The unbiased hub of educational content now has over 100 articles.
Three years ago, Maple launched the Knowledge Centre as a means for the public to source unbiased information about the construction industry, ranging from topics such as architectural façades to HSEQ and most recently, The Building Safety Act 2022.
The Knowledge Centre is an invaluable resource because it is driven by real client queries and answered by our onsite subject matter experts, actively addressing knowledge gaps within the industry.
With over 100 articles to date, the Knowledge Centre possesses an extensive amount of information and it’s only getting bigger as the construction sector evolves. In light of this, we have gathered our top 5 Knowledge Centre articles from the last three years.
Rainscreen cladding is incredibly popular within the façade industry due to its numerous benefits, therefore it’s no wonder that questions surrounding its cost have circulated among architects and contractors.
As every project is unique, there is no set answer to a question like this. However, this article provides you with a great starting point of what to consider when accommodating rainscreen cladding into your budget. It highlights the different factors that affect costs such as materials, finishes, sub-frames, insulation, trim and fire prevention.
Architectural façades not only have to look impressive, but they also must adhere to regulations and suit their purpose and environment. To achieve this balance, multiple factors must be considered when designing an architectural façade.
Within this article, Maple provided a helpful guide of seven things that must be considered during the designing stage: building codes and regulations, site conditions and climate, material selection, structural integrity and engineering, functionality maintenance and lifecycle costs, and finally, construction and fabrication methods.
This article also addresses the popularity of rainscreen cladding within the construction industry. You may think the clue is in the name and that it’s a façade system just designed to protect a building’s backing wall from rain, but there’s so much more to rainscreen cladding than that.
The build-up of a rainscreen system means it can improve thermal performance and enhance a building’s aesthetics thanks to the range of panel material options. Also, the gaps within the system encourage a continuous circulation of air behind the façade, which expels moisture and helps the building ‘breathe’.
GRC stands for ‘glass reinforced concrete’ and is made in the same way as precast concrete by using bespoke moulds and can be formed into virtually any shape, size or finish. It is a popular alternative to aluminium for architectural façades as its malleable and achieves an A1 rating for fire retardancy.
The article acts as a great starting point for those weighing up the pros and cons of choosing GRC over aluminium for their façade projects.
The most popular article on our Knowledge Centre article highlights the crucial role of the air gap in rainscreen cladding systems.
While the panels protect from direct rain, the air gap enables airflow, helping to dry out moisture and prevent damp and rot. This ensures long-term performance and durability by allowing the building to "breathe" and expel trapped moisture. This article provides guidance on how wide the air gap should be and how 'joints' within the system can allow air flow while reducing water ingress.