Colorcoat-Online - Colour and pre-finished steel

Colour and pre-finished steel

When attempting to describe the appearance and performance of a building product, it can often be difficult to find the correct terminology. Specialists often resort to jargon, convoluted product references or overly technical descriptions. Trying to develop new coatings means capturing a building designer’s requirements and needs, described in more personal terms.

Solid colours

Solid colours are relatively straightforward. A plain finish in a particular colour can be explained using one of a number of standards. The longstanding British Standard, BS 5252 for building, still persists as a reference for 237 well-accepted or traditional colours. However, this standard has largely been superseded by Pantone, RAL or NCS.

Metallic effects

Metallic effects are increasingly popular for pre-finished steel roof and wall cladding products. Adding aluminium flakes to the basic coating creates a sparkly finish. The aluminium flakes, similar in shape to cornflakes but microscopic in scale, reflect back or scatter the light which falls upon them. This reflection generates the sparkle over and above the background solid colour, and will alter depending upon the viewing angle or level of lighting.

Emerging technologies

With solid colours the norm and metallic effects continuing to grow in volume, what is next for construction cladding?