Lead service

Façade and cladding packages, designed, supplied and installed

We deliver complete façade packages: the SFS behind the wall, the boards, insulation and cavity barriers, and the cladding that finishes it. Because we manufacture and install, main contractors deal with one company for the work and the materials.

Project capacity
Up to £50m
Core team with Express
15+ years
Approved fire stopping installer
FIRAS
Apex Camden from below: buff brick-effect piers, white window surrounds and the white fins of the top storey
Apex Camden, London: Shackerley cladding.

One package, from frame to finish

A façade is only as good as the interfaces between its layers. We take the whole build-up, so there is no gap in responsibility between the frame and the finish.

  • SFS from our own Rainham factory
  • Cement particle board and external sheathing boards, including fire barriers
  • Rainscreen and cladding systems, fixed to manufacturers' details
  • Aluminium flashings and copings for clean, weathertight junctions
The build-up we take onFrame to finish
  1. SFSMade in our Rainham factory
  2. Sheathing boardCement particle board and external boards
  3. Insulation
  4. Cavity barriersInstalled with the wall, to the fire strategy
  5. CladdingFixed to the manufacturer's details
  6. Flashings and copingsAluminium, for weathertight junctions

Cladding systems we install

Installed to the manufacturer's details, with the interfaces to the SFS, windows and roof coordinated by our design team.

  • Spelthorne Leisure Centre from above: the aluminium panel rainscreen on Core 3, the copper-coloured stair core

    Rainscreen cladding

    Aluminium, perforated and solid panels, including our own aluminium rainscreen systems from our sister company Express Facades.

    Pictured: aluminium panel rainscreen on Core 3, the copper-coloured stair core, at Spelthorne Leisure Centre, delivered by Express Facades for Willmott Dixon.

  • Pale cream glass reinforced concrete panels with a vertical fluted relief between deep-set windows on a modern building (illustrative image)

    GRC (glass reinforced concrete)

    Lightweight, strong panels, including secret-fix frame systems. On site now at UEA CDP Phase 1, for Mace.

  • Close view of anthracite grey fibre cement rainscreen panels with open joints and small colour-matched rivets beside a window (illustrative image)

    Fibre cement

    Including Equitone panels on secret-fix frames, as at UEA CDP Phase 1.

  • Buff brick-faced cladding with a projecting dark window surround at St Nicholas School

    Brick slip

    Including GeBrik insulated brick cladding and Taylor Maxwell brick slips.

    Pictured: brick-faced cladding at St Nicholas School, Croydon, where our package included GeBrik.

  • Three-storey building clad in flat oak-effect and pale grey high-pressure laminate panels with grey windows, seen from the pavement (illustrative image)

    High-pressure laminate (HPL)

    Including Trespa, installed with GeBrik at Adur Civic Centre, for Willmott Dixon.

  • Aerial view of Meopham School: profiled metal cladding in grey and silver with yellow window surrounds

    Metal cladding

    Aluminium, zinc and copper in plank, cassette or shingle form.

    Pictured: metal cladding at Meopham School, for Willmott Dixon, by Express Facades.

  • Vertical larch boards with slim shadow gaps on a low school building, with a dark grey window and a pale rendered panel (illustrative image)

    Timber cladding

    Installed with GeBrik and render at Canterbury Mills Academy, for Willmott Dixon.

  • Orange-red terracotta rainscreen panels in long horizontal courses above a ground floor clad in pale limestone (illustrative image)

    Terracotta and stone cladding

    Fixed to the manufacturer's system details on our own SFS.

  • Cream rendered elevation above a brick plinth at Cobham Free School, with tree shadows on the render

    Render systems

    See Render and EWI.

    Pictured: external render at Cobham Free School, Phase 2.

The frame and the finish, made by the group

Our SFS sits behind the cladding, and our sister company makes the aluminium rainscreen. One group answers for both.

Our SFS wall frame on site: galvanised studs and rails spanning the floors, seen from below against the sky

The frame

Our own SFS

Made in our Rainham factory, so the frame and the cladding come from one company.

  • Detailed by our design team and made to the approved drawings
  • Installed by our own teams with the boards, insulation and cladding
  • No separate framing supplier to chase

Pictured: our SFS on site, before the boards, insulation and cladding go on.

SFS (steel framing system)
Worthing Integrated Care Centre on a street corner: bronze aluminium fins and rainscreen panels under a blue sky

The finish

Express ALU Pro aluminium rainscreen

Made in the UK by our sister company Express Facades: fixed cassette, secret fix, plank and standing seam systems, in any RAL colour, with Express FS façade brackets.

