The manufacturing industry is building back fast post lockdown; so are façade and fenestration industries, undismayed by significant labor and supply chain challenges, raw material price variations, and reduced margins. To maintain the momentum, manufacturers should navigate elevated risks while advancing sustainability priorities. We interacted with many industrialists and influencers to understand the present market situation and to know their outlooks and hopes for the decade. We also discussed manufacturing industry trends that can help capture growth and meet the rising demands. [caption id="attachment_45906" align="alignleft" width="217"] Sails in white - Sattva Galleria Bangalore. Cladding is done with products from FunderMax India Pvt. Ltd[/caption] Optimism around revenue growth found in 2019 was held in check by the pandemic 2020. Labor shortages and supply chain instability were reducing operational efficiency and margins, which is still a problem. Another shortfall was seen in skilled manpower, which is affecting productivity. A report by Deloitte, one...

As a veteran in the field of sealants, PU foams, and building hardware accessories, I can truly give you my in-depth understanding of what India has witnessed in the past couple of years and the future of the façade & fenestration industry in coming years. PU FOAMS AND SEALANTS [caption id="attachment_45852" align="alignright" width="167"] Tilt & Turn window[/caption] I would like to break up the subject of sealants and PU foams first… The humble beginning of the sealant industry: Use of Silicone mainly started with Silicone structural glazing way back in the early 1990s. Silicone now is a ‘must have’ for every façade, door, and window aka fenestration. The revolution in the silicone industry came with the advent of uPVC doors and windows in early 2000 and now after two decades, it is mandatory to use the same in every door and window installation. The organized aluminum system companies also shaped...

Vikas Malhotra is a BE (Mechanical) graduate and did his MBA From Amity Business School. After working for 2 years he pursued the Entrepreneur Course from IIM - Lucknow. Before starting his venture ‘DNV’ along with Naveen Jain in 2008, he worked with a few companies in India and Abroad. Vikas Malhotra could foresee good demand in the uPVC industry and accordingly started uPVC hardware manufacturing. Today DNV is one of the top hardware companies and their products are approved by mostly all profile companies. DNV is now coming up with a much bigger unit with a lot of automization and it will be fully operational by January 2021. With this new unit, DNV will be able to further improve its product’s quality and consistent supplies.

The advent of globalization has helped introduce new window and cladding systems, and cladding materials into the Indian market, which were not available earlier. This advent has introduced multiple choices to the designers and hence designers need to carefully understand and select the systems that will suit the design best. The basis of design needs to be broadly done on the following parameters: [caption id="attachment_45705" align="alignright" width="300"] A residential project – Gunjay at Nashik[/caption] Climatic context: The choice of material for façade systems in context to local climate Surrounding or micro context: The location of the building in context to its immediate surrounding Design context: The choice of system, material, and color in the context of the intended design Analyzing these three contexts helps a designer choose the right material for the design being proposed. I’m elaborating on these three contexts to give one a brief idea of what each...

Architectural hardware plays an inevitable role in the construction industry, whether it is residential, commercial, or industrial. Every infrastructure is incomplete without architectural hardware, and this raises the demand for the architectural hardware market. The presence of several international and domestic hardware products in the market, along with urbanization fuels the growth of this market sector. Advancements in technologies increased real estate investments, amplified infrastructure projects such as residences, schools, hospitals, airports, etc, are immensely contributing to the growth of the architectural hardware market. The construction activities carried out in emerging nations such as China, Japan, India, and others are heavily demanding for the architectural hardware that further drives the growth of this market. The first wave of covid-19 created a decline in residential sales. However, the impact of the second wave was partial. Despite states imposing lockdown, the developers launched projects across major cities, out of which the majority...

Irfan Wasil, Zonal Manager for Karnataka region (Head office) is associated with Kin Long for over a half-decade.  Irfan Wasil started his career in Kin Long as a Sales Engineer in 2016 and at present serves as Zonal Manager. Kin Long is one of the largest hardware manufacturers in the world of its kind serving the industry for more than 45 years. In India, Kin Long has 13 branches including all metropolitan cities. Kin Long India at present, owns three warehouses, one in Bangalore, others in Mumbai and Delhi respectively. Kin Long is unique with the manpower strength and in-house design, business development, and product specialized departments aimed at catering the clients with top-notch service levels and improving the living standard of common people.

