Rockpanel used to enrich elevations
Architect Andrew Thompson, “Rockpanel was used to enrich the elevations against the otherwise muted facades. The palette uses two neutral greys with three accent colours taken from the UTC brand identity, which was carefully designed to promote equal opportunity by remaining gender neutral through the use of several feature colours rather than one single colour. The pixilation of the panels in 3 widths (designed to minimise waste by using factors of a standard width panel) and the lighting integrated into the façade, subtly externalise the college’s specialism, without being so specific that it wouldn’t suit an evolving curriculum.”
Rockpanel A2 is available in several surface collections, including super-realistic natural Woods and Stones, along with Metal and almost infinite colour matching capability. No other external façade cladding offers a wider range of designs and colours, enabling specifiers to explore new possibilities and realise their creative ambitions while satisfying fire safety standards. Added to that, these durable, highly resilient, weather, temperature and UV resistant facades will require little or no maintenance throughout their long life.
Building safe spaces which are fit for the future
The project main contractor was Willmott Dixon. The firm’s Managing Director for the North, Anthony Dillon, said, “We are delighted to be creating Doncaster UTC… a cutting-edge facility that will support young people to learn… and ultimately become the engineers of the future.”
Chemplas roofing and cladding specialists, were responsible for the installation of the facade. Their Technical Director Steve Gannon, “We have a long association with Rockpanel, having used them for several projects. It is a very good panel which is easy to work with. We followed the detailed colour plan supplied by the architect and liaised regularly with Rockpanel, who provided technical support, samples and fixing details.”
Rockpanel’s Ann Bone, “Following projects in Scarborough and Coventry, this is the third UTC we have worked on with Faulkner Browns Architects. Rockpanel A2 is lightweight and easy to cut on site without the need to seal edges, which speeds up installation. At Doncaster UTC it provides a Euroclass A2 fire-rated facade, backed with (A1 non-combustible) ROCKWOOL® Rainscreen Duo Slab insulation . The work progressed really well under lockdown conditions. All agree that the completed building looks superb and we are now planning further projects with this team.”
