James & Taylor, the UK’s leading supplier of cladding, have been putting the finishing touches to a £26m college project in Glasgow, with a façade that uses an ‘invisible’ fixing system.

Catriona McReynolds, senior architect at RMJM said: "North Glasgow College is a new build facility in the Springburn area of the city. The 16,900m2 development will be home to a state-of-the-art learning resource centre, conference facilities and fully equipped sports hall, providing a new social heart for students and the surrounding community.

"For the main building we were looking for a robust rainscreen panel that would give a very crisp, flush, high gloss white finish, as well as be an affordable alternative to other rainscreen products on the market."

James & Taylor responded with a tailored, state-of-the-art design using Carea rainscreen, a large-format glazed concrete panel system. Carea is a relatively new product to the UK and James & Taylor is the sole supplier.


Instead of conventional, visible screw fixings, which tend to give this type of façade an industrial look, Carea panels are fitted from the base of the building upward on to a simple system of aluminium support rails. This provides a seamless finish. Most rainscreen systems need a 10mm open joint, which can expose an unsightly backing structure. The Carea rail provides a closed 3mm joint on the horizontal rail, adding to the flawless look. The horizontal rail has an angled flange in the joint to force water to escape down the front face of the panel.

James & Taylor supplied 4000m2 of Carea Glazed white panels in various sizes.

Available in any RAL colour and a number of textures, the 14mm thick panels are formed in various sizes to a maximum of 1800 x 900mm. They are made from polyester resin concrete, 88% mineral deposit and 12% resin. The coating is applied when the panels are wet and they are kiln-fired for about 12 hours to create the finished glazed surface. Panels are then cut to size to fit the building and grooved to accept the fixing rails at the factory. The surface finish is UV stable and designed to provide a long-lasting cladding system.

Carea offers a single tile replacement method that enables the client to access the substructure without having to remove a whole section of cladding. If a panel is damaged after construction, it can be replaced as part of routine maintenance.

(GK/KMcA)