Kingston Multi Products India (P) Ltd is a New Delhi-based business organization established in 2010, with a vision of providing qualitative economic range solutions to various industry segments related to construction, automotive, interiors, uPVC, etc. [caption id="attachment_45611" align="alignleft" width="150"] PANKAJ BAHL Director of Kingston Multi Products India (P) Ltd[/caption] Brand Kingston and Insta is a part of IK Group comprising two ventures - Glorious products (India) Pvt Ltd (INSTA) and Kingston Multi Products (India) Pvt Ltd, having a diversified range of building hardware and construction products. In 2010, Kingston introduced a fast & easy false ceiling installation solution to the market in acoustical false ceilings, tee-grid sections, acoustic wall panels and then expanded to many types of sealants and adhesives supporting various industries for Glass, hardware, automotive, uPVC, Solar, decor building, etc. Kingston Sealants commits to providing the best solutions for sealing, bonding, caulking, and insulating by supplying spray polyurethane...

Ozone, a leading manufacturer of Architectural hardware with high-quality products, will set up the new Industrial Cluster in the Ghiloth Industrial region in Rajasthan to cater to the domestic & international market demand via the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, and thus the company will increase its manufacturing capacity. The company, planning to cater to the rising global demand, will have the facility laid out in 13 Acres, with a world-class research and development center. Ozone manufactures specialized digital door locks, glass fittings, automatic doors, electronic safes, demountable partition systems, and framed shower sliding systems, etc. While the company has aligned its production capacity as per the requirements of the ‘Make in India’ campaign, its vision is to ‘Make for the World’ to cater to global demand and serve across 40 countries. The company’s portfolio has over 5000 products. Currently, it has four manufacturing units located at KalaAmb, Himachal Pradesh...

We see that the Indian uPVC doors and windows market was growing at an exceptional rate and was estimated to grow at a CAGR of more than 7% during the next 5 to 6 years. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, and due to the lockdown trade restrictions were imposed. These restraints disrupted the supply chain and affected the windows and doors industry in 2020 like any other industry. Technological development has changed the traditional outlook on the use of wood and aluminium doors and windows and customers are choosing uPVC more. Constant innovation is helping us to discover and deliver better. The technology used in making uPVC makes it very cost-effective and easy to install, unlike others where installation is a hassle. [caption id="attachment_45489" align="alignright" width="500"] French arch window[/caption] The doors and windows made of uPVC are lighter but durable. uPVC has exceptional thermal performance, as during winters they resist...

What are the criteria for the selection of Architectural hardware for façades and fenestrations? [caption id="attachment_45146" align="alignright" width="300"]                    Corner-slider[/caption] With a change emerging in the trends now and then, it is very important to keep the beauty and art inculcated in the designs, in accordance with the ergonomics involved in making of façades and fenestrations, and keeping these in mind, the durability also carries a salient role. A combination of these factors should be involved while selecting architectural hardware for façades and fenestrations. The hardware can be said to be the face of the brand, so it should complement the windows & doors in such a way that the features of products get enhanced. Lack of standardization of window and door systems considering the design approach is one of the major challenges faced by the hardware industry. Do you agree with...

Please tell us about your company SIEGENIA India Pvt. Ltd. and about yourself? How long the company has been in this business in the Indian market? SIEGENIA India Pvt. Ltd. was established on the 1st of June in 2017 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SIEGENIA GROUP, Germany which, in turn, is over a century old company. We have our office and warehouse in Gurugram. SIEGENIA GROUP develops solutions that bring spaces to life. With an innovative and wide-ranging product portfolio for modern window systems, door systems and comfort systems. KFV Karl Fliether GmbH & Co. KG (a SIEGENIA GROUP company) covers the entire field of modern locking systems for doors. I have been associated with the façade & fenestration industry for the last 15 years. I joined SIEGENIA India Pvt. Ltd. as the M.D. on the 1st of September, 2020. My prior assignment was with Reynaers Aluminium Pvt. Ltd. I...

