Trent Concrete clad Experian Data Centre wins Concrete Society Award
Fairham House, the showpiece Nottingham data centre for global information solutions company Experian, clad by Trent Concrete, was recently awarded a Concrete Society Award as Winner of the Buildings Category.
The judges commented that "the building is striking: indeed, its innovation is in the appearance," and added that "despite its obvious robustness, the building is unobtrusive and entirely in harmony with its surroundings."
The single-storey data centre was designed in three sections, each featuring its own distinctive type of cladding.
The Technical Area was predominantly clad with Trent's Hardwall(TM) insulated concrete sandwich panel system over an area of 1150 square metres, with an additional 100 square metres of matching single skin panels to clad an in-situ concrete upstand wall. These panels were cast in a sparkling white reconstructed stone, with both the inner and outer leaves of the Hardwall units featuring a superior trowelled finish. This substantial concrete façade was selected by Sheppard Robson to achieve a structurally (and visually) robust and secure design, as befits this mission-critical and highly resilient data centre. The Hardwall cladding was also specified to provide thermal mass to assist in stabilising the internal environment, with a U value of 0.35W/m2K.
The Command Bridge - the prominently positioned nerve centre of the development - was clad using 400 square metres of black reconstructed stone single-leaf panels. These floor-to-ceiling panels feature a grid effect on the front face, and are curved in two planes, helping contribute to the "wow" factor for staff and visitors when the Command Bridge is approached from the reception area. The design and creation of the moulds for these units was highly challenging, and Trent believes these to be the most complex cladding panels it has ever produced.
Finally a 7.5m high 158m long feature wall was clad in a similar sparkling black reconstructed stone, with slender panels in a combination of shallow and deeper acid-etched finishes. The 370 panels have staggered joints which form window openings. This very original design was inspired by the analogy to digital data storage cards.
Experian is a global leader in providing information solutions to organisations and consumers. It helps organisations find, develop and manage profitable customer relationships by providing information, decision-making solutions and processing services. Experian works with more than 40,000 clients across diverse industries, including financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, insurance, retail and catalogue, automotive, manufacturing, leisure, utilities, property, e-commerce and government. Its 13,000 people support clients in more than 60 countries.
Client: Experian
Client's Representative: Concept Project Management
Architect: Sheppard Robson Corgan
Contractor: Bowmer and Kirkland
Engineer: The BWB Partnership Ltd.
Photographer: Richard Leeney
Notes
Trent Concrete is a specialist precast concrete contractor, producing high quality bespoke architectural cladding and structures.
Providing a complete solution from detailed design development through skills-based manufacture to on-site erection, Trent Concrete partners with leading developers and specifiers to ensure that their projects gain maximum benefit from prefabrication.
Trent Concrete's precast solutions make a major contribution to improved quality, certainty, sustainability, safety and efficiency in the UK construction industry today.
The company has worked on some of the most prestigious projects of recent years, including The Scottish Office and the Toyota GB Plc and Thames Water headquarters buildings, and the quality of its work is consistently recognised in the form of industry awards. Trent Concrete was founded in 1917 and employs more than 160 people.
Editorial contact: David Walker
Tel: 0115 987 9747
Email: lmason@trentconcrete.co.uk
Trent Concrete Limited - e-mail: quality@trentconcrete.co.uk