Locker Group produced a custom range of aluminium facade cladding featuring a unique Dragonscale pattern for the QE11 Medical Centre car park.
Located opposite Kings Park in Perth, the QE11 Medical Centre car park had strict design considerations for aesthetics as well as privacy; a key objective was to ensure car headlights didn't disturb local residents or affect the ambience of Kings Park.
The facade cladding had to meet the BCA requirements of >50% open area; however the designers wanted to achieve a unique design that would meet both aesthetic and functional considerations.
Architects Design Inc envisaged a 'scale' concept where each individual scale would face up, re-directing internal light into the night sky, while the panels would also be open enough to provide high air flow, reducing the requirement for mechanical extraction equipment.
Locker Group's engineering department worked closely with the architect to understand the design vision and create the tooling that would allow them to produce the panels locally.
In a first for Locker Group, the Dragonscale pattern is a true three-dimensional profile, where the scales are formed individually out of the aluminium sheet. The hardness of the aluminium presented a number of challenges, with profiles and samples travelling back and forth across the country, before the team was able to achieve the anticipated profile shape and depth, without any cracking or tearing.
Dragonscale cladding panels are installed on the car park 'slab to slab', eliminating the need for intermediate supports. The simple folded panels were just lifted onto the brackets and fixed to each slab, saving the installation team time and money.
The bright Duratec colour scheme reflects the transition from dusk to nightfall and is designed to emulate an occupied building.
