The brief

Aliva UK was selected to provide black polished ceramic rainscreen cladding for the façade of the new Critical Care Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. As well as being able to provide the best quality products for the job, Aliva UK was chosen in recognition of its extensive international experience and knowledge of ceramic cladding and its superior design and technical support. The brief included the supplying of over 5,000 square metres of the ceramic granite façade system and the Ali glass support structure to hang the composite glass panels to the remainder of the building. Aliva UK was also asked to provide white polished ceramic tiles for the underside of the smart entrance canopy, as this has a high level of traffic very stringent impact performance levels had been set, adding an extra challenge.

What we did

Aliva UK supplied black polished ceramic rainscreen cladding 1200×600 tiles. Ceramic rainscreen cladding was chosen as it provides an attractive modern façade with excellent mechanical and aesthetic characteristics. It is available in a huge variety of beautiful colours and textures, but for the brand new hospital care unit black was specified to give a stunning reflective effect. To meet the challenge of the strict impact performance levels the team at Aliva devised a way to bond two 12 mm thick tiles together, so that they were now 24 mm, and utilised a special undercut anchor system to utilise panels so that they sit flush with the rest of the system.

What makes it special

Aliva UK’s black polished ceramic rainscreen tiles are manufactured to one of the darkest shades of black available, resulting in the highest quality of reflectiveness and giving the building the eye-catching shimmering effect the Architects were striving for. Aliva was able to utilise its creativity and technical expertise in meeting the performance safety target whilst delivering a high quality look and finish to the very busy building.