Project: Redevelopment of City School, Sheffield
Product: Steni Colour (3,000m2)
Architect: HLM
Contractor: NG Developments for VINCI Construction UK

A major Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project in Sheffield, the redevelopment of City School involved both new build and refurbishment of existing buildings, with Steni providing the colourful façade.

City School in Sheffield was to be substantially redeveloped as part of Sheffield’s Building Schools for the Future programme, with new dining hall, main hall, learning resource centre and classrooms alongside refurbished buildings stripped back to their original steel structures and given new stone cladding and new envelopes. The finished project had to incorporate a smart new look that would inspire the community as a whole.

Architects HLM were given the task of designing the project, and involved students in key factors of the planning process such as design, sustainability, landscape and technology. For the façade and main entrance soffit they chose lightweight Steni Colour panels in a total of eight shades, installed in long horizontal and vertical bands to give the school its distinctive appearance.

Phase 1 of the £22 million project was the new build halls and classrooms, while Phase 2 was the part refurbishment of existing buildings, both eventually covered by some 3,000 m² of Steni rainscreen cladding in a range of colours from light yellow to dark grey. Steni was chosen not just for its range of colours, but also for its durability with a 40-year warranty as standard.

Sub-contractor NG Developments structurally bonded the panels to the carrier system – a task carried out under specific weather conditions and within tight temperature and moisture levels. The sheer variety of panel sizes and colours proved challenging, and NG won VINCI’s Contractor of the Month Safety Award twice as the technically challenging installation also carried a high risk element, particularly working at height.