My product not used on Nautilus tower, says cladding manufacturer

An international cladding manufacturer says his product was not used on Orewa's $65 million high-rise Nautilus apartment tower.

Steve Henning, Singapore-based president of Alcan Composites Display & Architecture Asia Pacific, which is part of Alcan Alucobond (Far East), said the firm had no part in supplying materials for the tower.

He was responding to reports of weathertight issues at the tower and said the Nautilus cladding was made by a competitor.

Dan Ashby, Auckland-based managing director of Brookfield Multiplex Constructions (NZ), which built Nautilus, confirmed this. But he said there were no problems with the Nautilus cladding or the product which was used.

The tower was clad in aluminium composite panels made by many different firms and used around the world, he said, including the iconic Dubai tower Burj Al Arab.

The cladding panels on Nautilus have a low-density polyethylene core laminated between two coil-coated aluminium sheets. That product gives the tower its shimmery grey/silver appearance.

The tower's apartment owners last year called in expert building consultants Prendos, which found what it called "global and systemic" issues.