Project Description
Combining contemporary architecture with traditional craftsmanship, West End Gate
Designed by award-winning architects Scott Brownrigg, West End Gate is a collection of homes set close to the upmarket neighbourhood of Marylebone in central London.
Comprised of apartments and penthouses, this prestigious development aims to reflect the surrounding period buildings by combining the essence of elegant Georgian architecture with contemporary homes designed for the 21st Century.
The open-plan apartments have been thoughtfully designed, set around private landscaped gardens and offering a high-end experience for the more discerning buyer, with residents benefiting from amenities such as a concierge service, private cinema room, pool and spa.
With the whole development taking place over several years and each phase in different stages of completion, we were brought in by main contractor Berkeley Homes Central London, to work on Block C of the project.
Our scope of works for these chic homes included installing rainscreen cladding in both patterned and plain panels, metal railings and balustrades to balconies and a rooftop plant screen louvre.
The patterned hook-on cassette rainscreen cladding was supplied by Proteus Facades, a leading designer and manufacturer of rainscreen cladding systems. Using solid aluminium panels, the challenge here was creating the diamond pattern to replicate shingles, whilst maintaining the strength in the panels.
For the balconies, the client had specified textured Polyester Powder Coated (PPC) panels, wall linings and ceiling linings. We procured these from FC Architectural, who also provided the cills and profiles that interface with the cladding and the projecting entrance canopies.
PPC is a cost-effective alternative to conventional liquid paint, applied to architectural finishes via an electrical charge, then left under heat to form a protective ‘skin’. This treatment results in a durable finish, much tougher than conventional paint, and one which retains its colour even under prolonged outdoor exposure. PPC products can be customised in a broad range of colours and, with the colouring process considered to be more energy efficient than other colouring techniques, make an excellent, environmentally-friendly choice.
All the building’s balconies, in addition to any floors where edge protection was needed, had decorative metal balustrades installed. The fire performance of materials used on site is always one of the most important considerations for the specifier and, in this case, the architects replaced the glass balustrades from the original design with metal ones, meeting the A1 fire rating classification. This change involved some quick work from us and our external designers in order to redesign the space where the glass had been and use metal in its place.
In a further change from the original plans, the inset balconies were going to be a rendered finish on a render board, this was changed by the architect to metal, which again presented us with the challenge of a quick redesign and fabrication. The solution we presented was a simple hook-on panel which met the client’s needs.
Screening louvres procured from Kingfisher Louvres were used on the rooftop area to provide visual screening for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. The installation of louvres allows the necessary airflow around machinery on the rooftop, whilst also providing an aesthetically pleasing finish and forming an architectural feature of the building.
Working on a major project like this often means working alongside the preceding trades to meet the client’s deadline. As with every large-scale development, there is a potential for delays to occur over the course of the project which have a knock-on impact for trades accessing the site. In this case, it was necessary for our team to demonstrate their ability to be flexible and work around the challenge of delays affecting the commencement of work.
Berkeley Homes Central London were pleased with the finished result for Garrett Mansions, with work soon beginning on the next phase. Tony Hill, Managing Director for Eden Facades, comments “Designs for the next phases are in the process of being finalised, which we are proud to be part of and very much look forward to getting back on site.”
John McGrath, Senior Site Manager for Berkeley Homes Central London, said “This is a high-profile development, so it was vital that we worked with a team we could trust to deliver an outstanding quality of finish. We’re looking forward to working with Eden Facades again on the upcoming adjacent phases of this project and know the work they deliver will be first-class.”