Project Spotlight -
Shackerley's ceramic granite enhances award-winning luxury apartment complex in Kingston
Shackerley's Sureclad® ceramic granite cladding system has enhanced and unified the appearance of a visionary development scheme comprising two very different award-winning buildings on the banks of the River Thames in Kingston.
An attractive combination of ceramic granite facade panels, manufactured to give the appearance of natural oak and limestone, has been used to clad the exteriors of the Kingston Riverside luxury apartment complex and its adjacent mixed-use development, Kingston Heights, comprising a hotel and private and affordable homes.
The cladding was specified for both buildings by NHP Leisure Developments who acquired the site fifteen years ago and drew up the original plans for the scheme with Paul Brooke Architects. Redrow London subsequently purchased the Kingston Riverside development and the stunning complex of 210 luxury apartments was completed for the new owner by their scheme architects, Broadway Malyan.
Kingston Riverside features two blocks of 11 and 15 storeys, connected by a six-storey link block. These 'towers' with spacious private terraces stepping back from the river, are framed with curved ribs that give the development a contemporary maritime style which is consolidated by Shackerley's 'wood-look' ceramic granite.
Whilst architectural plans have changed over the years, NHP's ceramic granite cladding specification has remained constant;
"We were looking for premium quality cladding that conformed to a very precise colour palette and resembled natural oak and limestone," says NHP MD Mike Spenser-Morris.
"Shackerley's Sureclad® facade system provided exactly what we were looking for. Unlike timber and stone, ceramic granite has almost zero porosity and is totally resistant to all climatic extremes, UV light and airborne pollution so our stunning facades will never weather, fade or rot."
The building earned Redrow London the 2014 WhatHouse? Silver Award for 'Best Exterior Design'; and was Highly Commended in the 2014 Housebuilder Awards' 'Best Design of 4 Storeys or more'.
