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The changing face of stainless steel


Kevin Jones, business manager of Aperam Stainless Steel Service UK Ltd, explains why stainless steel is a cost-effective building envelope material and how new surface finishes and coloured grades are widening its aesthetic appeal


lower maintenance. Despite its technical advantages, however, more widespread specification of stainless steel has been held back by the belief that it is expensive. Comparison of metal prices per tonne would certainly preclude selection in most situations but its enhanced strength means that thinner gauges are used, giving a completely different picture. A typical minimum facade thickness for aluminium and


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copper is 1mm while that for zinc is 0.8mm and stainless steel just 0.5mm. Though roofing systems can be slightly thinner, a simple 300 sq m area requiring around 1 tonne of stainless steel will still weigh 1.5 tonnes or more in zinc or copper (and more than 10 tonnes in lead). In terms of large facade projects such


he increasing emphasis of design life value in commer- cial projects has prompted the development of metal facade and roofing systems of greater durability and


as the new £45 million, 80,000 sq ft Marks and Spencer store on the Glasgow Fort retail development, 0.6mm stainless steel shingles specified by Cooper Cromar have saved up to 18 tonnes in facade weight. The design, described by the architects as ‘an elegant stainless steel-clad box’, has been designed to form a distinctive new entrance feature for the motorway frontage. In total contrast, Wrap House (pictured) is a large 1960s


family home in Godalming, Surrey, which Edgley Design was commissioned to ‘upcycle’. Their ultimate proposal extended and re-articulated its strong external forms using stainless steel cladding. Such finishes are among the most commonly associ- ated with the metal and reflections on walls of the rural land- scape have brought colour and changing patterns to them throughout the day, creating a dynamic facade. This was achieved using a material with a relatively dull but uniform Continued overleaf...


‘A typical minimum facade thickness for aluminium and copper is 1mm while that for zinc is 0.8mm and stainless steel just 0.5mm’


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