Four colours of Steni UK rainscreen cladding panels are bringing a new lease of life to some local authority offices.

Some 238m² of Steni’s Colour panels, in olive, grey, light blue and dark blue, have been used to overclad the brick walls of an internal courtyard at Halton Borough Council’s Municipal Building in Widnes which was refurbished externally and internally.

Manufactured from a fibreglass reinforced polymer composite, they feature a surface of electron beam cured acrylic that is applied without the use of solvents.

The 7mm thick Steni panels were fitted on the part-glazed two-storey building in a pattern of vertical strips in two lengths but a constant 295mm width to a design by Austin Smith Lord architects.

Work by specialist sub contractor Churchmore for main contractor Globe Management Services took four months, being relatively unaffected by the wintry weather as unlike render, it is a dry trade.

As well as giving the elevations a facelift, the panels have helped to deliver improved thermal performance. For between the elements of the aluminium support grid, onto which the panels were fixed using structural adhesive, is insulation.