cladding

Cladding (finally!) begun.

This really has been our most long awaited task to date - delayed by a combination of lots of exciting new projects coming in to the paper igloo office - not something to complain about - and a particularly wet first half to the year - definitely something to complain about!

Although the progress has consequently been slower than we had hoped for the result is good which makes it worth the waiting time between bursts of intense effort!

We are using annular ring shank stainless steel nails to fix the cladding to the battens, and spacing the boards 6mm apart using a removable plastic shim to keep the gaps consistent.

This gap size gives a huge amount of ventilation (and therefore drying potential) to the cavity behind, whilst being the minimum recommended gap for open rain screen cladding due to the fact that a miscus would form between the boards in heavy driving rain if the gap were any smaller, and when the boards swell slightly in bad weather they would be too close together. The joints between the boards are also spaced with a plastic shim, although as the boards are much less prone to swelling longitudinally this gap can be smaller. Additionally the boards are nailed alternately nearer the upper and lower edges to limit twisting.

We have decided to take the boards into the reveals in the opposite direction to the main facade: additionally on each elevation the cladding will run in the opposite direction to the adjacent one to create a dynamic effect. Whilst we are pleased with the result I would estimate this detail (coupled with the diagonal orientation of the boards) has doubled the overall installation time - something to bear in mind if ever asking a contractor to undertake this! An effective alternative would have been to take a window liner into the reveal however in this instance we wanted to create a more intriguing sculptural effect when the building was viewed both from afar and at a close distance. A detail that almost appears to have no detail if you like!