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Anglia Polytechnic University

At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a fairly normal cladding job. Alas no, well actually Yippee no (because we at Rapide Technical Services are crazy enough to enjoy this sort of challenge).

Imagine a cylinder of ø150m that you tilt at 5° and then ram into the ground. (Draw the ellipse on a piece of paper.) Take another tilted 5° in the opposite direction such that it overlaps the first by say 30m. Now take 2 more cylinders ø125m tilted at 10° and ram them in similarly opposite each other at 90° to the first two. The shape described by the intersection of the 4 cylinders is the shape of the building. The roof curves at a radius of 250m, from a point 230m below ground and 50m to the right, front to back and at a radius of 80m, from a point 60m below the ground, left to right.

The capping makes for interesting compound curves - try it! Then add a requirement for all the cladding joints to be truly horizontal, bring in adjacent walls & structure, curtain walling at various angles and then allow the facade to proceed below the adjacent roof to become an internal wall cladding. Not quite what you read when you first look at the photo is it?

For the final twist, this wasn't modelled in 3D CAD. RTS Design produced the building shape and all of the components (including flattening the panels to get the profiles needed to produce truly horizontal joints) using 2D CAD and some good old fashioned trigonometry.

Next time - if you have something like this for us to develop for you - we'll use 3D Modelling - we've learnt our lesson.

Fitzroy Place

Fitzroy Place

Bespoke Cladding
Soffits
Design Drawings
Fabrication Drawings

Talbot Gateway

Talbot Gateway

Structural Glazing
Curtain Walling
Site Set-out

Stratford City M6

Stratford M6

Brass Shingles
Picture Frame
Soffit
Secondary Steel

Stratford City M1

Stratford M1

Complete Envelope Design
Curtain Wall
Bespoke Shuffle Glazing
Rainscreen Cladding.

Jaguar Land Rover Executive Office

JLR Office

Survey, Design, Set Out,
Procurement & Installation
Bespoke Rainscreen
Curtain Walling

Birmingham New Street Station Mock Up Pic

New St. Station

Birmingham
Design Development
3D Modelling
Innovative Thinking

Dormer Place

Dormer Place

Design and Installation
Bespoke Rainscreen
Pressed Metal
Curtain Walling

Kenrick Park, West Brom Pic

Kenrick Park

Survey & Analysis
Design & Fabrication Drawings
Trespa Rainscreen

Daventry Hospital Pic

Daventry Hospital

Design Drawings
Fabrication Drawings
Terracotta Rainscreen Cladding.

St Pancras Station

St Pancras

Design Drawings
Fabrication Drawings
Curtain Walling
Canopies

Emirates Stadium

Emirates Stadium

Design Drawings
Fabrication Drawings
Highlevel Glazing

Anglia Polytechnic University Pic

APU

Design Drawings
Fabrication Drawings
Complex Cladding
Rainscreen Cladding

Leeds Central

Leeds Central

Design Drawings
Fabrication Drawings
Terracotta Cladding
Aluminium Rainscreen

Birmingham Bull Ring Shopping Centre

Bull Ring

Design & Fabrication Drawings
Internal & External Aluminium Cladding.

Young Vic Pic

Young Vic Theatre

Design & Fabrication Drawings
Perforated Alum Planks
Award Winning Building.

Keely Road Pic

Keely Road

Design & Fabrication Drawing
Rainscreen Cladding

Arts Centre Rainscreen Cladding

Arts Centre

Rainscreen Cladding
Design Drawings
Fabrication Drawings

Lothbury

Lothbury

Survey
Design
Curtain Walling

North Point

North Point

Survey
Design & Fabrication Drawings
Rainscreen Cladding

Hyde Park Flats Pic

Hyde Park Flats

Survey and Analysis
Setting Out
Curtain Walling

Harvist Estate Pic

Harvist Estate

Survey
Installation

Saab Showroom Cardiff

Saab Cardiff

Survey
Design
Supply
Install