NES: Architectural

The metalwork division of NES produces bespoke cladding and rainscreen systems for the construction industry. NES Architectural has fabrication capability unrivalled across Europe in both scale and accuracy.

Capability

Our 90,000 sq. ft manufacturing facility provides specifiers and architects with solutions utilising curved, linear, shaped forms in flat or profiles sheet. All panels are complete and ready for site installation.

NES Architecturals’ design team offer a free design consultancy on the appropriate fixing system, material and finish for the job. Beyond this general arrangement drawings and development prototypes are frequently called on for demanding and unique designs.

We have unique facilities including the UK’s longest CNC metal guillotine and press brake (both 8m).

The Elumatic suite of machines includes double mitring cross saws, an 8m CNC extrusion line and a mortising machine.

Our MIG and TIG welders are capable of dressing back welds to create invisible joins between powder coated or sprayed sheets. Our brand new MIG welding bays feature duel pulse technology. This allows for high temperature welding without heat distortion of the sheet. In addition to this our capacitor discharge stud welding equipment allows for invisible fixings to be quickly applied to flat sheet rainscreen cladding.

2015 has seen the installation of a 4m x 2m water jet cutting machine capable accuracy +/-0.1mm on aluminium, steel, acrylic or Marley Eternit fibre cement board up to 60mm thick.

Drawing capability includes full 3D CAD modelling that interfaces directly with out fabrication plant.

If you would like more information please get in touch with Michael Irwin, Account Manager, by emailing Michael@nes-solutions.co.uk

Cladding and metalwork fabrication equipment:

• 8 meter brake press. This is used for folding up supporting structures and dishpans. Supporting brackets can be folded from up to 12mm mild steel. 250 tons pressure.

• 4 meter brake press. As above but smaller.

• 4.1m roller. This can be used to fabricate 360 degree columns as it has a removable end. Also cones can be formed by altering the height of 1 of the 3 rollers.

• 3m CNC roller. This allows digital control of the bend radii. Min diameter 300mm

• 1.2m hand roller. This is for diameters of ~100mm

• 4m x 2m water jet cutter. This can cut components out of 250mm mild steel or 150mm stainless steel. It is accurate to +/- 0.1mm. We frequently use this to make custom brackets for our hanging systems.

• 8 meter guillotine. This is able to cut 5mm stainless steel.

• Eckold forming machine. This allows sheet, profiles or tubes to be formed in 3 dimensions. Essentially a panel beater.

• Extrusion roller. This is designed for rolling extrusion. There is a tendancy for some extrusions to migrate off if they are not symmetrical. We can use polycarbonate to prevent complex extrusions from collapsing.

• Welding bays – MIG, TIG and Capacitor Discharge Stud.

• Grinding experts. This is for the dressing back of welds before powder coating or anodising.

• Powder coating line. This is for some of the larger sheets that we do.

• CNC routers. We have a number of flatbed CNC routers up to 3 meter x 2m in size. These can be used for the routing, CNC cutting, v-cut routing or hogging out of ACM, Cementitious Board, Aluminium, MDF, Acrylic or Foamex.

Elumatic machines - designed for extrusion fabrication work:

• 8m CNC 6-headed machine centre. This is for cutting grooves in extrusion, removing unneeded parts and drilling fixing holes accurately. Any horizontal milling.

• Elumatic punch. This is is for removing sections of the extrusion.

• Corner Crimping Machine – This crushes the aluminium into the corner cleat. This makes a waterproof, perfect corner joint with no screws or alignment issues.

• 8 meter, 2 piece cutting saw. This allows for 2 angles (normally 45 degrees) to be cut simultaneously into a piece of extrusion. This is very helpful as manual measuring and saw blade alignment is labour intensive and frequently inaccurate.

• Schucco punch and crimping machine. This is specifically for Shucco extrusions.

Finishing and graphics equipment:

• Automatic Kedar Sewing Machine. This can stitch rubber, 4 pleat PVC banners or silicone Kadar.

