Why did they specify that?

It brings colour to the people

Coloured interlayers in the laminated glass facade on a new extension of the Palais des Congres in Montreal, Canada, gives visitors to this historic building a visual extravaganza – at least when the sun is shining.

Enquiry number 201

You can’t get curved glass on the NHS

Curved glass is prohibitively expensive so the architects, Nightingale Associates, specified facetted curtain walling from Technal for this elevation of the Golden Jubilee Wing at Kings College Hospital in London, built by a Costain-Skanska joint venture. It’s cheaper, but does the job. The ‘arrow head returns’ at the extreme ends of the glazed screen are a distinctive feature of the project. This is the first time the aerofoil MC Trame cap has been used in this way. They were used to add interest and accentuate the elliptical facade.

Enquiry number 202

It’s really smooth

Ever noticed that some metal cladding panels give a slightly beaten look when lined up along the entire side of a warehouse? This is due to the chopping involved in a continuous manufacturing process. Well, these Luxalon panels avoid that problem because they’re made, in effect, one at a time. The cassette, made of the panel skins, is placed vertically in a mould that comprises two extremely flat, heated platens. In goes the wet foam. It rises to a predetermined level and bonds with the panel skins. The pressure exerted by the foaming ensures the panel skins are flat against the platens and at the same time expels the production gasses. The finished panel is then left to cure.

Enquiry number 203

You can’t pour limestone

The architect specified 26 D-section columns, each 11.5m tall and made from Gloucestershire limestone, for an office building in an Oxford business park. That could get expensive, with quarrying the right pieces and cutting them to shape. So Trent Concrete offered this solution – reconstructed limestone poured into moulds at Trent’s factory (far right). Trent used self-compacting concrete, which, with its added plastics, gives fluidity with

less water. Also, you don’t have to vibrate the material to compact it.

Enquiry number 204

It doesn’t burn

As you can see, Ward Insulated Wall Panels resisted fire at Wharfdale hospital West Yorkshire. In what is believed to be the first ever fire involving LPCB-approved panels, the heat generated by the fire was sufficient to penetrate the steel structure’s intumescent coating and distort the steel structure. However, the external wall panels maintained their integrity, according to an independent report by fire safety engineering consultants. Ward Insulated Panels DW900 and DW600, which are approved to LPCB standard LPS 1181, had been used to clad the first and second floors.

Enquiry number 205