8 FRONT COVER SPOTLIGHT
Perforated Metal Cladding Where form meets function
THERE ARE FEW CLADDING SYSTEMS OR SOLUTIONS THAT CAN PROVIDE THE SHEER SCOPE AND DESIGN VERSATILITY OFFERED BY PERFORATED SHEET METAL CLADDING. A BOLD CLAIM, PERHAPS, BUT ONE WHICH THE WORLD’S LARGEST PRODUCER OF PERFORATED METALS, RMIG, IS KEEN TO DEFEND AND SUPPORT THROUGH THE DIVERSE RANGE OF INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS THAT ALREADY USE THEIR SYSTEMS.
“J
ust consider the fact that metal can be formed and cut to meet almost any specification as well as including
different sizes and shapes of perforations and you begin to get some idea of the reasons why metal cladding is being specified by an increasing number of architects,” explained RMIG’s architectural specialist, Paul Quigley. “However, it’s not just the mechanical properties of metal that is providing the appeal to architects and designers, but the freedom of design that it can bring,” he added.
One of the first advantages of perforated metal cladding to be recognised and exploited by architects was its ability to interact with natural and artificial light both as a tool for night-time creative lighting effects and as a method of providing versatile solar shading during the day.
By using perforation patterns to create geometric shapes, logos and even two- dimensional renderings of complex images, the use of creative exterior and interior lighting has been used in a number of projects to give added appeal to a building and reinforce its position or role within the built environment. In addition, reflective metallic surfaces have also been considered by some architects as part of their designs to allow ambient light from street lamps and passing cars to create their own constantly changing ‘lightshow’.
White Star House, Thompson Dock
One particularly striking example of how perforated metal façades from RMIG helped give a new lease life to an existing building is the Maison du Portugal building in Paris. As part of the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, the building provides accommodation
for 170 students as well as a theatre and was refurbished using more than 4500m2
perforated aluminium cladding under a scheme designed by architects Vincent Parreira and Antonio Virga.
Night time lighting and illumination was also a consideration for international architectural and engineering consultants, the Scott Wilson Group, when designing the four-storey White Star House building, which is situated beside Thompson Dock, the last place that the famed ‘Titanic’ ocean liner was berthed before leaving Belfast. More than 1.3km2
of
decorative aluminium cladding, which was supplied to site in 42 different panel sizes by RMIG, with each panel incorporating hundreds of 10mm square perforations that act as diffusers for low level interior lighting.
While RMIG has a range of standard perforation patterns and sizes that can be produced in a range of different materials, the company is also regularly called upon to produce ‘custom’ or bespoke designs, to meet the specifications demanded by innovative architectural designs. In these situations, the material selection can be influenced by both practical and aesthetic considerations, while the inspiration for the perforation patterns can come from some unusual sources as discovered by RMIG on two recent projects in France and Norway.
Reichen & Robert Associates, the architects behind the recently opened Ruban Bleu retail and commercial centre in St Nazaire, took their inspiration for the pattern in the structure’s 1,300 m2
of cladding from the town’s nautical heritage in ship-building and port operations.
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