NORclad Recognised in the UK Façade Awards with A20 Cladding
On 19th November, 12 champions were recognised at the annual Façade Awards UK, now in its second year. At the Midland Hotel in Manchester, television and radio presenter Jenny Powell announced some of the most exciting companies working in the industry today.
We are delighted to announce that NORclad’s work with A20 Cladding was 1 of the 12 outstanding projects celebrated. We supplied Sir Frederick Gibberd College in Essex with timber cladding of the highest quality and finish to be installed under the expert eyes of the A20 team. Their expertise combined with our quality product meant the project was completed in just 12 weeks, built almost entirely offsite in a factory. The result? Best use of a timber cladding system anywhere in the UK.
Let us take you through the project and the award in more detail.
How Can You Incorporate Natural Elements Into Your Interior Design to Improve Wellness?
With studies demonstrating the benefits of incorporating elements from the natural world into your interior designs, many employers are looking for inspiration for how to improve focus and mental wellness for their workforce.
As timber cladding experts, the specialist team at NORclad can offer guidance and advice. Here we’ve explained some of the ways you can incorporate natural elements into your interior design.
Natural Wood Desks and Furniture
Not only do wooden desks, tables and furniture add to the wellness benefits provided by bringing outdoor materials inside, they look great too.
Natural wood desks and tables that are unpainted or uncovered provide a unique look to your office. The natural colouring and grain pattern of wood creates intriguing furniture, perfect for centre pieces or impressive large installations.
No two pieces of wood are the same so including natural woods into your interior design will bring a truly unique element to your office space.
Open Spaces
Inside outside builds often include spaces entirely open to the elements, whether through restricted roofing or an exposed courtyard. Allowing light (and even rain) into a space helps one feel like they are outside but still gives the privacy of being secluded inside; the ultimate amalgamation of isolation and escape. Courtyards can be incredibly effective, especially when surrounded by glass, at allowing the outside in, even in central parts of a building. Exposed walkways or corridors have the added affordance of aiding natural ventilation, increasing the sustainability of a building.
Mirrors
Exceptionally useful in smaller spaces, mirrors help a space feel bigger and create dramatic interiors. Mirrors also reflect light around a space, maximising natural light from windows and reducing dimly lit area. The feeling of allowing the outside inside can be accentuated by mirrors; reflecting the woodland and flora outside creating natural vistas inside.
The Project
The project brief was to create a new £29m secondary school for Sir Frederick Gibberd College which opened in 2019 in temporary accommodation, providing much needed school places for the area.
The new building needed to have three stories and be able to accommodate 1,700 pupils. It also had to include a school hall, dining hall, drama studio and large sixth form teaching area alongside additional sports facilities, external works, and sports pitches. It was the first project to be allocated via a direct award from the Department for Education (DfE) through their Modern Methods of Construction Framework (MMC1).
The main contractor was Caledonian Modular, an offsite building specialist who is one of only five contractors authorised for this kind of project. The main structure consisted of 18m x 3.5m 198 steel-framed modules with concrete floors. The additional sports hall featured traditional timber cladding with protruding timber fins.
This project is the largest free school ever to be created in this way – almost entirely offsite. Timber’s eco-friendly qualities combined with the project’s pre-manufactured value (PMV) of 91%, made this a highly sustainable project, suggesting great potential for the future of timber use in the education sector.
Read more: What is Green Architecture & Why Is It Important?
Top Quality Timber Cladding from NORclad
As part of the project, we supplied over 50km of NORclad “Brunnea” European Redwood Timber Cladding to A20 who created a detailed timber façade design comprising carcassing batten, 20 x 45mm and 20 x 145mm cladding board, with large feature fins.
The A20 team were then able to monitor the installation of the timber cladding, advising on a methodology for offsite assembly. This is what allowed most of the cladding to be installed to the module in the Newark factory.
The cladding provided by NORclad delivered on our characteristic commitments to quality, craftsmanship, and environmental credentials. It was also fire treated to fulfil EuroClass B requirements.
Barrie Newman, Project Director, said: “Caledonian Modular and the Department of the Environment are delighted with the timber façade finish. The benefits of MMC, where cladding is part-installed in factory conditions, came to the fore on this project.”
Treated European Redwood Timber Cladding
European Redwood makes a popular choice for all types of projects, and can suit internal and external applications. It is a softwood imported by NORclad from sustainable FSC and PEFC certified forests in Scandinavia, and is strong and fairly hard, offering a highly attractive smooth finish. Moderately durable and dimensionally stable, it is generally a creamy-white yellow colour, with the heartwood offering a slightly more red-brown tone.
NORclad European Redwood Timber Cladding >
For the project, we treated European Redwood Cladding with our “Brunnea” treatment, impregnating the wood with a blend of preservative and pigment to enrich the colour, reduce maintenance and provide a 30 year warranty against decay.
Our factory-applied Fire Retardant Treatment also allowed the cladding system to meet EuroClass B requirements. The retardant penetrates deep into the structure of wood, considerably restricting the risk of ignition and the spread of fire.
See more: The Importance of Correctly Specifying EuroClass B Fire Treatment on Timber Cladding
Modern Methods of Construction
The Sir Frederick Gibberd College project highlights one of the many benefits of using timber cladding in construction. Lightweight and easy to install, it enables offsite assembly and prefabrication, significantly streamlining construction projects and reducing installation costs.
Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) is an approach that prioritises boosting efficiencies and ensuring quality in construction, reducing the impact of weather and the costs of working at height. This project shows that MMC has great potential to be used in the construction of educational buildings across the country.
The Award
The UK Façade Awards were founded by Roofing, Cladding & Insulation (RCI) magazine with the aim of celebrating the achievements of façade contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers. Winners are chosen based on who can demonstrate top levels of technical ability and craftsmanship.
Find out more about the Award >
Award Winning Timber Cladding Supplier Bristol
At NORclad, we’re dedicated to providing only the highest quality timber cladding to all our clients. Our products have been used on building projects across the country, adding a unique aesthetic and superior standard of finish. If you’re looking to incorporate timber into your next construction project, why not consider working with us? From self-builders to contractors to architects and everyone in between, we’re helped all sorts of clients take their projects to the next level.
Talk to us about your requirements today or request a quote.
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