PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: Ipsen, Wrexham
Specified by: Lovelock Mitchell Architects
Project Overview
Ipsen is a global specialist in biopharmaceutical innovation and manufacturing across oncology, neuroscience and rare diseases. The company has an existing site in Wrexham, North Wales, which has grown as new specialisms and process requirements have been added over time.
The latest development at the site involves a striking three-storey building to accommodate a packing line and dispatch area on the ground floor, along with a new main reception and offices on the upper floors.
The use of a highly polished SureClad® Ceramic Granite ventilated facadesystem from Shackerley reflects the advanced science and innovation that Ipsen is known for. It also maintains the corporate colour palette of the Ipsen brand and achieves a cohesive aesthetic with the company’s existing buildings.
Design Requirements
The colour palette for the Ipsen brand is blue and white, and the client was keen that this should be reflected in the facadeof the building.
As the building sits in a prominent location at the entrance to Ipsen’s Wrexham site and contains a new main reception, it will perform a key function in communicating the brand to all visitors to Ipsen, so the facadeplays a critical role in creating the right first impression.
White is the classic choice of facadecolour in the pharmaceutical and bio-pharm sectors, because it reflects the clean manufacturing and research environments inside the company’s facilities. It was important that the facadesystem chosen retains this clean, white aesthetic over time and, because Shackerley’s SureClad® Ceramic Granite system is completely impervious, it will not dull or discolour due to weathering or pollutants, providing a very low maintenance solution for the building.
Although much of the building follows a traditional rectangular layout, there is a large cantilevered section that extends from the front elevation and wraps around the side of the building. Using the same highly polished SureClad® Ceramic Granite in a contrasting grey colourway has helped to maximise the visual impact of the cantilevered section and the building’s contrasting volumes, while ensuring a consistent style and specification throughout.
Materials Used
The white sections of the facadewere clad with Shackerley’s SureClad® Ceramic Granite ventilated facadesystem in highly polished Arctic White, using 1192mm x 592mm large format panels.
The light grey areas were clad with Shackerley’s SureClad® Ceramic Granite ventilated facadesystem in highly polished Quasar, using a combination of 1192mm x 592mm and 1192mm x 1192mm large format panels.
A number of non-standard panels were also custom manufactured to site measurements to ensure a neat fit to the facadeas constructed.
Shackerley’s SureClad® system was used in combination with a Kingspan Facades’ Karrier Panel system. This innovative external envelope solution brings together Kingspan’s high performance structural insulating panels with the premium appearance and longevity of Shackerley’s fully-prefabricated ceramic granite cladding and the installation benefits of Shackerley’s Queen’s Award-winning SureClad® Access System.
