Downer Framing Launches a new free framing tool

Downer Designer helps contractors and specifiers design and cost rainscreen framing systems.

A next-generation, dedicated, free-to-use platform for the real-time development, creation and costing of rainscreen cladding framing designs has been launched by leading UK manufacturer Downer Framing.

Downer the original Helping Hand framing solution was one of the first rainscreen cladding framing systems on the UK market. BBA approved, tested to the extreme and officially Made in Britain, in its factory near Hastings, it set the benchmark in 1988.

Now the company has launched Downer Designer – a free-to-use online tool which enables contractors, installers and specifiers to outline their project-specific rainscreen requirements to generate optimised framing designs. All of which is stored and managed in their own personal online account.

Users simply enter the information they know, along with any detail-specific needs for new build or refurbishment projects in the commercial, education, healthcare, retail, leisure and transportation sectors. 

The technical team at Downer Framing will then provide: static and thermal calculations (up to 10 static calculations per project element), relevant costs, optimised component and fixing configurations, and NBS specification. All of which can be printed off or saved as a pdf. The user process can take as little as 10 minutes, and the Downer Technical team aim to have a Project Pack ready within just 24 hours.

The interfacing software which Downer Designer connects with is created by a team of specialist structural engineers. The user-friendly platform enables contractors, installers and specifiers to optimise even the most complex rainscreen framing projects from the very first instance, saving the design team not only money, but time and inconvenience.

Information required ranges from building height, cladding area, wind load references and construction type, through static calculations such as product type, panel thickness and weight, horizontal fix centres, and facade/soffit, to cavity depth, rail lengths and cantilevers, substrate, stud grade and centres, wall build up and target U-values.

Juan Barato, Downer Framing’s Technical Manager (Petrarch - a leading UK manufacturer and supplier of rainscreen systems and solutions) reflected: “While we focused on building our framing systems portfolio, we also realised we needed to help our customers design and price those systems, so Downer Designer was developed to do just that in the quickest and easiest way possible. Trials have proved we have got the balance just right.”

Downer Designer enables framing specifiers to access a dedicated space to cost their framing projects quickly and easily. Downer Designer brings everything a customer could potentially want into one place.

All new Downer Framing systems can be selected and costed in real-time, with optimised quotes aimed to be returned by our technical team within just 48 hours!