After following this path some way toward the main road to Paris, they came to another iron gate which led to the
principal facade of the mysterious dwelling.
The building uses LED lighting with efficient controls, integrates high-efficiency thermal wheels, and uses variable speed pumping, while all
principal facade materials were sourced from the local area to accommodate the regional environment.
Previously having occupied the length of the urban block, all that remained of the 19th century former Turks' Barracks was a portion of the main entrance, which is now the Turkentor's
principal facade.
metal windows / doors /
principal facade / sunscreen.
The
principal facade reveals the operation of the building's section.
These triple-height planted window boxes transform the
principal facade into a glass greenhouse wall.
On the
principal facade, Sussex brick in a Flemish bond frames inlaid glazed terracotta, which recedes deeper still as a ribbed screen wall returns to form a generous sheltered porch.
The unsafe rear elevation was removed, along with internal walls and floors, so the new building sits partially enclosed by the massive stone carapace of the remaining
principal facade which has been cleaned of accumulated grime and restored.
Here, the rotation of the church, the hidden position of the
principal facade (and the purposeful geometrical misalignment with the projected siting of the future parochial school and priest's house), engender a contrast between the informal topographical structure of the surrounding city, and the more established patterns of an inherited monumental and symbolic language.
An external gallery access to all floors, linked by other, straight staircases, runs across the
principal facade, which faces east.
the works comprise the full replacement of existing fenestration with a curtain walling system, external insulation works to existing masonry walls, and external mechanically fixed rain-screen to the
principal facades.
This shift created a closer adjacency between the two units, but shifted the building's
principal facades to an east/west orientation, so sun-shading devices and a highly Insulated exterior skin system were added to address unwanted heat gain and glare.
