Burlington Slate at Liverpool Science Park

Architects Falconer Chester Hall has cleverly combined the dimensional accuracy of Burlington's honed natural stone as part of delivering a new and modern 4500sq m office facility.

The new Liverpool Science Park is living proof that when it comes to natural stone it is not always a case of being a precise science.

For architects Falconer Chester Hall has cleverly combined the dimensional accuracy of Burlington's honed natural stone cladding to contrast with random walling stone as a means of delivering a new and modern 4500sq m office facility, designed to attract science and technology-based start-up companies.

In what is literally a case of mixing the rough with the smooth, it is the deployment of Burlington's honed Kirkby blue/grey cladding panels - set within an expressed stainless steel frame - that help deliver the building's clean line architectural style.

This serves to contrast with the random walling stone that not only features to the base of the Science Park, but which has been used to create a boundary wall to the development's new visitor centre and the garden area of the adjacent Metropolitan Cathedral.

Indeed each Burlington honed 1000mm X 650mm panel - installed by CGK Systems of East Kilbride - features within the rainscreen grid that has been specially adapted to incorporate stainless steel fins that protrude outwards as a means of providing additional visual relief.

Occupying a location chosen for its proximity to the city's two universities, Liverpool Science Park offers businesses first class and flexible office accommodation.

Commenting on the specification of Burlington's natural stone, Falconer Chester Hall Project Architect, Gareth Callen said: "The dimensional accuracy of the Burlington stone cladding that we incorporated within the expressed grid works exceptionally well in contrasting with the more natural and rugged appearance of slate used for the building's base".

"We believe that the architectural design has delivered an end result that is in keeping with the needs of the science and technology sector.".

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