Project Description

Regenerating a musical landmark

The Assembly Buildings in Hayes, West London, is a development of contemporary apartments that forms part of the regeneration of the Old Vinyl Factory, home of EMI and where records for artists such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were pressed.

In addition to three blocks of residential accommodation, the redevelopment of this iconic site includes office buildings, restaurants, shops, and a cinema.

First impressions count

As the lead sub-contractor in our first project for main contractor Weston Homes, our scope was to install aluminium rainscreen cladding to the three concrete-framed blocks, and perforated steel profiles to the ground floors.

Matt Green, Project Manager at Eden Facades comments: ““We engaged Spanwall to work with us on the bespoke aluminium panels, which would be invisibly fixed to the support system behind. Our in-house design team worked closely with the team at Spanwall to develop the bespoke solution, which was powder coated to meet the specification for the apartments.”

Commenting on how he has found working with us, Liam Fennessy, Project Manager at Weston Homes said: “It’s the first time I’ve worked with Eden Facades, and I have no complaints at all. They’re a good team – Matt (Green) and the guys on site are great, we understand each other.

“Of course, as with any project, there have been challenges, but Eden have been able to help us work through them, and as the project has progressed, we’ve found them to be a very reliable partner. They’ve really helped to keep things running smoothly.”

Working with suppliers you can trust

Having spent over a decade building a reputation for quality and reliability, we know how important it is to work with suppliers that share our attention to detail and our drive to do a good job.

Spanwall, based in Belfast, are well-known for consistently delivering innovative products and a quality service, and it was a pleasure to work together on this project. Philip West, Sales Director at Spanwall comments: “We tailored our standard (Rear Fix 50mm) RF50 rainscreen panel and facilitated the installation detail to accommodate the site requirement.

“It was quite a challenge for both our design and manufacturing teams to come to a conclusion on the best way to move forward with the panel; but we’ve found the process of working with Eden excellent and we’re looking forward to working with them again on future projects.”

We have worked with Valcan on many previous projects, and for this high-profile project they supplied the flat aluminium panels for the parapet walls. A lightweight option, aluminium provides a versatile design choice in addition to being durable and low maintenance.

Chris Kennedy, Marketing Manager at Valcan explains what his team values about working with us: “Communication from Eden is always excellent, and we were always kept up to date with what was happening on this project.

“We have a fantastic relationship with Eden, and we always enjoy working with them. The projects that we work on together are always brilliant, and we’re very proud of that.”

Another supplier we have worked with many times, and who worked alongside us on this project was FC Architectural, who supplied the 2mm/3mm aluminium pressed profiles in mill finished and powder coated versions. Tharinda Rathnapala, Commercial Director at FC Architectural said: “We’re always happy to be able to work with Eden; there was a tight turnaround for the large batch of items we provided, and we were glad to be of assistance.”

Delivering the final stage of the project

With many of the apartments in the first two blocks now occupied, we are proud to have delivered a first-class project. Our team are currently back on site with work on the final block well underway.

Liam concludes: “It’s been a mammoth task, with a lot of work required in a short space of time, but Eden have pulled it out of the bag and completed the job with no problems. I would have absolutely no hesitation in working with them again.”

To find out more about how we work with main contractors like Weston Homes, or to discuss a future specific aluminium cladding project with us, contact us on 01268 744199, or email office@edenfacades.co.uk.