Aviation · Leeds, West Yorkshire
Leeds Bradford
Airport
A six-colour rainscreen cassette facade with perforated feature panels, set out to a repeating pattern across a full elevation.
The facade
A Kingspan rainscreen cassette system across the principal elevation of a new airport structure, running six colours — three greys, white, navy and a lime accent — in a pseudo-random pattern, with perforated panels carrying a graduated dot motif set into the field.
Below the cassettes, a silver-grey composite panel band wraps the lower storey and returns around the elevation.
Set-out
A pattern that is meant to look random has to be built from a schedule that is anything but. Every cassette was numbered, every perforated panel had an orientation, and the carrier rail was surveyed and shimmed before a single tray went up.
The work was carried out from scissor lifts against a live construction site, in a sequence that let the elevation close from one end rather than filling in gaps at the finish.
Why it holds up
Rainscreen is a drained and back-ventilated system: the joints are open on purpose and the waterproofing sits behind. Get the membrane, the cavity barriers and the drainage path right and the visible skin can be as ambitious as the architect likes.
Leeds Bradford Airport.
Got something like this
coming up?
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