Installation of Senior Architectural Systems’ latest curtain wall system, SF52, has begun at the state-of-the art James Dyson building which will form part of the Engineering Department at the University of Cambridge.

Designed by Nicholas Hare Architects, and funded by an £8 million donation from vacuum cleaner inventor and engineer James Dyson, the new building will be home to some of the brightest engineering minds in the country undertaking post graduate research.

What makes the building so special is that it will be a “living building” thanks to fibre optic sensors which have been fitted to some of the foundation piles by main contractor Morgan Sindall, to monitor temperature, strain and load changes to the structure of the building for years to come. This will enable students to use the fabric of the new building to further their research by essentially allowing them to ask the building how it’s feeling and getting a reply.

Due to open in late 2015, this new advanced technology centre has been designed as a low-energy, low carbon building to reflect the innovative work that goes on in the Engineering department, as well as radically reducing energy and life-cycle costs.

Senior’s SF52 curtain wall was specified for the new building, not just for its aesthetics and flexibility, but because of its enhanced thermal performance which significantly exceeds current building regulations. Fabricated by Glass and General at their fully equipped high-tech factory in Dagenham, the SF52 units are being craned into place fully glazed to reduce on-site time, enabling tight project completion deadlines to be met.

Speaking about the building James Dyson said “I’m hopeful that this new space for Britain’s best engineers at the University of Cambridge will catalyse great technological breakthroughs that transform how we live.”