 With a sleek black Sureclad ceramic granite ventilated rainscreen,
Shackerley has helped RMJM Architects in Glasgow transform a new build
development of urban ‘crash pads’ into a landmark building
on the Clyde waterfront, at the centre of Scotland’s biggest
ever regeneration project.
Capitol Park, designed for Forrestgate Developments, is a residential 36-unit
development adjacent to Festival Park, the Media Village and the iconic ‘Clyde
Arc’ bridge leading to Glasgow’s city centre.
RMJM designed the building to connect both with the contemporary architecture
emerging along the waterfront and with the Clyde’s rich industrial history
and heritage. Accordingly, one street-facing elevation is finished in red
brick, in the character of neighbouring warehouses, and Shackerley’s
black, imposing ceramic granite rainscreen façade completely clads
the other, in sympathy with the new riverfront buildings and studios in the
nearby media quarter.
In creating the dark ceramic granite ‘screen’ to one elevation
and by incorporating a lantern where it meets the contrasting red brick, RMJM
has also paid homage to an old cinema, which was demolished to make way for
Capitol Park and other new developments in the vicinity.
 RMJM Architect Craig Thomson commented that the use of ceramic granite was
critical to the aesthetic design of the outer envelope: “The sleek polished
appearance of the façade has the dramatic visual impact we wanted to
achieve, and the large format panels with their reflective surface provide
a perfect contrast to the grain, colours and standard unit size of the red
brick. It has made the building connect with its environment in a highly contemporary
way.”
The rainscreen façade was installed using Shackerley’s Sureclad
carrier support system, a framework of high grade aluminium vertical and horizontal
rails to which the ceramic granite panels were mechanically fixed using the
manufacturer’s patented undercut anchors. Designed for maximum versatility,
Sureclad offers various combinations of profiles, rails and flexible or load
bearing brackets to cater for different applications, site conditions, building
designs and cladding materials. In this instance the framework was successfully
installed on a timber kit building structure with adjustments made to cater
for long term kit settlement and the spread of fire.
By working closely with Shackerley and cladding installation specialists
RIG Construction Elements Ltd, the architects designed the layout of the rainscreen
and specified window and balcony door sizes to correspond to the standard
1200mm x 600mm format of the ceramic granite panels. The Sureclad carrier
system allowed RMJM to create a perfectly flat façade with all the
windows set back. “We wanted them to look as though they had been ‘punched’ in,” said
Craig Thomson, Simple colour matched metal flashings to the windows and edges
of the façade completed the installation.
 As Dougie McCallum of RIG commented, “The attention to detail and close
cooperation of all parties at the planning stage made our role more straightforward,
minimising the number of panels requiring special cuts and reducing wastage
and overall assembly time. Although our team have never worked with Shackerley’s
Sureclad system before we found it very flexible and had no problems achieving
the exact aesthetic design envisaged by the architects.”
Craig Thomson concluded: “The ceramic granite elevation has proved
a great success and the Sureclad system has translated perfectly from the
detail to an urban scale, delivering exactly what we set out to achieve for
Forrestgate Developments. In an overcrowded residential market place Capitol
Park definitely stands out from the crowd and our clients are delighted with
the finished results. We are now considering using the system for a number
of other projects that we have in development.”
For further information please contact Shackerley on 0800 783 0391 or
click on www.shackerley.com/cladding.
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