  • Supplied and installed as part of our façade package
  • Used where it suits the specification

Pictured: Worthing Integrated Care Centre, for Galliford Try. Aluminium rainscreen designed, made and installed by Express Facades. Photo: Craig Auckland / Fotohaus.

Visit the Express Facades website
Visualisation of UEA CDP Phase 1: pale panelled buildings with full-height glazing set in landscaped grounds at the University of East Anglia
Visualisation.

Flagship projectOn site now

UEA CDP Phase 1

University of East Anglia, Norwich

Our scope: GRC and Equitone panels on secret-fix frame systems, SFS works, internal wall lining, an acoustic wall screen, louvre screens and heavy-duty steel louvre doors.

Main contractor
Mace
Location
Norwich
  • GRC panels
  • Equitone panels
  • SFS
  • Wall lining
  • Acoustic screen
  • Louvre screens
  • Steel louvre doors
View the project

Façade projects

Key facts and our scope for each package.

View all façade projects
Aerial view of Apex Camden beside the canal: a buff brick office building with a top storey of white vertical fins

Commercial · 2024

Complete

Apex Camden

Location
Camden, London
  • Shackerley cladding
St Dunstan’s College in Catford: a three-storey red brick block with large windows under a blue sky

Education · 2020

Complete

St Dunstan's College

Main contractor
Willmott Dixon
Location
Catford, London
  • SFS
  • CP board
  • Aluminium rainscreen
  • GeBrik
  • +5 more: Flashings, ceilings, partitions, acoustic panels, fire stopping
Dark brick-slip and grey panel façade at the Richmond Education and Enterprise Campus

Education · 2019

Complete

REEC, Richmond Education and Enterprise Campus

Main contractor
Willmott Dixon
Location
Richmond
  • SFS
  • CP board
  • GeBrik cladding
  • Marley cladding
  • +4 more: Flashings, acoustic panels, ceilings, partitions
Perforated aluminium rainscreen above a curved soffit and glazing at Eltham Cinema

Leisure · 2019

Complete

Eltham Cinema

Location
Eltham
  • SFS
  • CP board
  • Flashings
  • GeBrik cladding
  • +3 more: Perforated rainscreen, ceilings, partitions
Adur Civic Centre after recladding in copper-coloured panels with new glazing

Commercial · 2019

Complete

Adur Civic Centre

Main contractor
Willmott Dixon
Location
Shoreham-by-Sea
  • SFS
  • CP board
  • GeBrik cladding
  • Trespa cladding

How we work on a façade package

  1. Tender

    We review drawings, specification and fire strategy and price the full build-up.

  2. Design

    Our design team develops the SFS and cladding details and coordinates interfaces with the frame, windows and roof.

  3. Manufacture

    SFS and components are made to the approved drawings.

  4. Install

    Our own teams install frame, boards, insulation, cladding and trims in sequence.

  5. Handover

    Inspection records and documentation for your O&M and building safety files.

Pricing a façade package?

Send the drawings, specification and programme. We will price the full build-up or the parts you need.

Façade questions

Anything else? Call 01708 554777.

Do you supply the SFS as well as the cladding?

Yes. We manufacture our own SFS in Rainham and install it with the cladding, so the whole façade build-up comes from one company.

Which cladding systems do you install?

Rainscreen, GRC, fibre cement (including Equitone), brick slip (including GeBrik), HPL (including Trespa), metal, timber, terracotta and stone cladding, plus render systems.

Do you work to a manufacturer's system details?

Yes. We install cladding systems to the manufacturer's details and coordinate the interfaces with the SFS, windows and roof through our design team.

How is Express Group different from Express Facades?

Express Facades manufactures aluminium rainscreen systems, SFS and brackets. Express Group is the specialist contractor that designs and installs complete façade, recladding and drylining packages, using Express Facades products where they suit the specification.

What size of façade package can you take on?

We have the capacity to deliver façade, recladding and drylining packages on projects worth up to £50m.

Which areas do you cover?

We work for main contractors across London and the South East, from our base and factory in Rainham, Essex. We are also on site in Norwich, at UEA CDP Phase 1 for Mace.

Do you work as a specialist subcontractor to main contractors?

Yes. We work as a specialist subcontractor to main contractors such as Mace and Willmott Dixon: we design, supply and install the façade package and coordinate it with the other trades.

Computer-generated illustrations and renders, not photographs of our projects.