Visually authentic, non-combustible Rockpanel Woods external facades bring elegant, organic appeal and superior performance to these modern riverside dwellings.  

Riverside Heights is a collection of contemporary six and seven storey apartment buildings in a Norwich riverside setting. Timber cladding on several flanks of these structures needed to be replaced with fire-safe facades which had to match those being removed as closely as possible. Rockpanel were able to fulfil the brief using five super-realistic surface designs from its Woods Collection.

More than fulfilling the brief 

KDD Construction were responsible for the installation of round 2500sqm of randomised planks in a mixture of six authentic wood designs; Slate Oak, Ceramic Oak, Carbon Oak, Merbau Oak, Oak and Ebony Agate. The firms Operations Director Ted Walker, “On this project, we were appointed as Principal Contractor after providing a significantly cheaper price than our competition due in part to our great relationship with Rockpanel and knowledge of the system. With an mixture of 6 different woods on the project all in a specific arranged pattern, this was not a simple project. The installation went smoother than we had anticipated, and we managed to complete the whole project delivery within 36 weeks. The finished facade look great.” 

In line with current regulations, Riverside Heights owners, Taylor Wimpey, required the new cladding to meet or exceed EN13501 Class A2-s1,d0 to ensure the highest standards were met in terms of protecting the buildings’ occupants from the spread of fire. The replacement panels are classified as non-combustible according to national building regulations, demonstrating hardly any smoke development and generating no burning droplet formation.  

Rockpanel Area Manager Darren Gormer said of the project, “Our Woods Collection really paid off in terms of being able to match the removed cladding whilst ensuring the completed facades will look fabulous and fire-safe. In addition these lightweight panels are also easy to cut on site for intricate detail fitting, which saves time and money.” 

Organic warmth together with rock-solid performance  

The 9mm thick A2 Rockpanel Woods panels used at Riverside Heights deliver the organic warmth of varying wood grain thought only possible with natural wood, but with all the advantages of stone. All Rockpanel ranges are made from a core of stone wool, a non-combustible, naturally occurring volcanic rock.  

Stone wool gives Rockpanel facades superior durability and fire resilience and makes them virtually maintenance-free and insensitive to moisture and temperature changes, so they stay looking as good as the day they were installed throughout their long life. And when they are eventually replaced Rockpanel can upcycle them, in the UK, into new stone wool products with no loss of quality.  

An inspirational range  

The breadth of surface finishes offered by Rockpanel is truly impressive. In addition to Natural Woods and virtually limitless bespoke colour match possibilities, it encompasses Metals, Stones, Brilliants and Chameleon – a unique range incorporating a special surface to achieve multi-tonal hues that transform as light falls on it from different angles. Panels can also be routed, drilled and perforated to achieve truly unique results. Rockpanel enables specifiers to realise their most creative ambitions safe in the knowledge that reality of those intentions will satisfy most stringent fire safety standards.