Archify Live: Facade Finishes and Interior Designs by Sto Australia

Archify Live is our web series that responds to an increasing demand for virtual learning and networking. Our latest session was held on the 9th of December 2021 and was presented by Sto Australia. Below is a transcript of the presentation.

My name is Geoff. My presentation today is about creating beautiful facades. 

I am the specification manager and I'm actually located in Sydney even though I'm in wintery Melbourne on a beautiful cloudy day. Here's my details below (on slide).

Who is STO? STO is a multinational world leader in wall systems, coatings, renders and building materials. We’re based out of Germany and we do a lot of products for the building industry. We provide acoustic panels for inside rooms and halls, renders and paints for external façade, rainscreen cladding as well as other decorative finishes that you will see in a typical build. 

STO is almost 200 years old. Established back in 1835, we are a global company specialising in renders, coatings, finishes and rainscreen systems, we have a €3 billion turnover year on year. Over 100 years of business, we have installed a lot of facades. Whether it's render and finishes on facades or rainscreen cladding, we’ve installed over 640 million square metres since measurement began in 1965. As a global company, we are in over 80 countries and we have all the accreditations, ISO, EPDs for us to operate globally. For Australia, especially for those designers and specifiers, we have both Australian standards and brand certifications for all our systems and products. 

First, a bit of history about STO. I want to talk to you about renders and coatings and acrylic renders and coatings. The reason why is because STO is a pioneer in acrylic render. Renders are traditionally primarily sand and cement, but we brought cement-free acrylic render to the marketplace and have been doing so since 1952. Our render systems are also sustainable, we have been part of the Passivhaus concept discussion around the world since 1992. 

This is just to show where we are around the world. We do operate with partners as well as directly owned institutions. 

There are a lot of ways to create beautiful facades. For STO, there are three ways. First is a traditional render. Then, there is an exterior insulated system where the insulation is on the outside of the build, which is by far one of the most popular wall systems in the world. Finally the traditional rainscreen cladding.

For facades, let's start with traditional render. So what makes STO so different? STO render is an acrylic reinforced render. It not only provides form, but is also a functional product. It reinforces the strength of any walls or substrate that it touches. This means the render is really, really strong compared to the sand and cement renders of the past, up to 12 times stronger. That means it’s crack resistant, STO render is built to last. It has very, very high impact resistance, is breathable and it can be used outside and inside, essentially so much so that STO globally offers a 20 year warranty on any facades that uses the STO system. That includes the render and the paint finish, and that warranty covers workmanship by our applicators as well as the performance of the render on the building. What that means is that your designs will last much longer than its typical design life. 

Another way to achieve the desired facade is with what we call our Exterior Wall Insulated System. As you can see on the photo there, the difference between the traditional render and exterior wall insulated system is that the insulation is on the outside of the building. What that means is that this system is terribly efficient for a jointless façade. If you want to create a beautiful façade that has a limited number of joints, STO Exterior Wall Insulated System is perfect for this. The installation that is offered by STO as part of a system is noncombustible, it is highly weather resistant and on the top it can take a variety of colours, shapes and textures and it comes with a 20 year national facade warranty. The difference between STO and other companies when it comes to this kind of system is that this system is installed by STO applicators from beginning to the end. No two trades or no three trades required to build a wall system. STO will build it from cradle to grave and will warranty the system for up to 20 years.

Last but not least is our rainscreen cladding system. Rainscreen cladding system is a well-known system around the world, and for STO, a rainscreen cladding allows us to introduce even more finishes than the traditional render STO is popular with. With the rainscreen cladding system, STO can offer a range of brick panels, glass, and ceramic tiles stone tiles for any design requirement that you want for your project. Because it is much a stronger system, you can put bricks on a STO system and it will hide from view for a dauntless and seamless façade. It can hide a lot of unevenness in the sub construction which sometimes can be a bit problematic to fix but the rainscreen cladding system can be a good alternative. It also has a 20 year national facade warranty, offered by STO globally as well as in Australia. 

The second part of the presentation is over the materiality. STO is known around the world for being able to create bespoke textures or textures that closely replicates all the natural building products as well as popular building products that are found in the marketplace today. That all can be achieved with an easy render system and is designed to last for as for as long as the building and it comes with a warranty that I've mentioned in previous slides.

