Titanic Museum

Telling a story through architecture and aluminium

The iconic Titanic Museum is the largest man-made tourist attraction in Northern Ireland, and tells the story of the famous ship of the same name. The structure is shaped like a star to replicate the emblem of the White Star Line shipping company that built it, with each corner of the building shaped like a hull.

These ‘hulls’ are covered in 6,200 sqm of anodised aluminium panels, which provide a unique, textured finish. The irregular configuration of the panels creates a geometrically complex rainscreen façade which doesn’t just catch the eye, but also dominates Belfast’s Titanic Quarter and is the focal point of the riverfront.

The project won a range of accolades following completion, including:

• European Aluminium Awards 2012 – Innovation Award and Overall Jury Prize
• British Construction Industry Awards 2012 –Major Building Project of the Year (over £50m) – Finalist
• RICS Awards 2013 – Design and Innovation Award
• Royal Society of Ulster Architects Awards 2014– Design Award

Maintaining consistency over a huge façade

On this project, we achieved a consistent finish over 120 tonnes of Novelis J57S® architectural grade aluminium to give the impression of waves reflecting and moving around the façade of the building. Achieving that effect relies on consistency – something that is difficult to achieve when anodising multiple batches of aluminium.. However, United Anodisers have decades of experience tightly controlling and replicating exacting standards and processes to give customers a consistent anodised finish every time.

Enhanced durability and resilience in marine conditions

The Titanic Museum’s location provided additional challenges for the façade beyond scale and a unique design. The extreme climate conditions of Belfast’s coast mean the building faces high winds, salty spray from the sea and UV from the sun, which threaten the building with corrosion every day. Our Z33 Natural Anodised finish is weather-resistant and corrosion-proof, while only needing minimal maintenance and cleaning. These qualities ensure our anodised finish retains its brilliant shine at all times, even in the most challenging conditions.

The finish: Z33 Natural Anodising

Our Z33 Natural Anodising solution is designed specifically for exposed and marine locations, which face harsher conditions than most buildings. United Anodisers is one of the only companies in the world which can provide this finish that ensures there is a minimum of 25 microns across the entire anodic layer and allows us to give a marine guarantee. The result is an anodised aluminium façade which is weather resistant and retains its brilliant shine with only minimal maintenance or cleaning in a C5 marine environment.