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J UNE 2017 | 13 Roofing/Cladding Materials PHOTOGRAPHY BY LISA LOGAN/COURTESY PERKINS+WILL I Roofing and cladding materials take inspiration from nature by ROBIN BRUNET Element Of Control It is often said that residential, commercial and other development expenditures will increase this decade as more emphasis is put on the need for so-called sustain- able products, and this includes roofing and cladding. The trick, of course, is to ensure that these building skins also live up to their main purpose of providing enough environmental protection for occupants and the long-term durability of the structure. Running concurrent to this consideration is the fact that natural finishes are becoming increasingly popular in contemporary exterior design. But these materials are frequently cost prohibitive and can pose a fire hazard, hence the wide range of steel roof and wall profiles with natural finishes that closely emulate wood or stone. Fortunately, with the slow but steady recovery of the Canadian economy and building booms in many parts of the country, natural is increasingly becom- ing an option for developers, as witnessed by projects such as the University of Toronto library, whose bold ProdEX natural wood cladding panels impart a strik- ingly sumptuous appearance, almost akin to a giant wood cabinet. The same product also adorns Lions Gate Hospital's HOpe Centre in Vancouver, B.C. and Elevation Place in Canmore, Alberta. ProdEX is Prodema's exterior natural wood clad- ding line requiring no need for the maintenance usu- ally associated with wood exteriors. The panels have a Bakelite core covered with a treated natural wood veneer to ensure maximum resistance towards UV rays, and the panels prevent water from penetrating walls and insulation, leaving them moisture free due to the air circulation behind the panels. ProdEX is just one of five panel systems available through Sound Solutions. "While Prodema is now used by architects from coast to coast, fibreC by Rieder and Extruded Terracotta by NBK are also in high demand, as are the QuadroClad facades by Hunter Douglas and the high-end Levolux solar shading panels," says prin- cipal Andrew Rogers. FibreC allows for the creation of incredibly com- plex facades. The system's development was inspired by Rieder's vision of a concrete cladding panel that is both stable and lightweight, able to withstand weather and environmental conditions and at the same time be sustainable and esthetic. The brand name is an acro- nym of the words glass fibre and concrete, with the glass fibre-reinforced concrete made of purely mineral raw materials. The advantage of NBK's Terracotta solution is that the panels are extruded, giving them a 100-year lifespan (they have been put to dazzling use at the University of Toronto's Deerfield Hall). Hunter Douglas's QuadroClad facades offer a multi- tude of rainscreen solutions and use aluminum honey- comb technology with progressive and non-progressive installation options, while the Levolux solar shades are versatile enough to suit a wide variety of applications, including glass louvers with PV cells as well as timber, extruded and fabricated aluminum systems. "Thanks to improved budgets we're now seeing these products being used in multi-unit residential projects; however, universities and municipalities are by far our biggest clients, another example being Boston University, which wanted a thin cladding – but not aluminum – hung on the curtain wall of its new CILS Building, hence their choice of fibreC," says Rogers. Extruded Terracotta panels by NBK, available through Sound Solutions Deerfield Hall – University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

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