Steni bridges the gap between nature and nurture

Rainscreen cladding panels from Steni UK were specified by Glas Architects for a mixed-use development in south London for their quality and durability in terms of longevity and colour fastness. Three shades of Steni's Colour panels, in white, light grey and dark grey and a matt finish, were used on all four elevations of Francis Bacon Court on the site of the former Manor Tavern on Galleywall Road.

The fibreglass reinforced polymer composite panels feature a surface of electron beam cured acrylic that is applied without the use of solvents and were specified by Glas Architects after two other types of cladding panels failed to meet the project's criteria of quality and cost-effectiveness. Some 800m² of the panels were face-fixed with colour-coded rivets onto an aluminium sub-frame by specialist sub-contractor Intex Facades for main contractor Hartcrest Properties over four months of the 16-month build.

The six-storey building comprises a ground-floor commercial unit and services for the 10 apartments on the five floors above. These range from two to three bedrooms but all have balconies with patio doors to give views, but not directly overlook, a nature reserve on one side.

The site is owned and was developed by Family Mosaic Housing. Glas' brief from the social housing provider was to optimise the tight site while maximising the individual size of the dual-aspect residential units and avoiding overlooking a nature reserve on one side and school on the other.

This they achieved by designing two flank walls with slot windows that are picked out with the dark grey Steni panels in a narrow vertical arrangement, while the white and light grey panels are used in two widths in other areas. The slot windows also feature green glass to echo Victorian stained glass. Glas Architects had not used Steni panels before, then local material selection consultancy business Just Facades suggested the Steni Colour range of 44 standard colours, three gloss levels and two thicknesses.

Completely resistant to weather, water, chemicals, impact and fire (Class O performance), Steni Colour panels also feature a 25-year working guarantee. Nazar Sayigh, director of Glas Architects, said: "The Steni panels play a big part in the success of this project. They achieved the aesthetic we wanted in terms of colour and finish as well as the contractor's cost criteria. "The Colour panels also complied very closely with the performance requirements of the project which demanded durability, long life and colour fastness. The client was very pleased with the effect." Glas were particularly interested in the gloss finish to Steni's Colour panels and hope to be able to use them on future projects.

ntex Facades' business development manager David Lee said: "We installed the Steni panels generally from the first floor level up to the top storey at sixth floor level. It was a very tight site, with no storage facilities, so the materials had to be unloaded and craned onto the scaffold in their pallets. It was challenging in all respects due to access and programme sequencing."