Alumet HQ

CHALLENGE

As part of a full exterior refurbishment, building envelope contractor, Alumet, required a new façade system that would transform and modernise the exterior of the Jubilee House building, which was originally installed in the early 1970s. Coupled with this was the requirement to improve thermal and energy efficiencies.

SOLUTION

Knauf Insulation supplied its Earthwool® RainScreen Slab to ensure optimal fire, thermal and acoustic performance.
The key to Knauf Insulation securing the project was the ability to provide in depth technical support, including complex 3D heat flow modelling calculations which took into account the specific system brackets, which act as a significant cold bridge within rainscreen cladding systems.

Knauf Insulation’s Earthwool RainScreen Slab was installed on the brick facade of the existing building, which once complete, significantly improved the U-value thus reducing the heat loss through the wall.

The insulation layer is a fundamental component of any successful rainscreen cladding system and mineral wool insulation delivers a number of advantages for this type of application. Earthwool RainScreen Slab is a rock mineral wool slab containing a water repellent additive, designed for use on masonry wall constructions and as the outer insulation layer in steel frame projects.

Quick and easy to install, the product is simple to cut and the slabs knit together to create a snug fit, with no need to tape the joints as may be required with rigid foam boards – ensuring maximum acoustic and thermal performance.

Alumet Director, Dean Walton comments: “We wanted to turn our headquarters into a thermally efficient building and to really project a modern ‘green’ image. The Schueco Façade system, along with Knauf Insulation’s products, helped us to achieve this as well as dramatically reducing our carbon output.

“We have received some fantastic feedback from local residents saying how good the new façade looks and coupled with the improved thermal efficiencies, we are very pleased.”