September 2019

Pre-coated Aluminium
A COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGE
Simon Gregory, Sales Director at Proteus Facades, explains why he feels offering pre-coated
aluminium rainscreen cladding can offer real benefits for installers.
In recent years, rainscreen cladding systems
have evolved to a stage where they now
provide architects and designers with the
freedom to create truly eye-catching structures.
Most of these advances have centred on how
aluminium is presented, such as pre-coat
aluminium, which is where the material is coilcoated
with a tough, flexible paint system. What
really makes pre-coated aluminium popular with
architects and designers is that it is suited to
larger building facades where it provides a value
engineered solution and striking aesthetics. It is
for this reason that a growing number of
installers are adding it to their portfolio.
Pre-coated aluminium is available in a wide
range of colours (in addition to any RAL or BS
colour), finishes and textures, which elevates it
above ‘flat’ finishes such as PPC. It is this
characteristic that allows the creation of similar
aesthetics to materials such as stainless steel,
anodised aluminium, copper, zinc and brass.
That’s because pre-coating aluminium offers
“Offering pre-coated
aluminium rainscreen
cladding can give
contractors a real
commercial”
advantage”
much more scope, with the ability to recreate a
wide range of metallic finishes to give the façade
a cutting-edge futuristic look. Manufacturers of
pre-coated aluminium have extended the range
and offering to include metallic, coloured,
woodgrained and textured finishes. These are
suitable for use as rainscreen cladding, flashings,
fascias, rooflines and other metal fabrications.
Advances in the quality of pre-coating ensures a
uniform paint layer and consistent colour. And,
because pre-coated aluminium can be bought in
large quantities and with a consistent finish it
minimises shade variation between panels.
However, you have to factor in that pre coated
aluminium does have a fairly high minimum order
quantity for a single order, which is why for
smaller quantities, a PPC finish is the only
method commercially available. PPC finishes
tend to work best if you are looking for solid, flat
colours, meaning it is fairly limited when you
need something slightly different.
An electrifying facade
These benefits mean that offering pre-coated
aluminium rainscreen cladding can give
contractors a real commercial advantage. Take
the new European IT headquarters for global
electrical wholesaler, City Electrical Factors
(CEF), for example (see below). Architects
FaulknerBrowns designed the £10m Data, IT and
Marketing headquarters based just outside of
Durham, using a pre-coat aluminium façade,
along with a variety of other materials including
copper and ceramic, which represent the
components found within an electrical cable,
CEF’s staple product.
The brief set for the design of the RIBA award
70 TC SEPTEMBER 2019