I just want to show you some new finishes that we have come up with as a company that have been used around the world. So what you can see on your screen is our range of most popular concrete finishes. From the smooth to the really rough with textural feel to the concrete. All this you can request and we will give you samples and different options to identify what is best for your projects. 

Just to give you examples of where all these products have been used. One of them is for Australia and New Zealand and I think this for the world. This is the Phoenix Centre in Sydney designed by Durbach Block Jagger and John Wardle architects. It has recently been nominated for the World Architectural Award 2021 and uses the different kinds of concrete finishes which we call the Stone Milano range to meet the brief. So we have Stone Milano on your left hand side being used around windows and walls, on the front entrance and even in wet areas like steam rooms to follow on from that concrete language that we have.

Further afield in Spain we have worked with architects to achieve a Tuscan look for interiors, with that really stone Tuscan feel.

Back home in Australia, Stone Milano is a very versatile product, it can be painted and used as a concrete finish. This particular example here this is the Microsoft head office in Australia in North Sydney, designed by Tom Mark Henry and it uses the Milano on the finish itself, as well as on the walls and floors.

We have gone from the materiality of concrete where we have renders to match the look of concrete to those now that look like stone. In Australia, we have a lot of stones, limestone, Travertine, sandstone, what I'm showing you is a selection of stone render that is popular around the world, including Australia. All of these samples are available from STO, please contact myself or local representatives of STO for these textures. 

This is an example of a residence in Croatia, where there is a prolific use of stone on the first floor of an apartment and they want that continuation of the same texture past the first floor. Gives it sort of a worn down but really natural effect.

This is in Majorca in Spain, where the brief from SCT was to have a texture on the walls, both inside and out, that replicates sandstone. So as you can see, it's painted white outside but it's left to its natural colour for the bathrooms, the wet areas, (SLIDE 20) as well as the soffit, as you can see.

Last but not least is metallic surfaces. Metallic surfaces is a favourite of mine because metal panels on their own are a brilliant building product. However, it has some flaws in terms of indentations, imperfections and often typically very hard to replace. But with STO, you can have essentially a very hard and a very strong product that looks like metal.

 This is basically a STO Milano or stone concrete texture that's been painted to look like metal!

The light bouncing off the surface, the textures, it's just simply amazing

This is in the Kings Cross Station in London. At the Core Drop yards close to the King's Cross Station. This is a commercial shopping centre close to the King's Cross Station where they wanted a metallic look using one of our stone render textures.

This is an example using the colour black. Black is a very hard colour to use, because black paint has inherent performance issues, especially in sunny weathers or conditions, or hot climates like Australia. However, STO has a product called STO X Black, which is a heat reflective paint. It can be used in tandem with renders to create a facade that essentially will not be subjected to the same conditions as a typical wall with black or darker shades of paints. For example, cracks, delamination and other issues.

These are other STO finishes that you can request as samples or look for from STO around the world.

Curve structure or curve facade is a core competence of STO, because STO systems are so flexible that it allows the render to hug the facade and gives it the strength that it requires to be durable.

I couldn't finish the presentation without showing this very popular project, by Durbach Block Jagger again, in the University of Technology of Sydney, also by BVN. This is a project that combines all the facade options that I've just mentioned early on in my presentation. It uses a rainscreen cladding system together with a render to create the beautiful curves that just seem to go on forever. And it has won many awards since then. We were very, very fortunate to be part of that project. We will continue to want to work with people such as yourselves for the next project. 

QUESTION:

Are these tintable in different colours?

GEOFF:

Yes, it is. Globally, it is printable in any colour, whether it is STO or any other suppliers around the world. Sto we have over 800 colours in our system. Yes, the answer is yes.

QUESTION:

Do you have supply chain issues and what are your current lead times for orders?

GEOFF:

Great question. I think this is one of the most important questions. The answer is no, we don't have any supply issues. Because two years ago, STO decided to set up operations in Australia. We have offices around Australia at the moment, and we have warehouses in both Melbourne, Brisbane as well as Sydney. So in terms of products, we have all the products that STO has around the world in Australia.

One last thing is, please do remember that STO systems are form and functional, because it is a system that just gives you a lot of choices about materiality, and that's what we live for. It is, on top of that, strong, flexible, and is the world's most tested system. Is has been used for over 100 years and our systems come with a comprehensive warranty. We will give all the design services and support from cradle to grave and we’ll work with your designers to bring your project life.