April 2008
T.I. Dynamic Facades helps push the boundaries of building design at Grand Arcade, Wigan
Specialist cladding contractor, Roofdec, has worked with T.I. Dynamic Facades to push the boundaries of what can be achieved with rainscreen cladding, by installing the T.I. Dynamic Facades single skin Terracotta Rainscreen system on a tightly curved structure at the Grand Arcade, a new commercial development in Wigan.
The single skin Terracotta Rainscreen was specified for all elevations of the main shopping area and spiral ramp of the car park. To allow straight tiles to be used on the curved car park structure, T.I. Dynamic Facades developed a bespoke vertical rail profile using the T.I. adaptive carrier system.
The carrier rail was 20mm deeper than standard, fixed to a cold rolled steel sub frame and installed at 1,500mm centres. Single skin tiles at a size of 400mm x 200mm were then fixed on to the carrier system, achieving the curved effect using straight tiles.
Stan Thomas, installation engineer at Roofdec, comments: “By providing support at specification stage, T.I. Dynamic Facades helped the curved rainscreen design to become a reality, delivering the required wind resistance, load bearing and strength – on time and within budget. The system also had to interface with a number of exterior finishes, including brickwork and steel frame, which its flexibility made easy to achieve.
Single skin Terracotta Rainscreen is the only complete terracotta rainscreen system to be fully BBA (British Board of Agrement) certified. It weighs an average of 10kg less per square metre than traditional offerings, making single skin Terracotta Rainscreen one of the most lightweight systems of its kind. While this ensures health and safety legislative requirements, it also helps to significantly increase speed of installation.
William Harwood, director, T.I. Dynamic Facades, concludes: “Horizontal rails do not lend themselves well to curves as they demand that the tiles must be curved as well. Using our in-depth knowledge of façade technology we were able to bespoke our vertical carrier system to deliver a practical and cost effective solution to an innovative façade design.