Construction Manager’s choice of the best new offerings from CLADDING suppliers QuadroClad open-jointed rainscreen cladding is a new addition to Hunter Douglas’s Luxalon facades (above). Based on composite technologies originating in the aircraft industry, QuadroClad uses two skins of pre-coated steel or aluminium sandwiching a honeycombed aluminium reinforcement, producing strong, super-flat and lightweight (6kgm2) cladding panels. The rainscreen cavity is ventilated by the joints, which have tightly controllable widths. Despite the size (1500cm by 4500cm), the strength of the honeycomb construction reduces the number of supports and fixings required. QuadroClad can fixed to any type of substructure in any sequence: top to bottom, bottom to top and so on. Window, door and louvre frames are integrated into the system, promoting buildability. Enquiry number 207Durability and colour availability are two of the top factors that influence the choice of cladding product. Corus, which makes HPS200, organic-coated pre-painted steels for cladding, has set up an online colour-matching service, called Repertoire, to let clients navigate more easily the potential obstacles involved in colour matching. Colour matches can be made against a recognised standard, such as the RAL range, or a physical sample. Colorcoat-online.com provides information on the Corus range of coated products, and hosts the gateway to the Repertoire program, which allows customers to experiment with colour. You can mix and create your own colours, applying them to a range of mock-up building types and backgrounds. Complementary colours can be identified and visualised, with Repertoire bringing up the closest match. Enquiry number 209After years of use as a material for floors and internal cladding, ceramic granite is now being marketed for rainscreen cladding in the UK by Shackerley. Ceramic granite exterior cladding is well established in Europe where it is recognised as resistant to frost, heat, pollution, and acid and alkali erosion, as well as being stronger and more durable than any natural stone material. Ceramic granite is made from a blend of selected and refined clays, quartz feldspars and metal oxides, formed into tiles and slabs at huge pressures, and fired as 1260°C without the use of bonding agents or organic resins. The resulting slabs have the beauty and variation of marble and granite but are free from fissures and flaws, and much lighter than their quarried equivalents – they can be just 12mm thick. Conventional slab sizes are 1200mm by 600mm but can be supplied in smaller dimensions as well as up to 1800mm by 1200mm. The designs incorporate graining, veining and flaming effects that are integral to the tile rather than surface treatments. This allows the granite to be polished, honed and shaped without the high risk of fracture of its quarried equivalents. It comes in 15 colours, in natural, green honed or polished surface finishes. Bespoke colours are also available in minimum quantities. To manufacture the rainscreen, Shackerley has partnered with Mirage, the world’s largest producer of unglazed ceramic granite floor and wall coverings. The cladding is compatible with primary support systems such as Eurofox and Downer. Enquiry number 210Eternit has launched two new types of fibre cement cladding panel, Natura and Multiclad. Natura is a range of three natural colours – ivory, grey and anthracite – that are inherent through-colours. Because the colour runs all the way through the panel, there are no raw edges when a panel is cut. Grooves can be machined into the large panels, which come in 2.5m and 3m lengths, to break them down and achieve a similar pattern to mathematical tiles at a much-reduced cost. The Natura panels can be surface-fixed to timber or aluminium subframes, and installed so the fixings are not visible. Suitable for rainscreen cladding systems and facades, Natura comes in 8mm and 12mm thicknesses, is lightweight but strong, and has an impact-resistant surface finish. Multiclad is available in 25 standard pastel and primary colours, and can be ordered in any RAL colour regardless of quantity. It comes in 2.5m and 3.05m lengths and can be nailed or screwed to timber battens for facades as well as fascias and gable end cladding. Enquiry number 212A hydraulic cladding placement system from Nationwide is designed to eliminate the potential for panel damage, reduce manpower levels and improve site health and safety. PowerClad is a scissors lift equipped with hydraulic support beams that move cladding panels to their final position, holding them there while adjustments are made before they are fixed. PowerClad can be operated by a team of two, with a telehandler loading the panels onto the support beams. Enquiry number 213Kingspan has introduced a pre-engineered cladding system, the KS1000 Optimo. Available in cover widths of 600mm, 900mm and 1000mm, the KS1000 Optimo has hidden joints that conceal the fasteners from view and comes with a wide range of accessories. There are four product combinations, each with distinctive vertical and horizontal joint arrangements. Optimo A has a hidden tongue and groove joint and provides horizontal lines; inserts can be flush or recessed, and the top hat is coated steel. The horizontal and vertical effect of Optimo B produces a curtain wall detail, with snap-on mullions and transoms. Optimo C combines a horizontal tongue and groove joint with aluminium top hat plus rubber gasket or aluminium insert. Enquiry number 214Spray-on concrete is nothing new, but specialist Shotcrete is using the same technique to create concrete cladding. The technique does away with plywood shutters to mould the concrete into position, relying instead on a single-sided construction technique where the concrete is sprayed onto a mesh tied to a reinforcing structural element. The technique scores particularly highly when it comes to producing cladding in freeform shapes. Enquiry number 215
Composite technologyfor Luxalon
Metal-morphosis
Haironville TAC is claiming to transform metal-clad building installation with a high-build primer combined with composite polyamide/polyurethane top coat. The product, Hairexcel Granite, is applied to a corrosion-inhibited galvanised steel substrate in one pass through the coil finishing machinery. Its resistance to corrosion and ultraviolet equals Haironville TAC’s top-of-the-range Duranar XL Plus but comes at a fraction of the cost. The polyamide gives exceptional durability and resistance to site handling and subsequent use and absorbs UV light, greatly reducing its effect on colour and gloss. Hairexcel Granite comes in a range of 10 colours. Enquiry number 208Match your colour online
Ceramic scene
Never rains but it Pourstop
An elongated version of Halfen’s Pourstop solves the problem of fixing cladding to the edge of Corus’s Slimdeck thin floor slabs, which sit completely within the depth of I-section beams. Pourstop provides ease of working and high load capacity in the restricted area of slab edge that can be used for facade connections. Pourstop is an L-shaped metal section incorporating a fixing channel in the vertical face. As the Pourstop is nailed to the beam flange and screwed to the metal deck, it defines the edge and depth of the floor slab for the concrete contractor, while providing fixing locations to the channel by means of T-head bolts to the secondary steelwork. The elongated version of Pourstop uses heavier metal sections and heavy duty channel. Enquiry number 211From here to Eternit
Hydraulic support
Optimo engineering
Spray-on cladding
Natural colours
Cembritt-Blunn has launched a new range of through-coloured cladding sheets. The Cembonit range is made of natural materials: sand, cement and cellulose fibres. Available in nine colours and one natural, the sheets are robust but low weight. They come in two sizes (3050mm by 1200mm and 2500mm by 1200mm) and two thicknesses (6mm and 8mm). The sheets are coated with an aqueous hydrophobic liquid, giving a water and dirt-repellent surface. Enquiry number 216Source
Construction Manager
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