SIEGENIA India Pvt. Ltd., established in India in 2017, has seen many milestones of growth over the past four years. The company is a manufacturer of all ranges of quality hardware for all kinds of uPVC, aluminium and wooden profiles. Mr. Ajay Tenany, Managing Director, SIEGENIA India has over two decades of working experience in the building materials industry. Skilled in negotiation, business planning, cost management, international business, sales management and general management, he is a strong entrepreneurship professional with a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from BHU, Varanasi and holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering (B.E.) from N.I.T. Silchar, Assam. Before joining SIEGENIA, he was the Director of Reynaers Aluminium. Mr. Ajay Tenany talks about his company, their innovative products, the company’s milestones, its manufacturing facilities, projects and the evolution of the fenestration industry and architectural hardware industry in India. Excerpts from the interview:

The architect's never-ending artistic pursuit and the continued emergence of urban complexes and super high-rise buildings give façade design technology plenty of room to play a role in design, manufacturing, and installation, and the advent of BIM brings good opportunities for the development of façade design. BIM technology has become the unavoidable choice for the building envelope industry development. [caption id="attachment_44762" align="alignright" width="150"] Juan Tena FlorezRegional Digital Design Manager, KEO[/caption] A façade component in BIM-parametric design is not only a virtual geometric component, but it also has additional geometric qualities, such as component material, thermal performance, cost, purchasing information, weight, installation number, and so on. We have interviewed a few of the industry experts and presented their views in this cover story. In this cover story, we will look at how BIM is used in façade design, evaluate its benefits and drawbacks, and forecast the technological advancements that BIM will...

I have not always been a proponent of BIM, far from it. For a long time, and until a few years back, I thought that BIM was just an unnecessary complication, with limited added value as far as façade design and engineering are concerned. Without diving into it further, it seemed from the outside that BIM was simply a more complex method for documenting the façade design compared with simpler and more traditional approaches. Indeed, we had spent the better part of two decades designing façades first using hand-drawn sketches and manual computations, then subsequently using CAD applications for the production of drawings, along with finite element analysis software to speed up computations. Feeling comfortable with this state of play, I was for a while reluctant to explore alternative approaches to design documentation. After all, this method of work had proved effective in the delivery of projects for many years...

"It’s fascinating to take something forgotten and to give it new life: This is the century of recuperation. There is no space, no forests, no water anymore for the continuous production of new things. So, take something old and make it special.” [caption id="attachment_44046" align="alignleft" width="300"] A metal shell has been enveloped around the structure to protect the interiors from the hostile and acrid environment. The curved form is reflected on the exterior façade and helps draw the eye towards it[/caption] Emerging from this thought, the design of the Rug Republic headquarters in Okhla, in the heart of New Delhi is a reaction to its industrial setting: an indictment of what we have brought our cities to. The brief presented by the client was to make the existing dilapidated building usable again, within a limited budget and with minimal interventions. Hence, a great emphasis has been placed on reclaiming the...

Building envelope forms a critical component of our built environment. This is the medium that communicates with nature around. Lighting, ventilation, thermal comfort and safety are the attributes, in addition to aesthetics that have challenged architects since the beginning of civilisation. Insulation from heat, cold and noise, indoor air quality, longevity and maintainability are primarily contributed by the fenestration set-up or façade of the buildings. Elements of Design [caption id="attachment_43904" align="alignleft" width="300"] Façade glazing that turns into skylight at V-Club, Vaishnavi Commune[/caption] This article is an outcome of my personal search for solutions, and I hope that this serves as a simple reckoner to architects while designing, to assess possible solutions for building envelopes, façade and fenestration. Establishing an unhindered connection with nature possibly is the most desired design element for all architects. Collapsible or sliding-folding mechanisms of a wide variety for near 100% opening are now possible, thanks to...