Pura Facades, the specialist distributor of natural cladding solutions, has successfully completed a project to supply 8,000m2 formed and flat panels to the Hallsville Quarter in Canning Town, London. Worth in the region of £2.8m the contract demonstrates the complete cladding solution provided by Pura, from panel designs and fixing system drawings to logistics, and aftercare such as snagging resolution and O&M manual document preparation. Working closely with main contractor Bouygues, Pura supplied non-flammable Rieder GRC (glass reinforced concrete) panels, which were an expedient and lightweight alternative to traditional pre-cast or traditional GRC concrete facades. Consulting with the project architects also enabled Pura to consider innovative ways of achieving their visual intent with large format shaped panels spanning floor to floor. James Butler, director of Pura Facades, explains: “While it was originally proposed that traditional GRC or pre-cast concrete should be used on the vertical columns of the building, we suggested using lightweight, thinner-formed GRC panels, which were easier to transport (lowering carbon emissions) and far simpler to erect. Our ability to cut and shape panels to exact tolerances meant that no heavy lifting equipment was needed on site as every panel was lifted into position.” While each panel is cut to size and delivered with its own fixing system, one of the most demanding challenges of the project lay in the logistics. Given the fact that inner city construction projects now need to operate from a ‘postage stamp’ building site footprint, Pura’s experience in sequencing, labelling, palletising and batching to deliver according to build sequence was invaluable. Butler continues: “With such tightly controlled arrival hours – with no option for trucks to park up and wait for their delivery slot – we needed to make sure our logistics operation was up to scratch. Ensuring the correct batches of formed cut-to-size panels arrived at just the right time, every time, was a tough challenge, but one that we met using our Birmingham and North London based hubs and the right type of transport.” The project was not completely over for Pura, even once the cladding was fixed, as the team provided the contractor with complete data sheets and instructions on the products used, cleaning kits and repair toolkits. “We don’t just walk away once the cladding is up,” says Butler. “We take project completion very seriously and want to provide the contractor and architect with the confidence that the vision for the building is fully delivered.” Pura Facades is part of the Vivalda Group plc and provides a fully made to order service to architects, specifiers and contractors, supplying natural cladding products from respected brands including Rieder, Faveton. Laudescher and Veta France.