The roof terrace at Slip House was glazed internally with a ribbon of toughened wired glass panels that had failed structurally and broken up under high wind loads. The brief was to replace the glazing with a cladding system that would both withstand the high wind loadings that get whipped up on the terrace and weather seal the cavity that exists between the outer skin of fluted glass and the supporting walls while retaining optical translucency which allows natural light to filter through the parapet walls into the roof terrace area. We had fruitful and engaging consultation with the client and ran with their suggested use of Rodeca, a polycarbonate cladding system with tongue & groove panels that snap together. The system is structurally robust withstanding the high wind loading and is also translucent which was ideal for the required light transmission. Some areas required an alternative approach, an array of solar panels running along one side of the roof and the access hatch opening limited the available space and powdercoated aluminium panels were used to replace the Rodeca system.
