A new bird viewing hide has been built at the RSPB Freiston Shore reserve, near Boston in Lincolnshire.

The RSPB Freiston shore bird hide project was designed by Norwegian bird hide Specialists Biotope . Biotope provided a finished design for birdwatching, combining architectural design alongside caring for nature. The new hide creates an open and inviting architecture aimed at connecting people with nature. This hide achieves the careful balance between the need for visibility and shelter to attract visitors, whilst blending into the landscape and remaining sympathetic to the sensitivities of the birds and their habitats.

ATL was appointed to the project by principle contractor Walker Construction Ltd. Faced with some of the harshest Lincolnshire ‘Wash’ weather, Walker Construction battled through it all to deliver the building shell.

Construction of the hide was undertaken by Walker Construction in very challenging weather conditions

ATL provided design input and the specification and production of the heat soak toughened and laminated glass viewing panels. As ever our technician team carefully completed the installation and sealing of the viewing panels on site.

The view across the lagoon at low tide

The ATL viewing panel installation at RSPB Fresiton shore

RSPB Freiston Shore is an internationally important saltmarsh lagoon habitat. This new bird hide will provide a unique outlook over the lagoon. The hide will be partially submerged underwater so visitors to the hide will have the opportunity to view through ATL’s viewing panels and be eyelevel with the birds sitting in and around the water.

This is just another example of the breadth of ATL’s project experience. We wish the RSPB Freiston shore project every future success. You can view more details about Freiston shore here

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Our team has recently completed the design, manufacture and installation of a series of large glass flood glazing windows for a project in Wargrave near Reading. We were contacted at the feasibility stage of the project to offer specific design advice for the potential specification of the flood glazing windows. The Thameside site is located on the flood plain with the site and the surrounding area potentially flooding to a depth of 1.2m. The brief was to provide floor to eaves height flood glazing windows without vertical supports so as not to interrupt the views. Therefore the resulting glass specifications were to consider a self supporting vertical installation. With over 38 metres of glass facade on two separate buildings this was a significant project on a very desirable luxury residence location. ATL were tasked with providing a proposal and were very proud to be awarded the design and installation contract. Working with ATL’s nominated structural engineers and the client team building engineers, together we developed a suitable approach using heat soak toughened and laminated glass panels. These panels were assembled using special structural interlayers which assisted in reducing overall panel thicknesses.

Some of the flood glazing windows at ATL

The series of 4.7m x 2.4m glass panels were produced and delivered to ATL as we prepared for the installation. Our team met the delivery on site and set about the task of installing the glasses into the framed rebates.

ATL’s flood glazing arriving on site

Due to the size and considerable weight of each panel, the topography of the site and tight installation tolerances, we worked closely with glass handling experts. They provided us a computer controlled glazing robot capable of lifting, orientating and installing each window at full boom into the apertures with millimeter accuracy.

A tight install!

Under the guidance of our team each window was shuffled across the rebate to provide uniform gaps around each window.

Our windows all safely installed and awaiting sealing

Our team then set about installing the retaining frames and sealing each window. Finally each window was fully inspected and accepted on site before being protected whilst demolition works continued elsewhere.

Nearing completion of the flood window install

This was a technically challenging project in many ways and a departure away from our more ‘normal’ glazing jobs which typically involve us keeping water in rather than water out! It is a fact of life that our services may be required more and more in the future designing and installing flood glazing windows into projects such as this.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any specific help or assistance with your flood glazing window project.

The post Flood glazing windows appeared first on Leaders in Aquarium Technology.

For over 30 years architects, pool designers and contractors have relied on us to design, supply and install underwater viewing panels into their luxury swimming pools and spas. Our experience of specialist underwater glazing is more normally associated with deep aquarium construction. This unrivalled experience has enabled ATL to position itself as the go to, industry trusted installer of underwater viewing windows. The demand for incorporating underwater viewing panels into swimming pools and spas has grown dramatically over recent years with more and more ambitious projects now being conceived. ATL are able to design swimming pool windows in flat glass or acrylic or curved or hemispherical shapes in acrylic.

ATL glass swimming pool viewing panel

Whilst theres been a recent trend towards using acrylic for submerged viewing panels there are also many examples where glass viewing panels are still preferred by some designers. Ultimately its really down to personal choice. For every designer wanting acrylic theres another specifying a glass product. Understandably an acrylic producer will only ever specify acrylic products and a glass producer their glass products but thats where ATL differs. We are equally comfortable designing and correctly specifying either medium in submerged scenarios. Low iron glass is increasingly popular option for some designers as it provides improved transparency and less of the ‘green tinge’ typically associated with multi layer laminated float glass.

