guests would not be disturbed by noise from the adjacent Darlington Inner Ring road.
4. Sustainability – an environmentally conscious design was a prerequisite, so it was vital that the glazing system was thermally efficient.

After looking at many glazing options as part of their design and technical delivery process, Niven’s top architects deemed Senior’s PURe^® glazing system to be the best system available. Not only can PURe^® casement windows achieve unbeatable U values – as low as 0.71 W/m^²K when calculated as a commercial CEN standard window – but they also have excellent acoustic properties and can fit seamlessly into any of Senior’s fully compatible Curtain Wall systems.

The completed scheme has brought an estimated 500 new jobs to Darlington and has become a vibrant hub of leisure activities for the region which complements the town’s historic character.