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The Exquisite Balance of Technology & Viability – Zak World of Facades

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Zak World of Facades through its 27th edition globally and 6th edition in Mumbai, once again took up the ongoing cause of empowering the facade industry and bringing together the stakeholders to discuss and dwell on some novel concepts and ideas like ventilation, solar shading, structural glass, alternative facade materials – both natural and synthetic in nature, natural cladding material, GFRC and a lot more.

The one day conference held every year in prominent metropolitan cities of India is becoming a ‘go to’ event for the most prominent and appreciated names from the construction industry in India. This time, at Mumbai, it was no different when the facade experts from India and abroad converged and shared their expertise and experience in order to achieve best façade execution practices. Needless to say, this edition exhibited some of the finest facade products and hosted some highly technical, but relevant to the Indian context, facade talks. The event was intimate, with over 427 attendees who thronged the Grand Ball room of ITC Maratha.

The endeavour was to unite the ever expanding brigade of experts in the field of façades and building envelopes, to bring to the fore the novice ideas and improvise the old, thereby enabling an adept and empowered façade industry. The conference doubled up as a unique platform for networking and enhancing business relationships.

The 6th Mumbai edition of Zak World of Facades started as Tariq Kachwala, Director of FG Glass, who was the Master of Ceremony for the event initiated the conference proceedings with a short synopsis of the day to unfold. Relating the past journey of Zak World of Facades, Syed Ahad Ahmed, Director, Zak group, welcomed the audience and hence began the much-awaited technical presentations.

The first session saw an informative presentation by Balaji Chandran, Head – of Application Engineering, FunderMax India, who highlighted the principles of ‘Rear Ventilated Facade Systems’’.

Taking the concept of ventilation to the next level was Frank Goudman, Export Manager for Reason Asia who elaborated on “Natural Ventilation & Solar Shading for High-Rise Buildings” while explaining the need for ventilation and solar shading in high rises and suggesting solutions for the same.

Next in line was an interesting and informative account on the development of glass for structural applications, which normally is considered a non-load-bearing building component. Presented by the charming Sanmukh Bawa, Project Engineer, Eckersley O’Callaghan, “Engineering Clarity in Glass” was one distinct highlight of the show and sparked the interest of everyone present.

Session two began with Nitin Govila, Managing Director – Asia Pacific, ME & Africa for Serge Ferrari who presented an alternative approach for facades by talking about ‘Architectural Functions & Benefits of Tensile Fabric Facades. He explained its various uses in thermal comfort & glare control as well as the possibility of executing dynamic facades with day/night effects.

Moving on to the next, Ashish Kapoor, Sales Director at Schueco India gave a brief introduction to the world’s leading test centre – “The Schueco Technology Centre” for building envelopes.

Taking over the stage from him was the keynote speaker of the day Hans Brouwer, Director, HB Design, who gave an articulate view on “Innovations in High Rise Residential and Environmentally Responsive Office Facade Designs”. The presentation left the audience awestruck with its sheer brilliance and never-thought-before like approach.

The second session concluded with the panel discussion on “Exploring the Eco-friendly Alternatives for Building Envelopes”. The panel comprised of some of the most sought after names of their respective fields. They were Nikita Mehta, Senior Associate, Architect Hafeez Contractor; Mukesh Jaitley, Director – Projects, Wadhwa Developers; Jawahar HH, Director, Glass Wall Systems; Akhil Palherkar, Joint General Manager, L&T Realty; Balaji Chandran, Head – Application Engineering, FunderMax India and Ulhas Ghare, Consultant, GFRC Technology. Moderator KR Suresh, Regional Director, Axis Facades, deftly steered the discussion that questioned the monopoly of glass in facades and explored the use and implications of using alternative facade materials.

The conference adjourned for the networking lunch and the delegates thronged the exhibit area while eating or waiting for their turn at the buffet.

The conference adjourned for the networking lunch and the delegates thronged the exhibit area while eating or waiting for their turn at the buffet.

Session three opened with an interesting presentation by Sourabh Kankar, Regional Manager, Gujarat Guardian on “Sustainable Solutions of Smart Cities”. He elaborated on energy efficient glass solutions with case studies and explained the use of tools and calculators for glass selection.

Presenting next was Rajan Govind, Director, BES Consultants, who highlighted the “Importance of Good Design with Practical Approach”. He explained how a resolved design can have a positive impact on the project success and the adverse impact of an unsuitable design.

Continuing the excitement, the next presenter, Malvinder Singh Rooprai, Technical Consultant (Asia Pacific), Kuraray showed the audience “What’s Inside a Laminated Glasss”, while highlighting Interlayer solutions for various applications and at the same time dwelling on the performance limits being pushed by new materials and building regulations. Next to present was the dynamic Micha Pawelka, Managing Director, Priedemann Building Envelope Consultants – United Arab Emirates, who urged the audience to “Be Serious Please” about the facade consultancy and defied the audience by asking petulant questions like who is competent and how long will it take for the industry to learn the lessons of responsibility and accountability.

Moving on to the next presentation, Hitesha Thakur, Design Manager from Glass Wall Systems explained about the “Different Elements in Facades” like glass and beyond the glass. Session three was concluded with another thought provoking presentation by Tanuj Sharma, Zonal Head – Central & West India for Kinlong Hardware India, whose endeavour was to strive for “Innovation & Standardisation in Architectural Hardware. He touched upon key subjects like galfen coatings and analysis with GI Cables.

Session 4 commenced with the presentation on “Direct Applied Exterior Finishing System” by Koushik Sarkar, CEO, USG Boral. He emphasised on a dry wall cladding technology and its benefits, thereby envisioning a clean and dry future.

Final presentation of this extraordinary conference was by S Ravishankar, Manager – Application Engineering & Tech Services for Dow Corning who spoke on “Innovative Silicone Materials for Innovative Designs”. The presentation entailed studies of high strength and crystal clear silicone technologies for exterior facades.

The high octane day was concluded with an open house quiz on “Fire Safety & Security” with expert opinion from the panel. Tariq Kachwala, Director FG Glass was the quizmaster. Panellists included Sundeep Gwash, Principal, The Firm Associates; Rajeev Antony, Managing Director, Schueco India;

Prabhat Rahangdale, Chief Fire Officer, Mumbai Fire Brigaded and Kamlesh Choudhari, Director, Glass Wall System. It was interesting to see how involved the audience was and actively took part in the question answer session that prompted them to think out of the box and come up with the ways in passive fire protection.

The conference was complemented by a unique display, where some of the most fascinating facade products were showcased. Schueco displayed their precision engineered Facade and Window Systems while Glass Wall Systems showcased their exceptional facade building services. Modiguard was present with their high performance Sunguard and Climaguard range of glass and complementing that was the high strength and high performance interlayer systems by Trosifol. The display included high precision hardware from the houses of Kinlong and Archintex.

The Mumbai conference also saw a diverse range of alternative facade materials ranging from dry wall cladding system from USG Boral, ultrathin engineered marble cladding from Neolith and High Pressure laminates from FunderMax as well as the extraordinary tensile fabric facade system from Serge Ferrari along with beautiful natural finishes from titanium zinc cladding system – VM Zinc. Dow Corning showcased their line of clear and high performance silicone materials, and Renson was present with their unique range of ventilation and solar shading systems. McCoy Soudal displayed their silicone and adhesives, and Siderise from UK exhibited their unique range of perimeter barrier systems for fire and acoustic isolation.