ATL central London pool view in glass

When considering swimming pool windows in glass or acrylic, ATL is the genuine ‘one stop shop’ from initial design including rebate support detailing, manufacture, installation and sealing. Traditionally pool viewing panels are installed in vertical attitude either as a 4 edge supported fully submerged view or a 3 edge supported view such as an infinity edge panels. 3 edge supported panels are used extensively to create seemingly endless pool views.

Central London pool window sealing by ATL

ATL 3 edge support acrylic pool panel- central London

Acrylic weir edge glazing

Horizontally installed windows are becoming popular. Recently our team installed a large acrylic viewing panel into the pool base of a London penthouse. This required a crane to lift the panel from the transport up onto roof level before lowering it into the rebate, ready for our technicians to seal.

Craning ATL’s acrylic viewing panel into the London penthouse pool

ATL acrylic pool base viewing panel installed

Looking up from underneath the ATL pool base panel

We have extensive worldwide underwater viewing panel project experience. Whether its a single view or multiple swimming pool windows in acrylic or glass, please contact ATL for reliable friendly advice, a competitive quote and of course our ability to deliver the quality end product your project deserves.

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ATL has been working on this project for some time and last year we were formally appointed as specialist contractor to civil engineering giants Keir Infrastructure

The unlocking the Severn at Digilis Weir project is in the heart of Worcester. Its part of a network of fish passes being introduced along the banks of the river Severn. This is an ambitious 5 year conservation and engagement project opening up Britain’s longest river for the rare fish that depend on it. Hundreds of thousands of Twaite shad used to migrate up the River Severn each year to reach their natural spawning grounds. However weirs installed in the mid-19th century blocked the shad’s route and the population on the Severn crashed. Today they are one of the UK’s rarest fish. Shad don’t have the ability to leap over obstacles in the river, unlike salmon, which have adapted to swim past boulders and waterfalls as they travel upstream to spawn. Whilst shad can swim through fast-flowing water, they avoid turbulent patches and are disorientated by complex flows. To overcome these issues the largest deep vertical slot fish pass was designed in conjunction with the lead organization Canals and rivers trust

Due to the ‘in river’ location the site construction works were completed behind a specially built steel coffer damn. The vertical slot fish pass is a 100m long reinforced concrete channel incorporating a series of ascending pools to imitate a natural feature of rivers.

The deep slot fish pass at Digilis Weir comprises a series of ascending pools

The river water will split off into the pass which runs along the bank at Digilis over stones before rejoining the main course above the weir. This allows the shad to swim above each weir in manageable steps. The Unlocking the Severn at Digilis Weir fish pass differs from the other fish passes currently being installed. The Digilis Weir fish pass includes underwater viewing windows in a visitor gallery. It is intended that this viewing and monitoring gallery will form a hub of research for universities which is where ATL became involved. With over three decades of experience in designing and installing underwater viewing windows, ATL leaders in aquarium technology were the go to specialist for the unlocking the Severn at Digilis Weir project.

Today we are all too familiar with the dangers and risks of heavy rain causing rivers to burst their banks resulting in severe flooding. ATL were tasked to assess and mitigate the risks of floodwater on the underwater windows used in the unlocking the Severn at Digilis Weir project. This meant that potentially the water level could rise a staggering 8 metres above normal river level and our windows had to be capable of withstanding this increase. ATL appointed and worked alongside a team of specialist engineers to develop a specification for heat soak toughened and laminated glass panels using specialist interlayers. This interlayer technology reduced the thickness of the glass leaves bringing many hidden benefits to the project. Following on from this we worked closely with our UK based glass producers meaning we could further optimize the window specification.

One of ATL’s heat soak toughened and laminated glass viewing panels ready for unlocking the Severn at Digilis Weir

As the fish pass construction neared completion, ATL were called onto site to complete the installation and sealing works for the glass windows into the fish pass gallery.

Craning in ATL’s underwater windows for Unlocking the Severn at Digilis weir

The installation process went smoothly and the windows were successfully installed by the ATL technician team.

Installed and sealed. The first of ATL’s underwater windows in position.

The windows have already been successfully tested. Heavy rains between Christmas and the New year saw the river Severn go into spate breaching the coffer damn and flooding the fish pass. Needless to say ATL’s windows did exactly what the were designed to do without incident.

ATL underwater windows at Unlocking the Severn at Digilis Weir

This really has been an incredibly important and very interesting scientific project for the ATL team to be involved with. Working alongside civil engineering giants and public bodies such as the environment agency demonstrates how ATL capably operates in technically demanding situations. Going forward we will be sharing and publishing more details on this exciting project via our social media platforms. Until then take a look at this interesting article on the new civil engineer

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