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Refurbishment


Intek House, Brighton

Rainscreen Wall Systems

Industrial Building - Case Study
Intek House, Brighton.

The aesthetic, mechanical and economic advantages of rainscreen cladding systems are being increasingly appreciated in the UK not only for prestigious new developments but also for refurbishment and renovation. An outstanding example of the latter has just been completed in Hove on the South Coast of England, where Euroclad Facades’ Alpolic®/fr aluminium composite material and Euroseam standing seam roofing system have helped to transform a 30 year old industrial-style building into a stylish new office block.

Intek House in Ellen Street is a development by Sussex-based Matsim Properties, who were looking not only to improve the appearance of the building but also to add an extra floor. Situated close to the sea, the building is subjected to an aggressive climate, which made the company reluctant to specify a conventional steel cladding panel system.

Intek House - before shot Intek House - Stage 2

Intec House, Brighton - Before Refurbishment

Intec House, Brighton - During Refurbishment

 

They decided to opt for aluminium instead. Alpolic®/fr comprises 0.5 mm thick aluminium skins laminated to a noncombustible mineral core and is up to 15% lighter than solid aluminium sheeting with equivalent rigidity. This lightness facilitates fixing and was an important consideration in the material’s specification for this application. So, too, was the flexibility of the Linear 3 fixing system that was selected for the installation.

A feature has been made of the building’s main column lines with the rainscreen cladding panels running vertically to their full height. Panels were then fitted horizontally to the infills in short lengths to offer a textural, orthogonal contrast while keeping to one colour – champagne silver metallic. In order to achieve this effect, Industrial Construction Sussex, Euroclad’s approved specialist cladding contractor, provided a fixing grid in the form of brackets mechanically fastened into the edge of the structural concrete floor slabs by means of stainless steel anchors. Aluminium box sections were secured to the brackets at 2900 – 3000 mm centres to span the full height of the building on all four elevations, great care being taken to ensure this main frame was precisely aligned. The secondary rails were then fitted together with Rockwool Rainscreen Duoclad batts retained by specially-designed ‘umbrella’ anchors. Finally, the Alpolic®/fr panels were installed, the 95 mm thick Rockwool insulation leaving a gap of approximately 35 mm behind the panels.

Intek House Intek House

Intec House, Brighton

Intec House, Brighton

 

 

Standingseam Roof

This continuous air gap enables ventilation over the full height of the four storey building, whilst an aluminium mesh fitted at ground level prevents insects gaining access behind the façade. In all, some 1,000 m² of Alpolic®/fr cladding was installed achieving a Uvalue of 0.35 W/m²K. The refurbishment was completed by a new 850 m² Euroseam curved standing seam roof (achieving the optimum target U-value of 0.2 W/m²K) and blue polyester powder coated aluminium window frames. Euroclad also supplied window jambs, heads and sill sections to complete the window openings. Industrial Construction Sussex, said: “We have vast experience with the Linear 3 system supported by Euroclad Façade's excellent technical assistance. Precise alignment of the main frame made installing the panels very easy despite the complications. The contract has really gone very well.”

Further sector examples:

Boston Building, Swan Street, Glasgow Referb Project, Kent

Boston Building, Swan Street, Glasgow
Aluminum Composite Material [Linear 3 - Black std Gloss 30%]

Referb Project, Kent
SF500 Roof System