The Cheesegrater, Sheffield

A striking, design-led visual identity

By far the most striking thing about the Cheesegrater building is its visual identity. The façade is made up of hundreds of aluminium panels all completed to a uniform natural anodised finish from United Anodisers.

Each panel is manufactured from a single piece of folded aluminium which is cut to an angle on two sides. The panels have then been hung in one of four different orientations across the face of the building, creating a varied but coherent look due to the varying angle of reflectance from multiple viewing points around the city.

The Natural finish and the different orientations of the panels give the building a three-dimensional physicality and allow the intrinsic beauty of the aluminium to shine through.

The architect explains the visual effect further:

“The appearance of the panel system varies between day and night. By day, a varied monochromatic pattern of light and dark is achieved over each of the elevations, with each panel giving a different light reflectance from its surface, the variety of open ends and tilted faces transform the surface as daylight fades.

“By night, the interior lighting bleeds between each panel and creates a non-uniform composition of light and dark across the surface.”

More than just a pretty face

However, there is more to the aluminium façade at the Cheesegrater than just good looks. It was also a highly practical choice.

First, the varying orientation of the folded panels provides natural ventilation. There is a constant air flow into the car park and no need for mechanical ventilation solutions.

Second, it hides the structure which was a key practical goal for the designers because the site sits in the heart of Sheffield city centre. A standard multi-storey car park would have negatively affected the modern street scene and undermined the freshness of the city centre regeneration.

Third, the anodised finish ensures that only minimal maintenance and cleaning is required across the lifespan of the façade. This is a tight site and the folded aluminium panels themselves would be a very tough cleaning job. The size, protruding shapes and lack of uniformity ensure a cleaning crew would need days to finish their work.

Anodised aluminium means this is not a concern. The external face of the façade is resistant to corrosion, abrasion and other forms of damage, even in a high-UV and pollution location such as Sheffield city centre.

The value of anodised aluminium is clear when contrasted with the internal face of the façade. The inside of each panel is coated with a green, non-anodised finish. It is already starting to corrode and flake off less than 20 years from the site’s opening. The anodised exterior still looks as good as new and will continue doing so for decades to come.

That makes our anodised aluminium finishes a more sustainable, durable and cost-effective choice for the Cheesegrater and other similar projects.

Peter Watts, Managing Director at United Anodisers, said: “The Cheesegrater is an unusual site which shines thanks to the anodised aluminium façade. Our Natural finish is durable and easy to maintain so the visual effect of the aluminium is never dulled or lost. It’s a great building and a project we’re very pleased to have worked on.”