• 2.4m width UV printer. This can print on ACM, Foamex, Correx, PVC, Mesh, Viinyl or Polyester Fabric. This can print roll to roll up to 100m in length. The output is approximately 30 sq. m per hour.

• 1.5m x 3m UV printer. This can print on ACM, Foamex, Correx. This can print roll to roll up to 100m in length. The output is approximately 20 sq. m per hour.

• LED Capability. We have a massive stock of lensed and backlighting LEDs. We also have programming and fabrication capability.

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Capability Example Projects

Follow links below to review some of our recent works

About NES Solutions

NES GROUP


NES is a Colchester based design and manufacturing business. With a staff of over 50 people and an annual turnover in excess of £5m from our 90,000 sq. ft UK manufacturing facility. NES deliver bespoke products to a range of specialised architectural markets. In these fast paced, competitive markets NES innovate and leverage skills and knowledge across the group.

NES SIGNS & PRINT


Building on over 30 years’ experience NES has developed a comprehensive range of architectural signage and digital print graphics products. Services span the turnkey design, manufacture and installation for a diverse array of bespoke projects. This has put the signs and print division in a leading position in the retail, corporate, public and hospitality sectors. Capabilities include flat bed and roll to roll wide format UV printing, Inkjet printing, CNC routing, CNC rolling, Screen Printing, Vacuum Forming, Vinyl, Plastics forming and fabrication, lamination and print finishing.

NES LIGHTLINE


The Lighting Division is a specialist project lighting company working in the architectural, corporate and retail sectors. NES LIGHTLINE is a global leader in flat panel architectural LEDs with proprietary LED Light Panel technology developed in house. This dynamic approach is delivering strong growth on an international basis. Products include; LED Light Panels, LED Light Walls, LED Light Boxes, architectural signage and digital signage.

NES ARCHITECTURAL


The Architectural division of NES produces bespoke cladding and rainscreen systems for the construction industry. NES Architectural has fabrication capability unrivalled across Europe in both scale and accuracy. It has an enormous 8m press brake and equal capacity guillotine enabling them to form full height column cladding that competitors would have to make in two sections. Recent investments in water jet cutting machinery, CD stud welding and 8m CNC extrusion lines.

CERTIFICATIONS


Construction Line This is a pre-qualification for the construction industry. This is about raising standards and quality assurance of not just the product but also the process and environment in which it has been produced. This works in conjunction with some of the other standards below.
IOSHWe are a member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. This is the world’s biggest professional health and safety body 47,000 members worldwide. The goal is to create safer and healthier working practices. To adapt to the ever-changing safety landscape the IOSH provides a competency framework to keep our skills and standards ready for the challenges ahead.
SMAS worksafe The "Safety Management Advisory Service" allows us to certify compliance and assurance. This is frequently a requiirement within the construction and education sectors. This is key to ensuring NES and our clients are safe and legally sound. SMAS is one of the better known agents of SSIP. This means the accredation has direct parity with CHAS, Acclaim and Achilles.

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About NES Solutions Example Projects

Follow links below to review some of our recent works

Aquis House - Kinetic Façade

Aquis House - Kinetic Façade

Class A commercial office space comes to Reading.

Working closely with Stanley Bragg Architects NES has recently completed the design manufacture and installation of the Glass Façade, Mirror Polished Stainless Steel Soffit, Flashing, Brushed Stainless Steel Column, Main Signs, LED Light Wall and Illuminated desk.

The “kinetic façade” has a frosted geodesic pattern on the internal face of the 2.85m high frameless glass. This has a subtle but dynamic effect in different lights and from different viewpoints.

Architectural Projects

257 City Road -Canaletto Tower

Named Canaletto, the tower is designed with a curving facade of metal and glass that breaks the volume into a series of three-to-four story clusters. Each of these clusters are imagined as individual "neighbourhoods in the sky", with balcony terraces that afford views of the City of London to the south and the basin waterways to the north.
Comprising of 30 floors at over 116m, the Cannaletto Building is a keynote addition to the London skyline.

