For those who sit outside of the plastering trade, a question that gets commonly asked is ‘what is the difference between plastering and rendering?’ While some may just want to seem more in-the-know when they’re talking to the plasterer, others may be struggling to distinguish between what are two very
A contract in Salford, Manchester, to design, manufacture and install almost 9,000 square meters of high-quality façade for Two New Bailey Square, Slaford’s latest sustainable office development, has landed in the hands of a European façade contractor – Staticus. Across an area of 8,700 square meters, Staticus will install a combination of
SPSenvirowall, a UK leading supplier of external wall insulation, render and facades, has secured BOPAS (Buildoffsite Property Assurance Scheme) accreditation for its innovative, rain screen cladding, RendaClad for the new build and offsite construction industry. RendaClad was developed for applying a non-structural and seamless rendered rain screen system to a
Prime minister May’s announcement last month to spend £400m on the repair & refurbishment of 158 high rise buildings identified within England’s social housing estate has been widely welcomed by the construction industry and housing chiefs alike. However, the considerable war chest earmarked by government to bring these dwellings up
Vivalda Group plc, the UK’s largest distributor of architectural facades, has confirmed the relocation of its headquarters from London to Birmingham. The business, which was named as one of the UK’s most inspiring companies by the London Stock Exchange*, has a turnover of more than £30m and employs 30 people
Vivalda Group plc, the UK’s largest distributor of high performance facades, has successfully completed an investment project that brings the benefit of digitally-controlled cutting technology to all eight of its locations across the UK and Ireland. As part of its strategy to increase its pioneering offsite fabrication capacity, the £250,000
For those who sit outside of the plastering trade, a question that gets commonly asked is ‘what is the difference between plastering and rendering?’ While some may just want to seem more in-the-know when they’re talking to the plasterer, others may be struggling to distinguish between what are two very similar practices. Fundamentally, the two main differences lie in their use and their composition. In terms of practical use, rendering is the coating of external walls, whilst plastering is the coating of interior walls. Whilst both are composed primarily of cement, sand, water and lime gypsum, render features a much heavier composition. Here, we discuss the purposes of both so you can help separate the two once and for all. The Purpose of Rendering Rendering is the process of coating the exterior surfaces of buildings; a process used to waterproof and fireproof the exterior, as well as enhance the aesthetics. Render material is made up of the same ingredients as plaster but features a much heavier cement base, which makes it fit for external purposes. Fine sand and lime gypsum are utilised in the mixture in order to provide a smooth finish. Render represents the final layer on exterior walls, and can be finished as smooth, flat, textured or patterned, depending on the requirements of the client. The Purpose of Plastering Plastering is the process of coating the interior walls and ceilings of a building, so they’re fit for painting or wallpapering. The mixture contains less cement than that of render and utilises less coarse sand, which provides a lighter, smoother finish than its external counterpart. Whilst both are mortar coatings that rest on top of blockwork, plaster is not weather resistant, offering more of a decorative function that is water repellent and easily cleaned. It also holds fireproofing qualities, particularly in older buildings that are constructed from mud or clay. Of course, both share strong similarities. Their makeup includes the same ingredients, and their functional purpose is more or less the same. The important point to distinguish is their differing anti-abrasion properties. For a new house build, it’s essential the exterior is comprehensively rendered to avoid damage and potential collapse from moisture build up. When plastering, make sure to leaves freshly laid plaster for anywhere from a week to a month to dry before beginning painting or wallpapering. Naturally, such jobs are best carried out by a professional, so search for ‘local plasterers near me’ to find a quality, good value tradesmen to do the job for you.
A contract in Salford, Manchester, to design, manufacture and install almost 9,000 square meters of high-quality façade for Two New Bailey Square, Slaford’s latest sustainable office development, has landed in the hands of a European façade contractor – Staticus. Across an area of 8,700 square meters, Staticus will install a combination of unitised timber and aluminium stick façades, with panels being manufactured in its Lithuania-based factory before being delivered to the site. “An interesting aspect of this project is the external structural steel frame with its visible connections and splices left exposed and protruding from the façade. Whilst this is unique and looks extremely striking, it means that we will need to use special sealing and prefabrication techniques to build the cladding units and overlay the façade panels. It is an extremely complicated installation,” explained Staticus’ UK MD Paulius Gurksnys. Apart from the external structural steel frame, there is another interesting element of the development included in its timber features on the ground and first floor. Staticus will install aluminium façade onto the timber profiles, milling connection joints into the profiles to create an aesthetic, natural view of the timber framing. “Two New Bailey Square is a fantastic project and winning it marks a fitting end to 2018. We have grown our presence in the UK exponentially this year, opening a new office in London and taking on lucrative contracts in the City, Manchester and Liverpool. This positions Staticus strategically for further expansion in the first quarter of 2019, so we are looking forward to what we anticipate will be a very successful year,” added Paulius. Part of the masterplan for Salford Central, the Two New Bailey Square development will deliver 9,500 new jobs and 180,000 square metres of commercial space.
