Rainscreen cladding by Steni features on luxury student accommodation.
A total of five colours of Steni rainscreen cladding panels, including four specials, were specified for new-generation student accommodation to meet planners' requirements for a "quality" product.
Some 852m2 of Steni's Colour panels, in three special greens and a special yellow as well as a standard grey, have been used on the elevations of Falkland House, a seven-storey student complex in the up and coming area of Islington, Liverpool.
The fibreglass reinforced polymer composite panels, with a smooth surface of 100% acrylic that is electron beam cured without the use of solvents, were specified by CTA Architects for the façade of the £3million luxury, private-rent apartment block.
Falkland House, with three universities on its doorstep, comprises more than 100 larger-than average student en-suite cluster pods and studios and self-contained, one-bedroomed apartments originally available to investors from just £52,000.
A study hotel managed by Urban Student Life, it combines all the benefits of living in a hotel, such as 24-hour concierge and laundry service, with the freedom of living in student accommodation for first-year, undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Islington is regarded as Liverpool's next big destination, with millions having been spent regenerating the area and delivering new public spaces, retail outlets and a new array of bars and restaurants. Falkland House is on the site of a former industrial unit.
The Steni cladding was installed on the part timber frame with pile foundations structure by specialist sub-contractor Highline Cladding for Liverpool-based main contractor PHD1 who are established partners with developers Pinnacle MC Global Network.
CTA's brief was for a landmark building on one of the key entry points to Liverpool City Centre. It was the first time they had used Steni panels but it will not be the last.
Architect Peter Norton said: "We specified the Steni panels to meet the planning department's aspirations of a quality product on this landmark building. It helps break up the mass of the building and gives it a vertical emphasis and rhythm."
He added: "It gave us a reflective surface and when positioned beside the white render it gives a colourful and energetic building without being over the top. Having said that we consider it to be the building's ‘bling' element."
