Community centre now "Alpha rated"

Stirling Council has recently undertaken the complete external refurbishment of the Alpha Community Centre, which includes new roofing and external cladding by Vinylit.  The community centre is a well utilised local authority public building and games hall attached to a local primary school on the outskirts of the city in a housing area in what used to be a largely coal mining area.

As the façade, timber fascias and roof had deteriorated over the years, and was looking somewhat worse for wear, the centre had been earmarked for renovation.

Vinytherm Stonechip Cladding was commissioned by the Council for use on the external walls of the centre, having previous success in using this hardwearing material on other refurbishment projects.  Stonechip was chosen for its durability, low maintenance and finished appearance, which complements the adjacent buildings.

Vinytherm Stonechip Cladding is a unique system of interlocking panels which are made using natural stone chippings for a hardwearing, longlife finish.  They provide excellent rainscreen protection and can be used with insulation to greatly improve the sound and thermal performance of the building.  As a dry system, they are simple and quick to fix to a substructure even in inclement weather conditions.  They react flexibly to outdoor temperatures without cracking and require no painting or complex maintenance – simply washing them down with a standard pressure washer from time to time is the only cleaning required.  Vinytherm Stonechip is available in a variety of colour finishes and the system carries a 30 year BBA Certification.     

The use of the Vinytherm Stonechip Cladding has completed an excellent and attractive refurbishment.  Users of the facilities and the council’s maintenance teams are extremely happy with the finished result and expect to experience reduced graffiti attention as well as offering an improved environment locally and a more energy efficient building.