Striking solution

Proteus Facades has helped create a striking new feature on The University of Northampton’s Riverside Campus in the form of a 26-metre flue shaft on its new £6.9m biomass plant, completed with Proteus cladding panels and an integrated LED screen by digiLED. The screen itself provides the university with a useful information bulletin that showcases courses and events as well as being an advertising medium, both of which have the potential to generate a useful secondary income stream.

This was a challenging project for MCW architects because the designers had to work around the constraints imposed by the requirement for a large ‘box’ like structure to house a 1MW biomass boiler, four 4MW gas boilers and a 120m³ thermal store.

Proteus HR solid metal skin with honeycomb core was used around the thermal envelope of the building combined with polycarbonate cladding in a striking internally lit vertical ‘saw-tooth’ arrangement. The lightweight, exceptional flatness, strength and rigidity of Proteus HR panels allowed the architects to develop a large modular cassette system (2500x1000mm), which was replicated around the building providing uniformity across different façade elements.