External envelope: Rob Gregory gets under the skin of recent cladding innovations.

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501 CRICURSA

Prada's new crystal-like shop in Tokyo, by Herzog & de Meuron, features curved and laminated cladding units by Spanish glazing fabricator Cricursa. Convex, flat and concave rhomboid units clad the building's distinctive dia-grid structure to produce remarkable visual effects. To achieve the architect's desired oscillating character. Cricursa had to guarantee a high degree of accuracy and of consistency, where the avoidance of distortion was essential to achieve the building's unique optical properties. Each panel comprises two panes--an inner single laminated glass pane, and a 12mm outer monolithic one--which follow the same ellipsoidal profile.

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Enquiry 501 www.arplus.com/enq.html

502 NBK-KERAMIK

With the experience of having worked with architects such as Renzo Piano and Caruso St John on pioneering terracotta facade techniques. NBK-Keramik have developed the TERRART series. Compatible with four variants. TERRART-LARGE, TERRART-MID, TERRART-SHINGEL and TERRART SOLID, the patented TERRART-FLEX substructure allows the facades to be integrated into a range of traditional and modern wall constructions, with dimensions, colours, surface structures and glazes all subject to the architect and client's approval.

Enquiry 502 www.arplus.com/enq.html

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503 JAMES AND TAYLOR

Widely known for their work with terracotta rain-screen cladding. James & Taylor have now recently completed work on developing, testing and supplying the iconic Birmingham Selfridges facade designed by Future Systems. Having researched materials for appearance, durability and cost, and following the construction of two full-size prototypes, one of the key technical concerns was how to provide a weatherproof seal behind each of the anodized aluminium domes: the critical point where the seamless insulated rendered facade was penetrated more than 15 975 times. A four-stage weather protection configuration was developed that while ensuring a secure watertight detail also gave fitters sufficient tolerance to achieve the correct orientation of each dome, a practicality that was essential to achieving the facade's instantly recognizable smooth lines.

Enquiry 503 www.arplus.com/enq.html

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504 PALCO 

Louvres are no longer just for plant rooms. As the popularity of rain-screen cladding has increased, continuous louvred walls are more and more common. As a result, manufacturers such as Palco have responded by improving their product range to include many blade profiles, with matching door and access panels, all of which are available in any RAL colour.

Enquiry 504 www.arplus.com/enq.html

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505 STOAKES SYSTEMS

Kalwall cladding has recently been used by Stoakes Systems to provide two new translucent skins. Particularly appropriate for leisure buildings, where conflicts between light and privacy often prevail. Kalwall also eliminates glare, shadows and hotspots, overcoming the need for secondary curtains or blinds. With high insulation performance, with a U-value of 0.56W/[m.sup.2]K. large areas can be proposed to create comfortable and thermally stable environments.

Enquiry 505 www.arplus.com/enq.html

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506, 507 TRIMO

In a recent design competition run to promote the use of Trimo products in modern architecture, entries were sought that implemented roof and facades made of Trimoterm fireproof panels. Award-winning submissions included Sadar & Vuga's Arcadia Lightwear Office and Exhibition Building in Ljubljana, Slovenia (506), and Andris Berzin's Office and Production building APS, Riga, Latvia (507)

Enquiries 506, 507 www.arplus.com/enq.html

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508 HAVER & BOECKER

Stainless-steel woven wire cloth, supplied by Haver & Boecker, can be used to transform the facade of any building. For both new-build or refurbishment projects, the unique visual quality of the material, which literally changes with the wind as clouds shift sunlight and shadow, creates a shimmering second skin. In Newcastle, the new Pharmacy Building at the Royal Victoria Infirmary has been clad with 275[m.sup.2] of Multi-Barrette 8143 in single 6.6m X 4m sheets. While at the other end of the scale. 2150 sq m of Multi-Barrette 8301 have been used extensively at Murphy/Jahn's 40 storey office tower in Bonn. The numerous cloth products are fully supported by a wide range of tension and fixing components.

Enquiry 508 www.arplus.com/enq.html

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