Hull’s C4DI gets innovative with Encasement

Hull’s landmark Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) is using ‘Polyma’ GRP column casings from Encasement to conceal external structural steelwork at the building, which forms the centrepiece of the 2017 European City of City of Culture’s £15 million @TheDock development.

Designed by Leeds based architects, Enjoy Design, and owned by Hull-based regeneration company Wykeland Group, the C4DI building houses one of the UK’s leading digital tech hubs, as well as 70,000 sq.ft of office space and an external public performance space in the former dry dock.

Below the striking bronze PPC coated aluminium exterior, which also incorporates a range of sustainable and energy saving technologies, each of the building’s nine structural steel supports are concealed by a 450mm diameter Polyma glass reinforced polymer column casing.

Manufactured by Encasement to the precise specifications using hand laid GRP moulding techniques, the Polyma casings are finished in gloss RAL 7004 Signal Grey and range in height from 3,600mm up to 4,000mm to meet the building’s design parameters.

As the column casings are used externally and close to sea water, the Polyma casings are an ideal choice for this application as they are highly durable, as well as being resistant to corrosion, weathering and damage.

Encasement’s Managing Director, Martin Taylor, commented: “The regeneration around the dock area including C4DI has given a significant boost to the area and helped Hull become a key centre for tech innovation. We’re delighted to have played a part in this project, where the quality of the building design and energy saving technologies it incorporates has set the scene for the innovation centred businesses it accommodates.”