SPSenvirowall, a UK leading supplier of external wall insulation, render and facades, has secured BOPAS (Buildoffsite Property Assurance Scheme) accreditation for its innovative, rain screen cladding, RendaClad for the new build and offsite construction industry. RendaClad was developed for applying a non-structural and seamless rendered rain screen system to a timber-framed substrate. It replaces the need to build a structural masonry outer leaf that is finished with low-performance cementitious renders. RendaClad is a full façade system made up of many carefully selected components which have been rigorously tested and as an entire system makes up one of a very few BBA approved systems of its type which provides the reassurance that it will perform over the long term. The system ensures a fully ventilated and drained cavity is maintained within the wall structure, meeting the requirements of the NHBC and TRADA. The system can be applied to any wall structure, lightweight steel frame or masonry construction. SPSenvirowall is delighted that RendaClad is the first and currently only proprietary solution which has undergone the rigorous BOPAS accreditation process designed to give lenders and surveyors the assurance of the building materials utilised within a development. This has provided confidence to the market that the innovative concept has a minimum life expectancy of 60-years. This accreditation will allow SPSenvirowall to deliver its RendaClad system to offsite and modular developments, enabling the supply of a greater range of projects while providing the assurance required to satisfy mortgage lenders and their surveyors, meaning that the RendaClad system will last for a minimum of two mortgage cycles With the challenges brought by the government to build 250,000 homes per year, the demand for innovative or non-traditional methods of construction to replace poor quality and conventionally constructed homes has never been greater. BOPAS accreditation assures lenders, funders, valuers and purchasers that homes built from non-traditional means will be durable and deliver the quality required by the industry. About SPSenvirowall SPSenvirowall is a leading UK supplier of external wall insulation systems to the construction industry for new build and refurbishment applications. Supplying insulation systems, high-quality decorative renders, façades and rain screen cladding solutions, SPSenvirowall offers a value-added and integrated service to any construction project. To find out more about SPSenvirowall, visit www.spsenvirowall.co.uk or call 01535 661633. Media enquiries to Natasha Ives or Sarah Wason at SPSenvirowall on 0845 644 7081 or email natasha.ives@spsenvirowall or sarah.wason@spsenvirowall.co.uk
Prime minister May’s announcement last month to spend £400m on the repair & refurbishment of 158 high rise buildings identified within England’s social housing estate has been widely welcomed by the construction industry and housing chiefs alike. However, the considerable war chest earmarked by government to bring these dwellings up to standard should also be used to create a new culture in UK housing, which treats residents in the private and public sector with equal respect. That is the view of James Butler, commercial director of PURA Facades, part of Vivalda Group, the UK’s largest independent distributor and fabricator of high performance cladding systems. ‘Based on the average cladding area of 3,000 sq.m for a high rise, this budget suggests a figure of over £2.5m per tower, which on the face of it appears generous,” he said. “Our calculations indicate that it’s more than enough to dismantle the existing cladding and replace this with quality, market-leading incombustible facades. And this includes all the elements of a through-wall rainscreen cladding system comprising fireproof linings and fire breaks, insulation, weatherproof sheathing boards and all the necessary associated fixing systems.” “There should also be enough within this budget to install the necessary fire protection measures as long as each tower’s needs are carefully assessed on a case by case basis,” said Butler. “While ensuring all of these homes benefit from the very best safety precautions the industry can offer, it’s also an opportunity for councils and social housing organisations to send a strong message to both residents and the construction sector in general; that there should be no gap in the quality of products being used on public or private housing. The Grenfell enquiry, led by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, has shown that there is a definite class theme running through this sorry chapter – and this funding provides us with the opportunity to change that divisive culture.” James Butler highlighted the fact that Pura had significant experience supplying high performance products to the private sector, and that there was no reason why this ‘quality first’ approach should not replace the recently discredited ‘value engineering’ process, which was widely used in the public sector as a cost cutting tool. He said: “While the image of cladding may have been tarnished by association with the Grenfell tragedy, the fact remains that there are many excellent, fireproof products out there that would be ideal for the 158 high rise residences awaiting refurbishment. We have the budget now, all we need is the will power and imagination from local council leaders and their appointed architects to change the culture of cladding within social housing.” Pura has now begun working in the social housing market, demonstrating how products and methodologies used in the private sector can be adopted by public sector developments. Butler said: “While we have already worked on a couple of social housing projects that have used non-flammable natural cladding including terracotta or glass reinforced concrete (GRC) cladding from manufacturers such as Rieder of Austria, we’re also excited to see a new generation of aluminium cladding now coming onto the market.” “Valcan is a well-established, respected manufacturer of aluminium panels that has developed Vitracore G2, which comprises exclusively layers of aluminium which form an internal, non-flammable honeycombed centre. This type of innovation shows that the market is responding positively to Grenfell and this should enable architects to consider this new generation of cladding for the social housing sector.”
