Vivalda Group, the national distributor of rainscreen facades, has marked a significant milestone with the introduction of its first cladding system, MetSkin.
Developed and manufactured by MSP Facade Solutions, a Vivalda Group company with over 30 years of expertise in high-performance cladding production, the metal facade system MetSkin has been launched with the aim of giving architects diverse options for residential high-rise and municipal projects.
Architects’ Datafile (ADF) was among a handful of construction media invited to a factory tour in Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, where the company revealed the manufacturing and powder coating processes behind the new facade system.
Vivalda’s CEO, Andy McEwan, shared the company’s goals including becoming a market-leading distributor in the UK and Ireland’s facade market. McEwan emphasised the importance of innovation and being a comprehensive solution provider for customers.
The company aspires to be a “one-stop shop” for its customers in order to gain market share, and MetSkin is key to this vision, presenting an opportunity for customers including facade contractors, to obtain everything they need for a facade in one system.
The guests witnessed how the metal sheets were folded, as well as the meticulous coating process at Prism Powder Coating, a sister company with Akzo Nobel approved applicator status. The chrome-free process achieves the Qualicoat standard.
The MetSkin cladding system, launching later this year, will be available in Interlocking Plank (2 mm thickness), Hook-on Cassette (3 mm thickness), or Tray Panel (3 mm thickness) Systems. Made from solid aluminium, it comes either in an A1 anodised finish or A1 PVDF pre-coated aluminium in 740 RAL colours.
Vivalda Group subjected the new cladding to “rigorous testing,” meeting CWCT standards. The cladding system is exclusively distributed through the Vivalda Group, which comprises Vivalda, BBS Facades, and Pura Facades.
Andy Thomas, trading director at Vivalda Group, commented at the Cumbernauld event: “We’ve designed MetSkin with creativity in mind, which allows the use of various substructure configurations, without compromising on the safety or aesthetics of the facade. We’ve also not forgotten about contractors, and made our system easy to order and easy to install.”
Written by Tom Boddy.