Award winning Urbanest Vauxhall is the tallest clay wall cladding building in the UK. Rising to 32 stories, the tower has 454 student bedrooms and the 31st storey has a ‘common room in the clouds’ where students can study and collaborate surrounded by incredible views of the city.

Urbanest has the smallest footprint and is the tallest clay wall cladding building in the UK, presenting a substantial challenge. The South West London-based student accommodation is in close proximity to the railway line and Vauxhall train station, it is also surrounded by existing buildings. This posed a further challenge as no building materials or clay wall cladding could be stored on site or nearby.

All Stofix panels were pre-assembled in our factory complete with window assemblies and were delivered on site via a lorry. The crane, which was mounted on the roof of the building, hooked the panels from the back of the vehicle and straight onto the fabric of the building. The few joints left to point at floor level were completed by abseilers.

When panels are assembled in a factory environment and installed on site by crane, the façade of the building is clad using a substantially quicker method compared to traditional forms of construction. Having no scaffold or Mast Climbers ensures costs are kept to a minimum and the smaller teams required to install means a savings on labour is achieved whilst potential delays are avoided.

Urbanest Vauxhall was crowned Developer of the Year at the 2018 Property Week Student Accommodation Conference and Awards. The judges in the Developer of the Year category were looking for exceptional student accommodation developers who were able to demonstrate that quality can be achieved within budgetary and time constraints, while not compromising on creating optimal living environments.