Leading property developers St George commissioned NORCO to manufacture 3 unique 14m long canopies to be installed on the flagship One Blackfriars development in Central London. The project called for NORCO to build the canopies to look like polished metal features, while being lightweight and robust enough to withstand the harsh environmental conditions.

The canopies were constructed from Scott Bader’s Crystic® resin VE679-03PA to create a glass fibre composite laminate with a closed cell structural foam core to provide adequate panel stiffness over the large hollow wing shape. A resin infusion process was adopted for the production of the composite panels, which provided a high quality and void free laminate. NORCO carefully refined a staged infusion approach, specifically for the manufacture of the metal coated areas, in order to avoid ‘print through’ of the composite materials onto the external surface. Scott Bader’s grey Crystic® gelcoat GT600 RAL 2043 was then used as a back-up behind the VeroMetal spray on the canopies to ensure a consistent metal finish.

Steve Golding, Composite Production Supervisor at NORCO, commented: “I have worked with many materials on various composite projects and I cannot fault Scott Bader’s applications. Their products are consistent and provide a high-quality end result. There is no reason to look elsewhere.”

The One Blackfriars development consists of a 52-storey tower of a maximum height of 170 meters and two smaller buildings of six and four storeys respectively. It includes residential flats, a hotel and retail units, along with a public space. Construction began in 2013 and will conclude this year. Of the three canopies manufactured by NORCO, one is already in place and the others are due to be installed shortly.

NORCO Composites & GRP was established in 1985 in Poole, Dorset and specialise in large composite structures and GRP mouldings for end users all across the globe.

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