Roofing

Facades
Future Facade Design
Simon Gregory, Business Development Manager at Proteus Facades, looks at how advances in
lightweight, rainscreen cladding systems are changing building design.
Facades, being the outward and most visible
element of a building, receive more than their
fair share of attention. As such there has
been much innovation in their design and
aesthetic qualities over the last few years.
In its strictest sense, a building envelope is a
combination of different levels of
transparency that has evolved from a binary
classification – either solid wall or window –
to one where the boundaries between inside
and outside are blurred. For example,
perforated and mesh façade panels mean that
it is no longer possible to clearly define
where the inside ends and the outside
begins.
Whereas we might have seen the façade as
simply a barrier that protects the building
and its contents, the reality is one where it
has evolved into a transient intersection
between these two states of being. Aside
from acting as the most visible part of the
design, the façade sometimes, although less
frequently now, has the task of presenting
the building in a way that gives an overall
idea of its purpose.
For instance, use of rainscreen cladding
systems made up of lightweight materials,
including aluminium, zinc, copper alloys,
stainless steel, ceramics or back painted
glass panels, means that the outward
appearance can be designed to be sensitive
to the building’s immediate environment and
setting. As a result, facades now play an
important part in ensuring that the building
design is appropriate to its environment and
modern façade cladding materials have
helped architects and designers to deliver
this.
Indeed, rainscreen façade systems can be
added to – overclad – existing outdated
buildings to transform and present them in a
new light. Making an old building look like
new in this way is one of the most effective
means of reducing build schedules,
minimising disruption and cutting the carbon
footprint for your client.
Facades, therefore, have evolved, and can
now been seen as separate to the spatial
layout of the building. In that sense, they
have the ability to operate outside the influence of the internal elements and separate to the
other mundane constructional elements. Modern rainscreen cladding systems have evolved to a
stage where they now provide architects and designers with the freedom to create designs that
can stand up to the closest scrutiny in their own right.
Sitting confidently
Take for example SECC & Hydro Arena Car Park in Glasgow, a striking building that belies its
more workaday purpose as a multi storey car park. Proteus’ cladding systems deliver an
aesthetic that enables the car park to sit confidently alongside neighbouring landmark buildings
such as Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), and the newly completed SSE Hydro
auditorium.
The facade materials were chosen because they complement the already established SECC. The
main elevations are clad with a Marine Grade Mill Finished Aluminium, as used on the SECC,
but with a distinctive bespoke perforated pattern. The panel support system was designed with
vertical mullions spanning floor to floor, removing the need for secondary steel work and
structural supports, which assisted the design team in complex geometrical areas like the spiral
car ramps. The design process focused on ensuring that no fixings were visible or accessible
from within the car park and that all sight lines remained as clean as possible.
Modern rainscreen façade systems have the ability to soften the boundaries between a building
and its environment and, as we can see from this project in Glasgow, provide cladding
contractors and designers with the tools to transform the most mundane buildings into
something far more striking.
For more information on Proteus Facades, visit: www.proteusfacades.com or call: 0151 545 5075.
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