Sir Thomas Wharton Community College, Doncaster

Architect: Race Cottam Associates
Contractor: Vinci Construction UK Ltd
Type of works: supply and installation of Marley Eternit’s Natura Pro fibre-cement cladding.

Sir Thomas Wharton Community College in Doncaster has become the latest school to benefit from Marley Eternit’s Natura Pro fibre-cement cladding.

Natura Pro helped create a durable and low maintenance facade for the 1,000-plus pupil school.

That is because Natura Pro’s coating protects against various types of staining, including graffiti produced by common aerosols and other paints, which can be eliminated by graffiti removers, making it ideal for this type of project.

Natura Pro was also selected because it was able to meet the client’s brief for a building with a strong visual identity.

Race Cottam Associates, the architects on the £23 million state-of-the-art project, felt that Anthracite coloured Natura Pro achieved this by accentuating the flashes of Blue, Yellow and Orange colours used on the insulated aluminium-window infill panels on this section of the development.

The Natura Pro panels were installed on the school’s dance studio, which part-forms one of the three teaching blocks. Each of these blocks is connected to the central structure that forms the main entrance.

A double-leaf cavity block wall was used to construct the dance studio, with the Natura Pro cladding acting as a rainscreen facade.

An increasing number of specifiers are choosing Natura Pro because it creates a low-maintenance and graffiti-resistant facade; a vital requirement for schools because it helps avoid maintenance issues at a future date.

Mark Copley, the architect on this project from Race Cottam Associates, explains: “We used Natura Pro in Anthracite because it provided the school with the strong visual-identity we were seeking. We were also particularly impressed with the new Pro coating as it will provide the school with a tough, graffiti-resistant rainscreen facade. “

Vinci Construction UK Ltd fitted the Natura Pro panels using Marley Eternit’s mechanical secret-fix system, helping to create a smooth, unbroken rainscreen-facade. Natura Pro has a life expectancy of around 50 years, meaning it provides excellent long-term value for money. Fibre-cement cladding has a Class 0 fire-performance.