The Hub, Birmingham

CHALLENGE

The Hub, is an innovative and contemporary seven storey canal-side development of studio,one and two bedroom apartments in Birmingham. The developer, Crosby Land Lease, required the use of a perforated rainscreen system for the apartments and wanted to use a dark slab product which would look good aesthetically as it would be visible through the perforations. This is the first time such a system has been used in the UK, reinforcing The Hub’s status as a cutting-edge development.

As an integral part of the rainscreen system, The Hub, required an airspace to separate the insulation from the outer cladding panels, allowing wind-driven rain to run down the back of the rainscreen panels, providing additional protection to the insulation layer.

SOLUTION

Knauf Insulation, the UK’s leading manufacturer of insulation products, has supplied 4,000m2 of Rocksilk 115mm RainScreen Slab to thermally insulate the rainscreen cladding system at The Hub development.

Knauf Insulation’s Rocksilk RainScreen Slab is a black tissue faced stone mineral wool slab containing a water repellent additive, specially developed for rainscreen cladding applications. Rainscreen cladding systems typically comprise outer cladding panels that are bolted to a supporting framework of rails, which are supported by cleats fixed to the building structure. A layer of Rocksilk RainScreen Slab has been fixed independently against the building’s substructure using proprietary insulation fasteners.

Knauf Insulation’s Rocksilk RainScreen Slab is lightweight, but rigid enough to resist the compression forces generated when installing the insulation slabs to the masonry substrate. The water repellent additive in Rocksilk RainScreen Slab also provides a further line of defence against rain penetration of The Hub’s external wall.

With increasing thermal performance requirements, Knauf Insulation is proud to be at the forefront of recommending, manufacturing and supplying compliant insulation products. What sets us apart is the effort we put into building relationships with architects and contractors, and it’s great that we are working on The Hub as a result.