Rainscreen Surface Treatment Brings Market Opportunities For Ash & Lacy


Ash & Lacy has teamed up with Cambridge based surface treatment technology specialist Keronite to create a new finish for its Ashtech rainscreen cladding system which could open up significant market opportunities in areas that are subject to particularly harsh environmental conditions. Both companies have worked together on a project to clad a new HQ building on Solna Business Park, a development of mixed office, warehouse and light industrial units in a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden.

Keronite have developed a patented process known as Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO), which transforms the soft aluminium substrate surface into a hard ceramic coating with extreme resistance to corrosion, heat and wear. As the thin ceramic layer is atomically bonded to the aluminium, adhesion is not an issue and there is no peeling or chipping. The Keronite process helps both prolong building life and value and, as in the Solna Business Park application, lends itself to the addition of decorative topcoats such as paints and lacquers.

Ash & Lacy Sales & Marketing Director, Andrew Robertson, commented - "We are constantly looking at ways of developing the market for our Ashtech solid aluminium and ACM systems and this process offers tremendous potential. The decorative effects are themselves a real benefit but of particular interest is the application of the technology to areas subject to extreme climatic conditions and where environmental considerations are important." The Keronite process was successfully applied to Ashtech solid aluminium cassette panel systems to produce the striking architectural façade.

Ash & Lacy's Rainscreen Cladding System Is Also Available In A Range Of ACM (Aluminium Composite Material) Cassettes And Flat Panel Façade Options. The Three-Layer Laminate, Consisting Of Two Pre-Coated Aluminium Sheets Thermally Bonded To A Polythene Core, Provides Excellent Protection For A Building From Wind Borne Rain And Ultra Violet. With The Option Of Using The Keronite Process To Add A Tough Ceramic Layer, It Can Further Improve The System's Performance In, For Example, Buildings Located In Coastal Areas Subjected To Heavy Salt Spray.

With aluminium being the ultimate in sustainable materials and the environmental impact of buildings becoming an ever more important issue, the Keronite process has the added advantage of being an eco-friendly process, containing no toxic chemicals, unlike chrome-based coating systems.