Dressing the steel skeleton
6 Dec 2015
Watching the progression of cladding on the Assembly Hall building is like seeing an architect's drawing become reality. The mirror-like stainless steel surfaces already cover close to one-third of the east facade of the edifice and the impression is, as the architect intended, one of cleanliness and precision.
The alternating surfaces of mirror-like stainless steel and grey-lacquered metal form the fourth and outermost layer of the "skin" that will eventually cover the Assembly Hall: first, a first layer of steel cladding is bolted to the steel skeleton of the building, next comes 130-millimetre-thick rock wool insulation; and this layer in turn is covered by a polypropylene membrane in order to insure air tightness. Once these three layers are in place, the long (15 m) and narrow (1 m) mirror-like and grey-lacquered panes can be installed.
All in all, some 14,000 m虏 of surface needs to be covered. When the work is done, we'll know if the building holds true to the architect's promise of reflecting the ever-changing shades of skylight and seasons.