Retail Unit highlights porcelain facade versatility

An LED lighting installation within the facade of a retail unit in Teeside has highlighted the design flexibility of Shackerley’s SureClad® porcelain facade system. The lighting has been used to emphasise the texture, panel layout and contrasting colourways of the porcelain facade, demonstrating what can be achieved with the use of SureClad® porcelain cladding for commercial buildings.

The JD Sports retail unit in Teeside was specified with SureClad® porcelain cladding in a mix of grey and beige colourways, each with a natural finish. The facade design has used the two colourways of porcelain cladding to create a cut-out effect, with the grey areas standing proud of the beige cladding sections. This has enabled lighting strips to be installed to create a subtle feature downlighting effect, along with a criss-cross pattern on the facade, delivering a striking and distinctive look to the completed retail unit.

Installed in partnership with Kingspan, the project combines the Shackerley SureClad® porcelain facade system with Kingspan’s Quadcore Karrier system as part of an insulated building envelope. The full range of Kingspan architectural facades can be seen here:

www.kingspan.com/gb/en/products/architectural-facades/.

The innovative facade solution brings together Kingspan’s high performing QuadCore insulated panel solutions with the premium appearance and longevity of Shackerley’s fully-prefabricated large format porcelain cladding, attached directly to the Kingspan panels using Shackerley’s Queen’s Award-winning SureClad® Access mechanical fixing system.

Enabling rapid installation, the Kingspan system allowed the building to be made watertight very quickly, because the insulated panels act as both the internal and external wall, prior to installation of the SureClad® porcelain facade. The completed hybrid system also delivers excellent airtightness and low U-values post installation, helping to ensure a high standard of comfort and energy efficiency, in line with sustainability goals.