Birmingham Women’s Hospital  - Healthy progress in cladding safety. 
Working in close co-operation with specialist contractor Design Build Facades, Vivalda Group companies MSP Scotland and Prism Powder Coating have contributed to the successful completion of this major cladding remediation project for Birmingham Women’s Hospital. 
 
Comprising more than 7,000m2 of non-combustible, solid aluminium rainscreen cladding, this flagship project involved several thousand individual panels, which were each unique in their fabrication, fitting and coloured powder coating. 
 
Having served the community for more than 55 years, the maternity hospital was in urgent need of refurbishment, to enable better regulation of the temperature and to bring the building up to date with the latest regulations. The ageing structure suffered from the typical issues of being hard to heat in the winter and difficult to cool in the summer. Given the advances in cladding technology, a new façade system was required, which would help the trust to achieve its ambitious decarbonisation plans, while maintaining the safety of the building, in line with the new Building Safety Act. 
 
Commencing early-stage development work on this major project in early 2024, MSP’s manufacturing team in Scotland was involved in the construction of a full-size mock-up in just eight weeks. This enabled Design Build Facades to assess the quality of the proposed over cladding solution being manufactured by MSP and also the aesthetic quality of Prism’s powder coating onto the non-flammable solid aluminium cladding. Crucially, this also facilitated the façade’s approval by the client and planners, providing confidence in the overall approach.
 
Derek McDougall, commercial manager at MSP, said; “We have a longstanding relationship with the team at Design Build Facades, enabling us to fulfil their need to construct a full-size mock-up at their facility in Wiltshire. This stage of the project was vital, as it enabled us to demonstrate the quality of the various finishes we were proposing. It also enabled all parties involved to assess the installation options for the panels. 
 
“Crucially, we were also able to assess the various options for coloured and stone-finish coatings which were required on this project. It’s one thing to assess a proposed building design on the page, but you can’t beat seeing it and touching it in on a full-sized rig!”
 
While the client was keen to achieve a graduated colour effect across the main façade of the building, it also wanted to explore options to achieve a solid, stone aesthetic to other parts of the project, while maintaining the use of solid aluminium cladding.
 
Helen Galbraith, manager at Prism Powder Coating, explained: “Over the years, we have developed a close relationship with Interpon, the AkzoNobel coatings brand, which has helped us to maintain our position as one of only a handful of QUALICOAT-approved PPC applicators of the colour system we used on this project. 
 
“Combining our experience and expertise with Interpon products, we can achieve just about any colour imaginable.  In the case of this project, we delivered 10 different colour finishes and textures in all. While the subtle colour variations across the frontage of the building are worth mentioning, it’s the stone-effect panels that are really special. This is a feature that more architects and contractors are asking about.”
 
Over the last few years Prism has perfected the art of creating a range of stone-effect finishes to lightweight aluminium panels. This creates the illusion of substantial quarried products, while reducing cost and enabling far quicker installation. “While a lot of designers still opt for stone or GRC on the lower touch points of a building,” explains Helen, “they are increasingly specifying coated aluminium panels higher up the structure. Even on close inspection, it’s very hard to tell if it’s stone or coated aluminium!”
 
Following client approval of the final design, the construction phase commenced with rapid progress in late 2024 / early 2025. Seamless, just in time delivery of the fabricated facades was a key element of this design and build project, which demonstrates the importance of good communication and planning between the contractor and manufacturer of the façade solution. This ensured that during the build, clinical services were not interrupted.
 
Completed on time and on budget in March 2025, Birmingham Women’s Hospital is testament to the benefits of early-stage design consultation – and the effective use of powder coating to achieve a successful outcome.