NES Architectural's package included drawing and fabrication of the aluminium Megaframe feature cladding for the building envelope.
Key to securing this contract was NES ability to press brake 8m panels, fabricate the compound curved aluminium with seamless weld joints and 3D model the entire building envelope in-house.
The metallic silver PPC refracts the intricate compound curves of the facade and holds a 25 year AkzoNobel guarantee.


Architect: UNStudio
Lead Contractor: Ardmore Construction
Developer: Orion
Specification Consultants: BuroHappold Engineering
Consultant Engineers: Axis Architects
Consultant Engineers: Wintech
Scope: 4000 sq. m (10,000sq. m including returns) Architectural Aluminium Feature Cladding

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257 City Road -Canaletto Tower Related Products

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Architectural Projects

St Elizabeth House

Anodised Perforated Cladding Panels with internal LED illumination fitted to the new entrance.

Priorities from the client were to give the building identity and presence.

Close collaboration with Hawkins Brown Architects was essential to intergrate this ambitious architectural feature into the greater refurbishment scheme.

The result is a high impact entrance and signature design element on the façade. The motif is continued through the digitally printed wallpaper inside (also supplied by NES) and on the corporate St Elizabeth House web site.

Improve accessibility into and around the building to be more welcoming and usable was also important. To ensure this we provided architectural detailing thin enough to fit within the structure, an invisible cladding fixing system and even LED illumination.

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St Elizabeth House Related Products

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Column Cladding

NES Architecturals ability to roll brushed or polished stainless steel column casings at 4.2m is extremely popular.

Eight meter long circular column casings can be manufactured as single formed items.

In addition to our big roller we have a number of other rollers each with their own partucular niche's and strengths:

• 4.2m roller. This has recently been skimmed for flattness on mirror polished stainless steel columns. The end is demountable. This allows for full 360 degree columns to be formed from a single piece. The 3rd roller can be adjusted in angle. This allows cones to be formed. The strength of the motor allows for steel of up to 6mm to be rolled and aluminium up to 10mm in thickness.

• 3m CNC roller. This is kept speicifically for Aluminium Composite Meterial (ACM). The diameter is 300mm min. This roller is kept just for the softer metal to ensure and extra smooth finish. So much so we can digitally print directly onto the ACM and then roll the sheet into a curved cladding panel or column casing without damaging the print. Normally the only way of getting a full colour digital print onto a column like this would be to apply vinyl.

• Extrusion roller. This has a number of different wheel attachements. Each attachment is for a different box section, L-Section, H-Section or more complex extruded profile. We can also roll more complex extrusions with the addition of polycarbonate fillets to prevent collapsing.

1.2mm hand roller. 100mm dia. This is useful for flashing and architectural detailing.

The large scale, quality and consistency of our machines combined with skilled technicians is key to our success in this specialism.

If you would like more information please get in touch with Michael Irwin, Account Manager, by emailing Michael@nes-solutions.co.uk

Column cladding materials:

• Powder coated Aluminium
• Brushed or mirror polished stainless steel
• Aluminium Composite Material
• Anodised aluminium
• Corten Steel

Max sheet size:

2 meters x 8 meters.

Fixing systems:

• Invisible fix hook on system with pins
• Invisible fix hook on system with hooks
• Dishpan with through face fix
• Bespoke fixing system

Downloads

Column Cladding Example Projects

Follow links below to review some of our recent works

For pricing please call 01206 843200 or email Michael Irwin, Account Manager Michael@nes-solutions.co.uk

The more information that can be provided, the faster, more accurate and definitive we can be with our pricing.
Ideally, a full drop box including CAD, .pdf, architectural visualisations and NBS Specifications will be provided.
Typically we like to offer a range of materials, fixing systems and finishes.

These should be broken down into:
• Survey
• Design (drawing up, workshop drawings and structural calculations)
• Manufacture
• Installation.

For jobs under 100 square meters we would generally offer a supply only price. This is due to the project overheads of RAMS, project managers, legal contractual’s, credit insurance, design detailing, site liability insurance etc. We have a list of accredited installation contractors through the UK that we can make available in these instances.

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