A distinctive and contemporary identity has been created for the new Wakefield District Council Civic Building, which is a key part of the Wakefield Merchant Gate Masterplan, a major town centre regeneration project.

The Civic Building, which was designed by architects Cartwright Pickard, based in Leeds, features an innovative contemporary design to the building using anodised aluminium panels in a special Analok shade. This method was used in order to meet the architect’s aspirations for a seamless appearance of a single sheet of aluminium to the external facade of the building.

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Andrew May, Project Director at Cartwright Pickard, said: "The building materials on this project were carefully selected to provide a modern appearance, but that still made it a good neighbour to the surrounding historic buildings. The choice of anodised aluminium was due to its longevity, as it is renowned for maintaining its appearance for many years.

He continued: "It was important that the anodized panel had the appearance of a single sheet and created the crisp, sharp detail that has helped to give the building its own very distinctive identity. It has also added visual interest to the street scene in this location in the heart of Wakefield."

Panel Systems used its unique fabrication capabilities to create the challenging panel specification – of which over 400 panels were supplied – to complement the Terracotta tiles also used on the building’s façade.

Sheffield-based Panel Systems, which has over 35 years’ experience in working with a wide range of fabrication materials, supplied the 3mm thick anodised aluminium in a bronze shade that was fixed to the surface of the panel tray and incorporated Styrofoam XPS insulation to meet a U-value of 0.32 W/m2K.

(CD)