Oldham LIFT

Oldham LIFT

Carea as Architects

Leader in cladding systems, Carea, has helped to provide a striking façade to the £20million flagship Integrated Care Centre (ICC) in Oldham by providing its ever popular and highly attractive Acantha cladding panels.


Designed by Dane Ashworth Cottam Architects, the building has been created for Oldham PCT (Primary Care Trust) under the NHS LIFT (Local Improvement and Finance Trust) initiative. Established by the Department of Health in 2001, NHS LIFT is designed to stimulate investment in modern integrated primary and other community based services.


The building has been built by main contractor Carillion, experts in healthcare and one of the largest delivery partners for the NHS LIFT scheme. At 115 feet tall, the 10 storey building is a focal point on Oldham’s skyline. In keeping with this, it features Carea cladding in combination with other renders and textures to create a unique exterior fitting for such a prominent civic building.


As a public building, it was necessary that not only did the building exemplify the best in design, but that it offer low maintenance and was highly sustainable – to the extent of holding a BREEAM Excellent rating. Carea cladding offers high insulation performance, helping the building to reach the standard of thermal efficiency expected of it. Also, as the cladding panels – made from cutting edge composite developed over thirty years by Carea’s expert technicians – consist of around 95% minerals, they are a highly sustainable material and can be recycled at the end of their useful life.


Once installed, Carea’s high performance panels offer a range of benefits. Crucially for a healthcare building, they hold superb acoustic insulation. This ensures tranquillity within the Oldham centre.


Available in a range of sizes, colours and textures, Carea cladding offers superb economy to users. Easily and quickly installed, minimising labour costs, they are also especially low maintenance and can be easily cleaned. Due to their non-porous composition, they are highly resistant to the climate and graffiti.


Vertical cladding supports from Eurofox Engineering were specified to hold the cladding panels in place. Made from aluminium – enhancing sustainability – these supports were complemented by insulation, ensuring an effective hung ventilated façade.


Carea panels are supplied with their own specially designed horizontal rails to fit vertical supports such as those provided by Eurofox Engineering. With precisely routed grooves on the top and bottom of the panels, they fit exactly into the rails. This allows them to be easily fixed in place for a seamless and tightly fitting exterior.


Now complete, the centre provides a wide range of services including five GP practices, outpatient services, minor surgery, orthoptics, therapy facilities and children’s services. The first of four centres to be built, it has achieved its goal of creating civic presence whilst offering essential services to the community. With an outstanding façade courtesy of Carea, it will be a central feature of Oldham’s skyline for years to come.

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