Encasement’s interior cover up at major office building in Southampton
Southampton’s new £14.2 million BREEAM Excellent rated office and retail building, One Guildhall Square, is using 40 Circa pre-formed plywood column casings from Encasement to conceal structural columns and help create a stylish interior in the six-storey building.
Constructed by Dawnus Construction for Cardiff based Atlantic Property Developments, the 8,500m2 building is a key element of the recently refurbished Guildhall Square and part of Southampton’s Cultural Quarter development, which brings together museums, art galleries, music venues and other facets of culture and entertainment within the city.
As the building uses a five-storey reinforced concrete frame with a structural steel sixth storey and roof area, Dawnus turned to Encasement to provide the 450mm diameter column casings, which are finished in white laminate to provide a hard-wearing and easy to clean surface. Standing 2.8 metres high, each casing also incorporates a 150mm deep contrasting black collar at the base and a virtually invisible joint that runs the full height.
Encasement’s Managing Director, Martin Taylor commented: “This new building is very much a landmark for the city. Its mostly glazed façade provides a stark contrast to the existing old Guildhall building, which is located only a couple of hundred metres away on one of the other sides of the square and reflects the evolution of Southampton. Inside the building, the large volume of glass provides an excellent working environment and the column casings on the large open plan office areas add to the extremely high level of finish that is present in every aspect of this structure.”