When an industrial and office design and build company wants to build a new Headquarters for its business, you would expect it to know exactly what it wanted and where to get it. So, it was no surprise to Kingspan Insulated Panels when the company, Winvic Construction Ltd, chose Kingspan's KS1000TT Thermatile system for its £1.2m building project in Northampton.

Having worked with Kingspan Insulated Panels on earlier projects, Winvic's David Ward was confident of the product's efficacy. He said:

"We chose Kingspan because they offer simple systems that speed up the whole construction process by providing a completely weathertight building envelope at an early stage, allowing internal trades to start sooner. By using Thermatile, we were able to combine all the benefits of insulated panel construction with the design impact of ceramic tiles."

The innovative Thermatile system is the result of considerable research at Kingspan, which resulted in an insulated panel specifically for use with ceramic tiles. Supporting rails for the tiles are mounted on to the panel, and tiles are then hung from the rails and secured by stainless steel compression springs.

The inner skin of the building becomes airtight, watertight and weatherproof as soon as the panels are installed. The system complies with all major tests, and provides reliable thermal performance and insulation continuity - with no cavities, gaps, cold bridges or interstitial condensation. The additional benefit of this is that internal fit-out can start earlier, for a speedier build.

Kingspan Insulated Panels is the only manufacturer to offer a complete insulated panel / terracotta rainscreen system that is compliant with all major tests. The company has worked with a leading European tile manufacturer to develop a range of architectural ceramic tiles for the Thermatile system, which are available in six colour options and have the highest design and functional standards.

The system is simple to install; is easily integrated with openings such as windows; and can be combined with other cladding products such as curtain walling, glazing and Kingspan panels, allowing architects to combine systems and create individual façade designs. This has been used to good effect on the Winvic HQ with its use of silver and blue panels used alongside the terracotta tiles.

The Thermatile system complies with the stringent fire test LPS1181 from the Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB); and has achieved certification to Grade EXT-B. The system is also compliant with: the CWCT Standard Test method for Rainscreens; BSEN 13830:2003 (for air permeability, water tightness and wind resistance); BRE structural tests; and 35 year durability tests to ASTMD951 (water) and IEC68-2-32 (salt mist).