SPSenvirowall’s Dynamic Cladding, one of the world’s highest safety rated cladding products has been used for the first phase of London’s Waterloo train station £800m development project.

The A1 non-combustible fire and blast rated glass cladding from Dynamic Cladding, available in the UK for the first time thanks to a new partnership with one of the leading suppliers of external wall insulation, decorative renders and external rainscreen cladding, SPSenvirowall, was chosen for public areas and stairwells in the station to provide the greatest levels of security and protection for the future.

DynaPanel Glass System

The DynaPanel Glass System, which has been used as part of stage one of the refurbishment and improvements at Waterloo, provides the highest rating of fire and blast protection of any UK product of its kind, having undergone rigorous specialist testing to guarantee its suitability for the project.    

As well as a bespoke blast test, the testing required included oversized panels as well as cut outs within test panels. DynaPanel Glass was the first product to successfully pass this kind of extensive testing in the UK.

The refurbishment and improvements at Waterloo are the biggest seen in the historic train station since the 1930s. Stage one included improvements to platform 1-4 which allows trains of increased length to use the platforms, and the rebuild of the former Waterloo International Terminal to allow platforms 20–24 to be brought back into use with modern facilities, such as a new track, signalling and a spacious concourse area.

Gavin Ross said, “SPSenvirowall are proud to have taken little steps along the path of such an Iconic building based in our capital city, the challenges to implement not only design criteria but to operate with-in an environment that essentially is bustling twenty-four hours a day is critical, time management and organisation are key”.

“Projects come with many challenges but none like those found within the infrastructure sector, the site is live coupled with the fact it is one of the main arterial routes into and out of London enhances those challenges”.

“Modern design criteria has changed in such a fashion since the original concept of the station, forging new materials and design methods into an older building like this is extremely difficult, old meets new, an ever-increasing terrorism threat where incendiary devices and fire play a significant part in leading design must be overcome”.

“The benefits of using Dynamic Cladding panels from SPSenvirowall are varied, from installation to aesthetics, so areas such as loadings, weights, speed of installation from the manufacturing process to the man on site installing each panel, the criteria to resist terrorism we can offer blast rated materials or special coatings a Nano technology coating, providing an easy clean, antimicrobial surface that maintains an 'as-new,' certified EN13501 non-combustibility to ETA approval, including many other accreditations”.

“The installing contractors are key to the success of our systems, we pride ourselves on having in-depth relationships throughout the chain of supply, working closely from concept to delivery, and we are involved at every stage as demonstrated with Wessex alliance, Aecom and Skanska”.

Gavin Ross, Technical specification manager at SPSenvirowall added “Waterloo station has set the standard for our materials and installation, an expectation of quality”.

Daniel Thompson, Development Manager at Dynamic Cladding, said: “Today’s designers and engineers are faced with a whole new level of safety and security considerations. Our partnership with SPSenvirowall has meant that we can now supply our cladding products to the UK market, providing opportunities for greater levels of specification to high profile projects like this”.

“Our glass system is ETA approved, which meets and goes beyond BBA requirements, providing confidence to designers working on challenging projects like this one”.

“Waterloo Station is a very old, historic building and so careful consideration needed to be made at every stage of planning and design, especially as there is limited knowledge of its original construction. It also has the added challenge of still being operational during the work, making access more difficult, as well as very tight deadlines to contend with products needed on site within just four weeks, which we delivered on.”

The DynaPanel Glass System used in the station features a matt, non-reflective finish which included a nano technology coating, providing an easy clean, antimicrobial surface that maintains an 'as-new,' sparkling appearance for longer.

The cladding is known for being lightweight and durable as well as being scratch resistant.

Daniel Thompson added: “As well as being extremely functional and practical for projects such as railway stations, airports, hospitals or shopping centres, the product also offers fantastic design flexibility with a wide range of colours and finishes and a genuine aesthetic appeal so that designers can get the best of both worlds, delivering beautiful projects with the highest safety features.

“The team on this project are some of the very best in their field so it was a pleasure working with them providing the products, as well as technical advice and support, to bring the vision for the refurbished station to life.”

Collaboration

Wessex Capacity Alliance was awarded the contract to design and construct the Waterloo and South West upgrade of the South West Trains network in the South of England. Global design firm AECOM was appointed as the project architects, with Skanska as the main contractor and Mott MacDonald as its structural engineer. Windell was the contract manager for the refurbishment with Rollecate appointed as panel installer using Dynamic Cladding products via leading external wall insulation and rendering supplier SPSenvirowall.