Cambridge (UK), 2016
for
B.A.S.I.C. – Cambridge UK
approx. 310 m2 of façade
Façades construction design
with
FAST-EN
The British Antarctic Survey is a public institute committed to scientific research on antarctic environment, supported by University and funded by English Government. The B.A.S.I.C. headquarter, placed in Cambridge, was extended by a two storeys new building, containing a new reception, a new library and rooms for meetings and conferences.
The cladding solution was chosen looking to a geometry reminding the water-ice structure, where the H2O molecules organise themselves into an hexagonal frame. Therefore the cladding was designed in glass panels having an hexagonal base modulation, by hexagons inscribed into 90 cm x 90 cm squares, and all the external geometry of the building was submitted to the main hexagonal alignments: horizontal, vertical and sloping by 60°.
The Rainscreen panels are made of a double float tempered glass, 5 mm thick in the outside and 10 mm thick in the inside, silk-printed on the 2nd and 3rd facets, with white geometries on a grey background alternated with grey geometries on a white background. The panels are supported by hidden fasteners anchored on their backs.
The façade is 300 sqm wide and is made by 650 panels of about 70 different production shapes, that were all produced and installed according to our shop drawings.
