The aluminium cladding system has been designed to minimise water ingress for residential high rise or municipal projects
Vivalda Group, a UK distributor of rainscreen facades, has expanded its product range to include MetSkin, a solid aluminium cladding system.
Supplied as a whole tested and warranted system, including fixings, rails and ancillary products such as membranes and insulation as required, MetSkin is UK designed and manufactured within the group by MSP Facade Solutions.
The team’s goal is to be a one-stop shop for facade contractors, which has led to a big push on product development. MetSkin is a result of a two-year design process which responded to the market trend of cladding remediation, a need for fully tested systems and an increase in the team’s specification work post-Grenfell.
The group also shared that there has been a customer demand for aluminium, which was missing from their portfolio.
The entire production process is completed in-house, which is helped by a high retention of skilled workers, with a number of the team having been with the company for several decades.
Available in Interlocking Plank (2mm thickness), Hook-on Cassette (3mm thickness) or Tray Panel (3mm thickness) Systems, MetSkin is fabricated using non-flammable, solid aluminium sheet.
Once formed, it is powder coated to Qualicoat standard, which is a quality label organisation focused on maintaining the quality of powder coating on aluminium and its alloys for architectural applications. This chrome-free, environmentally friendly process is undertaken by sister company Prism Powder Coating, which has also gained Akzo Nobel approved applicator status.
Available in more than 740 RAL colours, the cladding system can also be supplied in an A1 anodised finish or A1 PVDF pre-coated aluminium, providing architects and specifiers with additional creative possibilities.
MetSkin is fully tested to CWCT standards at an accredited testing centre, which includes:
- Wind resistance — the panels are tested under increasing pressure using a vacuum pushing them against and away from the substructure they are fixed to, before being tested for safety and security.
- Watertightness — a mock-up system is continuously sprayed with water in several directions, simulating wind force and driven by a powerful jet engine. Sealed and open-jointed systems are then inspected and tested for their water resistance.
- Impact resistance — the structural performance of the wall is put through its paces with a series of tests including both a hard (solid steel ball) and soft (50kg leather bag of glass beads) body being swung at the wall.
Andy Thomas, trading director at Vivalda Group, said: “MetSkin represents an important step for us, adding the manufacture of a fully tested system to our established business as the UK’s biggest cladding distributor.
“We see a significant market for this product in the UK, on both new build and retrofit developments. We have worked hard during the two-year development phase to create a complete solution for architects and specifiers – matching existing colours or helping them bring to life their latest vision.
“We’ve designed MetSkin with creativity in mind, which allows the use of various substructure configurations, without compromising on the safety or aesthetics of the facade. We’ve also not forgotten about contractors and made our system easy to order and easy to install.”
MetSkin is now available and is being distributed through the Vivalda Group, which includes Vivalda, BBS Facades and Pura Facades.
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