Shackerley’s SureClad elevates Royal Holloway Library Building

Shackerley’s SureClad ceramic granite ventilated façade system has been used to create the optical illusion of an ‘elevated’ building at Royal Holloway, University of London’s new Library and Student Services Centre, The Emily Wilding Davison Building.

Designed by Associated Architects, who have previously specified the SureClad system for the University of Birmingham’s £44 million library, the new £42 million Emily Wilding Davison Building has been named after the prominent suffragette and Royal Holloway alumna and provides panoramic views of the Grade I listed Founder’s Building.

The BREEAM Excellent and EPC A-rated building features the SureClad system at ground floor level in a textured charcoal grey ‘Rio Black Strutt’ ceramic granite.

Combined with glazing, this darker, recessed ground floor creates the impression that the building is open at ground floor level, providing contrast with the lighter upper storeys, which appear to be ‘lifted’ off the ground.

In addition to making a pivotal aesthetic contribution to the strong design concept of the building’s feature wing being ‘elevated’, Shackerley’s SureClad ceramic granite was also selected as a robust and durable material with longevity of performance and appearance in an area of high pedestrian traffic.

Shackerley’s large format ceramic granite panels were specified as part of a Kingspan BENCHMARK Karrier Panel system. This innovative external envelope solution brings together Kingspan’s high performance structural insulating panels with the premium appearance and longevity of Shackerley’s fully-prefabricated ceramic granite cladding and the installation benefits of its SureClad Access System.

The flexibility of the Queen’s Award Winning SureClad Access installation system also enabled discreet integration of the fixing interfaces within the façade, creating a seamless base.

Comments Joe Belcher from Associated Architects: “The SureClad ceramic granite panels supplied by Shackerley continue the theme of traditional materials being used in a contemporary way at The Emily Wilding Davison Building and provide a tonal match with the glazing and spandrel glass at floor zones, along with a pleasing contrast with the sandstone groundscape paving.

“The riven texture and panellised layout of the SureClad® façade elements also create increasing visual interest on approaching the building, becoming more apparent at closer range to provide different levels of engagement based on proximity.”

Shackerley prefabricated installation-ready 1196 x 596mm panels for the ground floor elevations and worked closely with façade engineering specialist, Fassaden + Architektur + Technik (FAT), to meet the requirements of the complex detailing and interface requirements.

Martin Severa from FAT adds: “The Emily Wilding Davison Building was an extremely complex technical design and assembly due to the intricacies of the detailing, and delivery of the scheme relied on the full engagement of façade suppliers and precision fabrication of every element.

“Shackerley was very responsive to these requirements and, thanks to the company’s in-house specialised production plant and technical expertise, we were able to install all the SureClad bespoke detailing without a hitch.”

The Emily Wilding Davison Building is now open to students, providing a 10,000m2 expansion of the University’s library services, along with a student services centre, employability services and exhibition spaces.