Project: Microsoft Central Administration Building (CAB)
Client: Microsoft
Architect: RKD
Main Contractor/installer: Deane Roofing and Cladding
Product: Alu.covering®

The brief
This iconic building for tech giant Microsoft required a totally customised exterior surface, with a bespoke facade design that created a statement shimmering aesthetic, with several tones that change with the sun’s movement.

The building is set in Grange Castle Business Park, Clondalkin, Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, in a flagship international business park - home to some of the world’s largest names in the tech and pharma industries alongside a series of state-of-the-art data centres.

Located at the gateway to this business park, developed by South Dublin County Council, Microsoft’s new Central Administration Building (CAB) required a flagship architectural design and iconic shape, representative of the tech giant’s global profile.

The structure features a series of sharp angles and sloped lines, with its focal point an angled cuboid that creates a sense of a ‘bulkhead’ to the building.

This statement design required an exterior surface finish that matched the distinctiveness of the architecture for Microsoft’s Central Administration Building, housing its operations in the area and encompassing offices, a reception, staff cafeteria and staff gym.

What Aliva did
Aliva designed a bespoke facade system that met the architectural design intent without comprise, with a customised rainscreen cladding system that created an eye-pulling visuality for this iconic building.

Aliva designed and manufactured 3,000sqm of its anodised aluminium rainscreen cladding in a natural finish to cover the building.

The anodising process thickens the natural oxide layer on aluminium, creating a highly durable, corrosion resistant, and aesthetically versatile surface, perfect for this project, which features horizontal panelling and inclined facade detailing on the ‘bulkhead’ feature.

What makes it special
The cool tone of Aliva’s anthracite grey anodised aluminium Alu.covering® system was chosen for several reasons.

Silvery and grey tones are often viewed as symbolic in the tech and software industries, as they evoke a sense of modernity, sleekness and sophistication, professionality and neutrality - perfect for tech brands deemed to be at the cutting edge.

The business park has global profile and making a visual impact at its gateway, with a marker of a major brand resident in Microsoft, was a key factor in the facade design and choice.

But while visual impact was key to the brief it was also pivotal to design a facade with tones that were sympathetic to the rolling green landscapes around the business park and creating a facade colourway that blends seamlessly into the skyline. The brief was to create a project with eye-pulling appeal not an eye sore on the horizon.

A nonhomogeneous, multi-faceted aesthetic has been created with Aliva’s anodised anthracite grey aluminium Alu.covering®. A randomised effect has been achieved with a gradient of colourways from lighter, to mid to darker aesthetics in a natural finish, creating a facade with depth, tonality and impact as well as being sympathetic to the horizon, as detailed above.

This randomised/interspersed panel effect creates a sense of shimmer on the exterior as the sun moves over the building and the light dances across the panels from different angles, creating the visual intrigue that complements a tech brand of this high calibre.

Sustainability and safety
Grange Castle Business Park’s ethos is to create a world-class location where businesses, people and the natural environment come together, a location for companies to be located in sustainably built and state-of-the art designed buildings.

This Aliva UK surface product helped realise this ethos, it is made of solid aluminium, does not release any toxic gases or create any fumes. It is produced with pure aluminium alloy and is 100% recyclable.

The product is certified with the British Board of Agrement and carries an A1 fire safety rating, with accreditation based on testing to standard EN 13501-1:2019.

A facade mirroring for Microsoft
The facade on the Microsoft Central Administration Building is Aliva UK’s second commission for the tech giant’s developments in Dublin.

This facade mirrors the Aliva aesthetic specified for One Microsoft Place, its Dublin HQ. Aliva’s Alu.covering® system delivered visual impact for the building’s trademark sloped top edges and inclined facade heads.

The silver facade on One Microsoft Place featured four distinct anodised aluminium finishes: etched, brushed, polished and natural and a product volume of 10,000sqm.

The finished effect, a stunning first Aliva UK facade project for Microsoft and the inspiration for a second commission in the same core material.

Category: Rainscreen Cladding