Sandwich panel walls with aluminium foam facade
Even though sandwich panels provide a long-lasting, airtight and energy efficient envelope for all building types, they are widely avoided due to their bold and limited aesthetic appearance. Our predominant goal has been to develop a foam façade panel that provides a solution for implementing a new aesthetic that can be used as an outside cladding installed on top of the sandwich panel layer. Consequently, opening new possibilities of using the composite panels for buildings of several different functions, other than just on bare industrial buildings. Furthermore, this method of constructing significantly improves the ventilation, and therefore energy efficiency of the overall building due to the airgaps between the layers enhancing the circulation of air.
In our manufacturing manifesto we were keen to develop a product that enhances and unites the benefits of both the existing sandwich panel envelop and proposed aluminium foam cladding combination. These benefits include fast and affordable manufacturing and exceptional insulation qualities using a considerably thin and space efficient application. In a joint effort with Kingspan we were commissioned to develop an outer cladding of foam aluminium panels for the DVTK Mixed use sports building, to create a façade aesthetic dominated by aluminium. Aluinvent façade on insulated panel has proven to be nationwide one of the only solutions that can be applied with Kingspan without any limitations or restrictions!
Recyclable, ventilated, air permeable façade on insulated sandwich panel
The aluminium foam panels are specifically developed to be fixable to sandwich panel surfaces using a mechanically engineered console-railing system. On demand, the profile was further adjusted to the dimensions of the sandwich panels with screws in the right places enabling structural support for the aluminium foam facade on DVTK Multi Use Sports Building. Taking the minimum maintenance requirements into account, the aluminium foam facade panels were also fixed with screws. This created further assurance for a 100% recyclability and reusability at the end of the building’s lifecycle.
Integrated shade structures
The air ventilation openings in between the fixed aluminium profiles and the sandwich panel enable natural ventilation and cooling, and therefore act as a brilliant protection from the heating effect of the sun. On hot sunny days, the aluminium facade is a barrier for the heat entering through the walls beneath. This can mean up to 20°C less heat absorption compared to the sandwich panels without aluminium foam cladding, and the possibility to reduce the requirement for insulating capability by 50%, therefore resulting in significantly more energy efficiency in the
thermodynamics of the building whilst using energy in smarter ways. Aluminium curtain walling was created by the two-side-open aluminium foam façade version which acted as integrated shading surfaces, blending in softly with the rest of the evenly laid out cladding façade.
