Newcastle Under Lyme College

Newcastle-under-Lyme College has grown significantly over the past 10 years and is currently home to a population of over 3,000 full-time and 10,000 part-time students.

As well as offering traditional  academic and vocational courses to students of school leaving age, their brand new £60 million campus on Knutton Lane boasts some of the most advanced facilities in the country including an impressive 200-seat auditorium, a state-of-the-art Sports Centre, a commercial Salon and Spa and a suite of conference and seminar facilities.  The building also features specially-designed areas for adult students, including those on higher education courses and areas predominantly for employer training.

The structure of the new building was formed in concrete with lightweight steel frame infill panels. This was then faced with a layer of 10mm building boards onto which Wetherby Mineral Wool insulation of 150mm and 200mm thicknesses were mechanically fixed.

Naturally, the utilisation of Mineral Wool as the main insulant on this project negated the need for additional fire breaks and also proved to be the perfect solution when it came to encapsulating the difficult curved elevation at the front of the building.

Following the application of a basecoat and reinforcing mesh layer, the entire building was finished using in excess of 6000m² of Wetherby 1.5mm ‘K’ Silicone decorative render which resulted in a visually stunning façade.  Final U-value 0.28 W/m²K.