Twinfix, known by many as the ‘pioneers of polycarbonate’, are a British manufacturer and installer of roof glazing and canopy systems. They specialise in delivering safe, high-quality products which they design, manufacture, and install with their own in-house team. Twinfix offers a full service across many sectors, including rail, education, industrial and retail. Twinfix’s products have been specified by architects across these sectors since their inception in 1990. There are several reasons for this, the quality is second to none, the range and versatility of their products, their ability to innovate, the wealth of experience and technical ability / help on hand, the bespoke solutions they can offer, and latterly, the assistance they give to architects with BIM implementation.
One Stop Shop
Turning our thoughts to BIM (Building Information Modelling) and specifications, the beauty of Twinfix, is that they, design, manufacture, dry assemble, and where preferred, install their products themselves. This is important, this means the company who knows the most about how to install the product is the same company who manufactures the product and the same company that designs the product. The experience from installation and dry assembly at their facility, is fed directly back to the people who design the product, so any learning, innovations or development opportunities are captured and implemented. Twinfix take a holistic view of the entire process, so everything from material selection through to hole placement is optimised to make their product work in the real world. As mentioned, Twinfix carry out dry assembly at their facility to ensure the product that arrives on site can be assembled without any delays, in the minimum time possible. As no one knows their products better than Twinfix, they have the ability to take existing products and offer bespoke solutions to support architect’s visions.
Back to School
Twinfix have an extensive history of re-designing and re-engineering their products to help provide solutions to their customers. The combined experience of each member of the team from being at the forefront of polycarbonate for over three decades all comes together, enabling Twinfix to offer and deliver bespoke solutions. A recent example is how Twinfix were approached by MTX Contracts acting as principal contractor to Springwood Primary School, Manchester to help solve a problem. The school needed a canopy to cover a walkway, but the canopy would need to be dismantled at short notice to allow access across the walkway due to a Build-Over-Agreement issued to the school by the Water Board. Using their in-house design capability and the engineering knowhow, Twinfix proposed an innovative and new solution for the school. Twinfix would construct a canopy to cover the walkway but by mounting the canopy on runners it could be concertinaed easily by a single person to allow access 24/7 for the utility company. To facilitate this concertinaing, the canopy is split level but remains weather tight due to the clever engineering involved. The school ‘could not be more pleased’ with the solution and due to the innovative use of materials and technology, it is simple and quick for an individual to retract the canopy. Click here to read the case study; https://www.twinfix.co.uk/blog/2021/11/springwood-primary-school-manchester-case-study/
Safer by Design
Over the years, Twinfix have supplied modular polycarbonate panels for use as rooflights in many railway stations and depots. Replacing the old canopy glazing used at rail stations with products from Twinfix’s range of polycarbonate glazing options, floods the area with daylight while eliminating the common issues that occur with historic railway roof-glazing. Twinfix provided their clients with quality assurance when they designed a solution, to implement larger access hatches for safe roof cleaning, specific to Aberdeen station’s design. Aberdeen railway station is the busiest railway station in Scotland, north of the major cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. It was built between 1913 and 1916, replacing an 1867 structure on the same site and has been designated as a ‘Category A’ listed building. Here, Twinfix provided larger access hatches for safe roof cleaning, and visited the site regularly to oversee the installation and provide expert advice. Twinfix introduced 482 hatches which enabled staff to safely carry out gutter cleaning without having to gain access above the glazing – something that was not previously possible at the station.
Click here to read more here; https://www.twinfix.co.uk/blog/2019/09/case-study-aberdeen-station/
BIM will fix it
With the construction industry embracing BIM, Twinfix’s design team have been ensuring Twinfix stay up to date and are able to offer their clients everything they need to specify their products for construction work. Twinfix’s website has a wealth of downloadable material including CAD drawings and BIM objects. Twinfix have made it as easy as possible for anyone wishing to use their standard products, but should you require something a little or significantly more bespoke the design team can assist there too. Along with the dry assemblies and ease of installation, Twinfix can provide structural calculations to reinforce the CAD and BIM files to aid and support your decisions.
Trusted Innovation
Twinfix have a history of innovating and bringing new products to the market. Along with new products comes testing so the client can be sure it does exactly what Twinfix says it can. For those who need more detail, there are numerous accreditations and standards including UKCA marking, ISO specifications, ACR specifications, BS Standards and HSE guidelines, which Twinfix can reference. Twinfix’s accreditations include NARM, CHAS, Constructionline Gold, RSIQS, ISO 9001, BIM, and CPD amongst others enabling the specifier to be certain they are working with a quality product from a quality engineering company.
Vicky Evans, Director at Twinfix said; ‘Twinfix’s work across numerous sectors and the roof glazing / canopy market is well established. Over the years, our products have been specified across numerous sectors and we are always looking to expand into new areas. We are proud of our work, our reputation, the quality service we offer and how versatile our product range is. The moving structure at Springfield Primary school and increasing the size of the access hatches at Aberdeen rail station, are just a couple of examples which evidence our work in the engineering and design space.’
The future
The design team at Twinfix regularly work collaboratively with architects, as partners and play an integral part in the process. Twinfix are constantly evolving and are looking to develop their bespoke solutions further. In turn this helps them gain a greater understanding of where sectors are heading and enables them to look at developing future product lines. Twinfix will continue to develop innovative products, like their non-fragile polycarbonate panels in a sustainable way to ensure they are a force to be relied upon for many years to come.
Find out more here- https://www.twinfix.co.uk/design-specification
