GRP façade for ARUP in London

The external impression counts

FAÇADE DESIGN FROM GFK

ACCENTFORM produced eleven visually striking GRP elements for the façade of the impressive architectural exterior design of a London office building. The 3D sandwich panels not only act as spectacular exterior elements of the building, but also visually as striking interior façade details.

Beforehand, the customer was first shown a 3D contour design using a “mini” model. This was followed by the elaborate production process. True to the motto “Each segment is unique”, the size dimensions of the various panels range from approx. 8 m2 / ~300 kg to 40 m2 / ~2000 kg. As the creative idea was to form the 11 differently sized sandwich parts freely in the air, the production technique of “trough construction” was used. The respective “troughs”, which were to give the various building segments their later outer contours, had a maximum surface area of 45 m² per panel.

First of all, pressure-tight molds adapted to the respective sizes were built and their edges milled according to a specified geometry. A special foil was pulled into the molds that were open at the top to form a hollow. The air inside the mold was then evacuated using a vacuum pump so that the film could be drawn to a precisely predefined size. A coat of gelcoat was then applied, followed by a coating of GRP and the sandwich parts. The result was a three-dimensional component with a wall thickness of 200 mm, with all cable ducts and fixing points already integrated into the internal structure.

ACCENTFORM took care of all the necessary work processes for this project, from the development of ideas to production and delivery. A major challenge during the entire production process was to integrate the penetrating supply and exhaust air pipes into the panels and to take into account the design overlaps and the glazing between the individual segments. It was important to install all connections and static fixtures at precisely predefined points in the three-dimensionally curved segments. The result is really something to be proud of – both inside and out!

Project details on the GRP façade for ARUP