Vivalda Group plc, the UK’s largest distributor of architectural facades, has confirmed the relocation of its headquarters from London to Birmingham. The business, which was named as one of the UK’s most inspiring companies by the London Stock Exchange*, has a turnover of more than £30m and employs 30 people at its new offices in Nechells. The company acquired the 28,000sq m site last year and has since been busy renovating 6,000sq m of office space as well as the site’s manufacturing facilities. February 2018 marks the official opening of Vivalda’s new operational HQ in Birmingham. Ben Jayes, managing director of Vivalda Group is delighted with the move. He said: “While we founded the business in London back in 1999, we found that high rents, poor road links and a transient workforce were all holding us back. “Having operated a manufacturing centre in Birmingham for some years, we’ve always known that the city boasts a huge pool of talent, which was a major consideration in the relocation of our UK headquarters from London. Our new freehold premises in Nechells also gives us room for expansion into 2018 and beyond. The central position of the new HQ, near to the motorway links also makes life a lot easier from a transport perspective.” Vivalda provides high performance facades to many high profile building projects across the UK. As the UK’s number one supplier of rain screen cladding and facade panels, Vivalda prides itself on offering a genuinely independent service to contractors in support of specifiers and architects. Products supplied by Vivalda include Marley Eternit, Cembrit, Rockpanel, Trespa and Fibre C. Vivalda also owns the PURA Facades brand. VivaIda Group has a turnover of more than of £30m and employs more than 100 people across its eight locations in the UK and Ireland.
Vivalda Group plc, the UK’s largest distributor of high performance facades, has successfully completed an investment project that brings the benefit of digitally-controlled cutting technology to all eight of its locations across the UK and Ireland. As part of its strategy to increase its pioneering offsite fabrication capacity, the £250,000 investment comprises the acquisition of an additional seven beam saws, supplied by Schelling and Mayer, with Magi-Cut computer controls ensuring total accuracy. Minimal wastage through better template design and off-site fabrication are core elements of Vivalda’s added-value offer and this investment will reinforce the company’s leadership position in the high-performance cladding sector. Vivalda’s investment in plant and technology also includes the addition of new dust extraction equipment, fork lift trucks and scissor lifts to each of its operating sites. Ben Jayes, managing director of Vivalda Group plc, said: “While terms such as construction 4.0, BIM and DfMA are becoming part of the industry’s new vocabulary, accuracy, quality control and offsite fabrication have been part of our DNA for nearly two decades. “This major investment demonstrates Vivalda Group’s core strategy to set new quality standards for the off-site fabrication sector. Contractors and specifiers are demanding total accuracy and zero defects on site. This technology ensures we continue to operate at the highest levels of performance in the industry. “Given the fact that manufacturers are now producing board sizes of up to 5.0m by 3.0m, Vivalda Group has a continuous programme to make sure we have the appropriate cutting technology and logistics in place. Our customers know they can rely on the Vivalda Group to supply their orders on time, accurately cut and knowing each panel will be individually labelled so it can be lifted off the pallet and placed directly on to the wall.” As the UK’s number one supplier of rain screen cladding and facade panels, Vivalda prides itself on offering a genuinely independent service to contractors in support of specifiers and architects. Products supplied by Vivalda include Marley Eternit, Cembrit, Rockpanel, Trespa and Fibre C. Vivalda also owns the PURA Facades brand. VivaIda Group has a turnover in excess of £30m and employs more than 100 people. With a new HQ in Birmingham, the group operates from eight locations across the UK and Ireland. Vivalda was named as one of its ‘1000 Companies to Inspire’ by the London Stock Exchange in 2017
