Stylish leisure hub with community and Rockpanel at its heart

The project vision and the team 

Northgate Yard is a 40,000ft2 scheme centred around a seven-screen cinema, eight-lane bowling alley and sports bar. The development also features 12,000ft2 of flexible restaurant space in four units with outdoor dining areas. It is part of a larger scheme which includes Brewery Field, a rejuvenated town-centre green space including parkland, an urban wetland, car parking and electric vehicle charging points.  

National Architects Corstorphine & Wright were responsible for the project design. The practice had previously worked with Rockpanel on successful projects including the Cineworld Cinema, Whiteley and Drake Circus in Plymouth. Willmott Dixon were the principle contractor with Progressive Systems responsible for the installation of around 450m2 Rockpanel facades.  

Rockpanel means creative freedom 

The external cladding take the form of horizontal triangles and diamond shapes arranged in a mix of surface designs. Interspersed with similarly slanted windows, the angles of these panel shapes match those of the undulating roofline to the front elevation, providing a eye-catching pattern which plays with the perception of depth to visually break up the building’s mass. They create a contemporary, eye-catching architectural dimension to the structure above the full-height glazed floor level which is punctuated with mixed grey brick pillars. 

Multiple finishes make up the facades, Two RAL-matched grey options from the Rockpanel Colours range. The other element is taken from the company’s Chameleon offering which owes its unique appearance to an innovative crystal effect layer that creates a changing spectrum of colours depending on the angle light hits its surface and the point of view – constantly transforming, impactful and inspiring.  

Style and substance working together 

Rockpanel’s John Porter spoke about the project, “Northgate Yard was great to be part of. After working with the architect on similar design at Drakes Circus, and as a key supply chain partner of Willmott Dixon, we worked in collaboration with the installer to provide fixing requirements for the project, helping to bring this unique project to fruition,. Specifiers know they can trust that our facades satisfy the most stringent fire safety standards whilst providing superior durability and resistance to the elements. For installers Rockpanel ranges are lightweight and easy to cut on site without the need to seal edges, making installation quicker, saving time and money.”  

With outstanding sustainability credentials, virtually unlimited colour matching and an unrivalled range of surface design finishes from super-realistic natural woods and metals through to specialist ranges including unique Chameleon, the company truly delivers superior fire-safety whilst enabling specifiers to realise their most creative ambitions.  

As its name suggests, Rockpanel derives its unique properties from the core of stone wool used in its manufacture. The compressed natural basalt is a naturally occurring and self-regenerating consequence of volcanic activity and, as such, is non-combustible. It is bonded with an organic binder to produce a facade which is virtually maintenance-free and insensitive to moisture and temperature changes, ensuring Rockpanel facades stay looking good for decades to come.