The distinctive atrium at the entrance to the Women & Children’s Unit at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, Shropshire, features CREANOVApanel, the aesthetically versatile gypsum panel from Knauf – one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of lightweight building materials and systems.
“We chose the product because we wanted to continue the theme of the external feature cladding into the atrium and the CREANOVApanel system enables a laminate to be applied to the gypsum base,” explained John Allsop of Adeas Shrewsbury, the architects.
The feature cladding and CREANOVApanel internal lining, together with a projecting bay on the southern side of the new building, identifies the entrance to the new Women & Children’s centre so visitors then come into the heart of the building via a full height glazed facade.
CREANOVApanel’s fire resistant properties as well as its decorative function also recommended it for use in the two storey entrance, commented Mr Allsop: “The panelling also meets the Hospital Technical Memorandum as it is Class 0 for surface spread of flame.” Health Technical Memorandum 05-02 states that linings for circulation space must meet either the European Standard B-s3, d2 or the UK Class 0 standard for spread of flame.
Consisting of a gypsum fibre panel, CREANOVApanel finished surfaces can be a digital print, continuous pressure laminate (CPL) or high pressure laminate (HPL) coating, real wood veneer, lacquered or paint. Panels can be curved, perforated or micro-perforated to achieve any acoustic performance or supplies with a magnetic whiteboard surface. The panels have a high density and high impact resistance, making them particularly suitable for areas of high traffic.
The digital print boards can be supplied in either a uniform or standard finish while the HPL board is available in either a single colour or wood finish. The CPL boards are supplied in standard coatings of white/grey, silver/grey, anthracite and beech/maple while the boards featuring real wood veneer are available in maple, birch, beech, oak, ash and walnut. The lacquer boards are supplied in clear lacquer as standard but can be supplied in RAL and NCS colours on request, while all the boards in the range can be supplied in bespoke finishes as required for individual projects.
The lacquered and wood veneer boards can be bent to a radius of up to 300mm – a semi-circle - while the HPL and CPL boards can be supplied curved if required, enabling three dimensional shapes to be formed and so extend the interior design possibilities even further.
Ideal for interior walls and ceilings, Knauf CREANOVApanels are especially suited for applications subject to strict fire regulations. Formaldehyde-free, the panels are non-combustible and deliver outstanding fire resistance: under the EN1350 the panel was classified as A2 – s1, d0, meaning that it made no contribution to fire, produced no smoke or flaming droplets or particles.
Standard board sizes are 12, 16, 18 and 25mm thick and measure 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.2 and 0.6m long and 600mm wide. Other thicknesses and sizes are available on request.
CREANOVApanels panels can be used alongside other Knauf products, and will fall under the Knauf product and system warranties. In this project a number of Knauf products were installed, including Fire Panel, Impact Panel, Performance Plus for humid environments, and Knauf Sound Panel as well as standard plasterboard. Used in conjunction with Knauf proprietary products such as Knauf Joint Filler and MP Finish, these fire resistance of up to 90 minutes and sound insulation of up to 63dB Rw.