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STUDY |
Westfield
London, White City |
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“Rocksilk RainScreen Slab is a very popular
product within our Rocksilk range for external wall insulation
applications. It provides great thermal performance, sound
reduction capabilities and it is a non-combustible, fire-safe
product - all important considerations on urban developments.
Contractors also enjoy working with the product as it’s easy to
install and is designed to adapt to a buildings minor
imperfections. It is easy to fit around the cladding support
brackets and there’s no need to tape the insulation joints making
installation easier.”
Stephen Hull
Project Specification Manager, Knauf Insulation
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PRODUCTS USED |
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Rocksilk
RainScreen Slab |
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PROJECT |
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Westfield London - White City, London |
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CLIENT |
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Westfield Group |
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SUB-CONTRACTOR |
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Stoneguard |
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KNAUF INSULATION MANAGER |
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Stephen
Hull |
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CHALLENGE
Westfield, the world’s largest listed retail property company,
is set to change the face of retail in the United Kingdom with the
opening of its new flagship development – “Westfield London” – at
White City, London.
Beneath a spectacular, undulating glass roof, the £1.6 billion
Westfield London destination combines over 150,000m2 of
retail, restaurants, cafes, bars and leisure facilities to create
the ultimate shopping and leisure destination.
Westfield London will act as a catalyst for the redevelopment
and regeneration of the wider White City area with a further
£1billion investment expected in the immediate vicinity over the
next 10 years.
SOLUTION
Knauf Insulation supplied Rocksilk RainScreen Slab as part of the
rainscreen cladding system to the external stone clad façades of
the development and internal stone clad stairwell and elevator
areas. The specification of Rocksilk RainScreen Slab provided both
performance and installation benefits to both client and specialist
installing contractor.
Rock mineral wool has a Euroclass A1 fire classification to BS
EN ISO 13501- 1, the highest classification available. With
rainscreen cladding incorporated into building design fire
performance is particularly important and, as such, a
non-combustible component such as rock mineral wool provides the
ideal prevention against the spread of fire. The non combustible
nature of rock mineral wool ensures that it will not burn, will not
give off toxic smoke and will not suddenly ignite in a fire due to
‘flashover’.
Another key specification element related to the speed and ease
of installation. The required thermal performance of the building
was dependent on the correct installation of the specified
insulation product. Rocksilk RainScreen Slabs are easy to install
down to their superior workability ensuring installation stayed
within the tight time constraints. Rocksilk RainScreen
Slab is treated with a water repellent additive to ensure
the building structure is protected against rain penetration and it
can also be installed with either face adjacent to the sub
structure.
Rocksilk
RainScreen Slab provides an additional benefit for the
installing contractor as it is designed to adapt to minor
imperfections in the building’s substructure. The rock mineral wool
product ‘knits’ together, ensuring intimate contact between slabs
ensuring all joints are closed and thermal efficiency is
maximised.
Rocksilk
RainScreen Slab has excellent acoustic properties, which
contributed towards the acoustic performance of the structure in
order to comply with both sound insulation and sound absorption
requirements.
What’s more, individual packs of Rocksilk RainScreen
Slabs are compression packed together in Knauf Insulation’s
innovative packaging method, Supakube. The advanced compression
technology and strong packaging materials ensure the product is
easy to transport and store, reducing environmental impact and
causing minimal disruption on site and the surrounding area.