Thanks to the remarkable facade boards of the Rockpanel Chameleon series a four-storey commercial building is now a real eye-catcher in Nienburg (Germany). The owner and the architectural firm Meyer + Borcherding have redesigned the facade to stand out on one of the most important access roads into the city.
Rockpanel Chameleon
Finding the perfect facade design
The owner of the building, Hans-Erich Fischer, had set the goal of making the building an eye-catcher. Fischer is a civil engineer and enjoys looking for new and unique solutions. The initial plan was to use a ceramic facade when he came across the multi-coloured iridescent facade panels of Rockpanel Chameleon series. Fischer knew that his goal would soon become reality. On the basis of only photos and samples Fischer and the architect Handan Genç decided to change their plans for the design of the facade. "That was brave, but we were nevertheless sure that we had found what we were looking for: a light, very unique and modern facade cladding", Fisher recalls.
The low weight of the Rockpanel turned out the be an important element because the building originates from the 19th century. "The statics of the building were not designed for heavy facade cladding," explains construction manager Volker Warnecke.
User-friendly facade material
The local building company Weser-Aluminiumbau had no previous experience with the Rockpanel Chameleon series, but was enthusiastic about the exciting design. "After completion in Nienburg, we were all so excited that we also chose the Chameleon panels for the facade of our own company building," mentions Managing Director Nils Rudolph. "The brilliant colours simply attract all eyes, are unmissable ..."
Frieser-Fassadentechnik cut the panels to size and pre-drilled the holes for the fastening rivets. The work had to be very precise. "Of course, we made small adjustments for a perfect fit on site and found that the Rockpanel boards can be easily and precisely processed with conventional tools," adds Rudolph. After this experience, his team carried out all the preparatory work for their own facade themselves and found pleasure in working with Rockpanel.
Colours that attract the attention
The Rockpanel Chameleon facade has become famous in Nienburg (Germany) due to its location at a busy traffic light intersection. Viewed from different directions and depending on the time of day, the facade shimmers yellow, red, blue, purple or green. A special crystal effect layer that is applied to the Chameleon facade panels makes this possible. "There are people from Nienburg who have had fun photographing the facade several times from the same perspective, but at different times and in more or less sunshine", Fischer says. He is pleased about so much interest in his building and its facade. As standard, the Chameleon facade panels are also provided with a transparent anti-graffiti coating. This protects them well against dirt and damage.
Class A2 fire protection
Since the raw material of the Rockpanel boards is stone wool, cladding with Chameleon A2 facade panels is also non-combustible. "This, like the low weight, is another product characteristic that made the material ideal for the commercial building," says civil engineer Warnecke. Taking thermal, fire and noise protection seriously is a prerequisite for building or renovating sustainably in the sense of the building owners and users. "Even if it's not a legal requirement for a building, we recommend that our clients use materials that are considered sustainable and, for example, like Rockpanel boards, can be demounted individually and recycled in case they might be dismantled decades later."
Project: Refurbishment of commercial building
Location: Nienburg (Germany)
Architect: Architekturbüro Meyer + Borcherding,
Developer: Hans-Erich Fischer
Building company: Weser-Aluminiumbau GmbH + Co. KG
Product: Rockpanel Chameleon
*Disclaimer: Due to changes in our assortment, it is possible that the designs shown in this case study are no longer available. Feel free to contact us in case of doubt.
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We manufacture board material mostly used in ventilated constructions, for facade cladding, roof detailing, soffits and fascias.
