Colorcoat Building Awards - View - Brief Article

Architectural Review, The, August, 2002

From its origins as a cheap and functional building material, steel cladding has, over the years, gradually become known for its aesthetic potential. Now in their 12th year, the recent Colorcoat Building Awards seek to recognize this by making a national series of awards for innovative use of the metal cladding. The programme is sponsored by Corus, manufacturers of Colorcoat steel cladding and this year's judges were Rab Bennetts, Paul Monaghan (of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris), structural engineer Hanif Kara, Phil Jones from the Welsh School of Architecture and EMAP Construct Group Editorial Director Paul Finch.

Five category winners were selected from more than 100 schemes submitted, all featuring paint-coated steel in the building envelope. Overall winner was David Morley Architects and Bryant Priest Newman for the Warwickshire County Cricket Club Indoor Cricket Centre in Edgbaston. The innovative Colorcoat roof oversailing both the playing area and the pavilion is cleverly engineered to let in diffused natural light, with an inner lining of white-coated steel to maximize internal reflectivity. Large horizontally folding doors clad in coated steel can be opened up on warm days and for special functions. This is a low-energy, low-maintenance building, carefully and elegantly designed, eminently fit for purpose and full of thoughtful touches. The playing area has support accommodation integrated into an indoor pavilion, which gives views down the line of play, and the profiled coated steel wall cladding evokes the image of cricket pads.

The Sustainable Development Award went to Bauman Lyons Architects for Longside Barns at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Bretton, near Wakefield.

This [pounds sterling]l.5 million conversion of three barns into a sculpture gallery, creative industry studios and cafe, opened to the public in September 2001 with an exhibition of works by Anthony Caro. The scheme demonstrated that modern steel technologies are readily adaptable to sensitive refurbishment and re-use. The gallery is lit by skylights set in a roof of Colorcoat HPS200 steel, a good example of appropriate use of materials. A clerestory on either side, and a flush panoramic window extend across the full width of the facade which faces across a valley. One off-centre bay window extends upwards, bringing views of the sky in addition to the broad sweep of the hills. The building is perfectly comfortable in its context; the new glazing, roofing and rendered walls add refinement to what still looks to be a utilitarian building, whose former agricultural role is not in doubt.

The Colour Award was won by Irish architects Wilson Architecture for Plot 1, Blarney Business Park in County Cork. This signature project for a 28 hectare business park in a scenic area outside Cork city won over the panel with its finely judged use of colour. The intention was to replace a former hedgerow with a curtain of metal panels in various shades of green. The vertical profiles of the cladding echo the vertical form of nearby trees and hedges. The building is stepped on profile; this, together with the random fenestration, breaks down the building's mass and integrates it with its surroundings.

The Detailing Award went to Wellwood Roofing Services for the Versalift crane mounting factory and offices in Burton Latimer. In this case the detailing award goes to the cladding contractor, not to the architect. But the judges made a special point of praising Scott Tallon Walker Architects for a building of great simplicity and dignity. Rather than bury the small amount of office content within the large factory box, the offices have been pulled out slightly from the main building, reducing the scale of the development when seen from the nearby main road. But the scheme's real achievement is its attention to how it is made and its simple but rigorous detailing.

Finally, the Profiled Metal Award was made to O'Riordan Staehli Architects (ORSA) for the Merchants Group Call Centre in Cork. The judges commended the use of varying cladding profiles (all in Colorcoat Celestia) and the subdivision of the profiled sheets into panels, which subtly articulates the various elements of the building.