It’s great to see our stunning Rockpanel Premium external facade literally lighting up the newly imagined and totally revitalised Kings Mall shopping Centre in London’s bustling Hammersmith.
New owners have invested £170m to purchase and redevelop the landmark retail destination which looks to attract aspirational, urban shoppers with boutique outlets, designer eateries and newly launched brands alongside larger, well-known high street favourites.
Rediscovering and tranforming
The structure, which sits in a prominent position alongside the very busy Hammersmith intersection, has undergone several schemes of modernisation since its construction more than fifty years ago.
Architects Woods Hardwick called on its considerable knowledge in retail to rediscover and revitalise the original Richard Seifert designed brutalist structure, bringing a contemporary relevance to both its exterior and interior. Their plan in transforming King’s Mall to provide a more vibrant and inviting retail experience included new double-height shop frontages, together with various retail space refurbishments and a new food mall.
Around 500m2 of 11mm thick Premium A2 range was installed at Kings Mall along with 300m2of 9mm Premium for the soffits, all specified in warm, organic, Oleo colour, augmented with 50m2 of specialist StoVentec Glass in RAL 9005 black.
Premium offers true design freedom
The Rockpanel Premium segment represents the pinnacle of innovation in resilient external façade solutions, offering architects and specifiers complete freedom to push the boundaries of their creative design vision.
Rockpanel Business Manager, UK and Ireland, Ashley Wainwright, “Premium offers architects true design freedom. Its 11mm board, our thickest and most robust, is not only A2 classified and suitable for concealed fixing but, naturally, offers all the other advantages associated with Rockpanel.”
The project team
Award winning construction services company, H A Marks, were principle contractor for the project. Director Paul McCarthy enthused, “The Rockpanel team were always on hand to offer advice and support. They manufactured sample panels and supplied detailed installation guidance. The installation included the incorporation of LED lights between some panels. The process went smoothly and the scheme looks great, particularly at night where the lights accentuate the facade.”
Architects Woods Hardwick, “The interior of the mall’s identity has been determined by revealing and restoring the building’s concrete structural elements in the inner streets and central daylit atrium. We have also added complementing materials such as wood, steel and greenery to bring warmth, visual unity, highlighting the individual storefronts. A prominent portion of the façade has also been designed to draw interest…”
In collaboration with fixing system specialists, SFS, we developed a totally new hook and anchor system which could be applied to the 11mm thickness. Rob Shirville of Rockpanel, “Most of the preparation can be done off-site – assembling the anchors onto the panels for instance – whilst still allowing modifications or repairs to be made on-site whenever necessary. Another advantage with Premium is it’s supplied with our ProtectPlus coating, which ensures colour fastness and protects against graffiti and dirt.”
