Amit Malhotra is a well-known personality in the silicone and building products industry in SAARC nations. Amit joined the family business of waterproofing started by his late father Mr VK Malhotra in 1993. From its humble origin, McCoy Group has come a long way and has offices in India and abroad and sourcing offices globally. As the Leader and Founder of McCoy Group, Amit is a serial entrepreneur, having nearly 30 years of experience in running businesses in the construction industry with likes of construction chemical products including adhesive, sealant, and hardware. He is also the founder of McCoy Mart - the one-stop destination for all construction needs, and WFM Media. Amit is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Program OPM 2015- 2018. He is a professional who is emotionally bonded to his job and works with a lot of passion. Time, place and conditions cease to matter when...

P. Jothi Ramalingam Ponnusamy is the Director of Winwall Technology India Pvt Ltd, an ISO 17025 and an NABL performance testing laboratory. He has been associated with the architectural aluminium industry since 1990 as an anodising and powder coating specialist. He is presently a member of the Doors, Windows, and Shutters Sectional Committee, CED 11, which is responsible for creating the Indian Standards for the design, fabrication, testing and installation of doors, windows, and shutters. Jothi Ramalingam has constantly strived to create more test facilities in India for the benefit of the Indian façade and fenestration industry thereby helping the industry to improve its quality and successfully compete internationally. Under his stewardship, Winwall India has been accredited by NABL as the first laboratory in India for NFPA 285 testing of the fire propagation characteristics of exterior wall assemblies containing combustible components, testing facility for processed glass and conducting cyclic testing...

Vijay Kumar Mittal, a self-made man, has started his career in steel trading to EPC solutions. He delivered several end-toend turnkey industrial projects in Asian & African countries. With his decades of experience, he set up an ACP plant and brought his educational and business knowledge into it. He is regarded as one of most knowledgeable person on ACP with his vast exposure on building regulations that govern ACP applications. His interest lies in safety, performance, and sustainability. He always inspires young engineers and architects for their creative designs that balance functionality and aesthetics. Wonder Alu Board provides technical services covering usage of design elements, hardware, joinery techniques, fabrication, finishing & installation. Customers can contact them by calling at 011-47487700, 47481299, or fill out online enquiry form at www. wonderacp.com

Most modern high rise buildings we see coming up all around us today have façades and cladding covering almost 60- 100 per cent of their elevations. Architects and designers are in search of the iconic building and are constantly experimenting with different materials to clad their projects. Traditionally, natural stone was the most preferred material used in addition to painted masonry walls. However, in the last two decades, a variety of innovative cladding materials have been introduced by manufacturers to clad buildings which are stronger, lighter and more durable as compared to natural stone. The choices of materials used for cladding high rise building are normally selected on the basis of its appearance, durability, and availability of colors. However, now with the pressure on land availability in urban zones, the need for building taller structures has become the norm. While designing such high rise structures, the designers need to focus...

Caldwell Manufacturing Company, one of the world’s leading hardware suppliers based in North America, has acquired Archintex. 130 year-old Caldwell recently formed Caldwell South-East Asia with its plans to expand its Asian operations. Archintex already supplied Caldwell’s branded products such as Cotswold to companies’ in India. This acquisition will enable Caldwell to expand its branded lines and partner product lines within India and the rest of the South East Asia market. Adding the strength of Caldwell’s scale, distribution, products and significant investment in R & D, to the local market knowledge will ensure a bright future for Caldwell. Archintex started its business in 2012 selling hardware in India. As a part of their expansion plans, they were looking for strong partners to help grow sales, and provide a full hardware solution for the end user and they found Caldwell, who has a strong infrastructure and expertise of over 700 employees...

Ozone, the leading player in the architectural hardware industry, recently introduced twisted spider fittings for glass façades. The curvilinear twisted design element with PSS finish adds the magical look to the product. They are available in 4 way and 2 way spiders with fin type for the glass to glass and glass to wall / ceiling application. The curvilinear design reduces stress concentration at transition points, hence twisted spiders have higher strength to hold the glass. With twisted spider fittings, dome nuts will not be visible on find side glass. They are crafted in high quality SS 316 grade for longevity. Due to their great features and benefits, the product finds greater acceptance in many of the projects like the Maruti Suzuki Nexa showrooms across India. Besides aesthetics, these stainless steel spider fittings have great strength, durability yet minimalistic in design to be able to hold the desired load without...

A pioneer in the glass industry, Gold Plus Glass Industry manufactures, processes and trades various types of glasses. Headquartered in Delhi, it is the first and only 100% Indian owned float glass manufacturer. [caption id="attachment_31622" align="alignleft" width="250"] Subhash Tyagi (Chairman & Chief Promoter, Gold Plus Group and Gold Plus Glass Industry Limited)[/caption] Subhash Tyagi (Chairman & Chief Promoter, Gold Plus Group and Gold Plus Glass Industry Limited), a self-made man, started his career in 1976, and in a span of 25 years, he set up one of India’s largest glass processing units and first fully Indian owned float glass plant. Jimmy Tyagi (Executive Director) joined his father in the business in 2007 and has been actively involved in setting-up and running of the float glass project at Roorke. [caption id="attachment_31626" align="alignright" width="250"] Jimmy Tyagi (Executive Director) Gold Plus Glass Industry Limited[/caption] Vivek Dubey (Director - Marketing) has been associated with the group...

Sharanjit Singh is the Founder Chairman of GSC Glass Ltd., a technology driven company, leader and pioneer in glass processing, GSC has many firsts to its credit including the first architectural tempering, laminating, ceramic fritting, hardware, processing machines etc. It is also the first company to design and supply glass with design, systems and solutions for many European airports and rail stations, where quality and safety requirements are very high. He is an accomplished engineer and a third generation glass-man and regarded as one of the most knowledgeable person on glass in India. He is convener of standards committee for processed glass of BIS as well as of Glass and Glazing Knowledge Forum. Sharanjit Singh has conducted many seminars and training workshops and has also written and compiled ‘Architectural glass guide’ for Federation of Safety Glass (FOSG), which is a comprehensive and complete book on the subject. His writings &...

The world of aluminium window is evolving towards an aesthetically and technologically advanced window, with ultra slim profiles and concealed hardware. SchlegelGiesse decided to embrace this trend in 2016 and launched C.H.I.C. - its first range of concealed hardware featuring a 180° opening, allowing to create a new type of window boasting a frontal section with a slim profile and hinges which are entirely concealed within the profile. [caption id="attachment_40033" align="alignleft" width="500"] C.H.I.C. concealed hardware[/caption] In 2018, Giesse decided to extend its line-up of concealed hardware and added a new version with a maximum load capacity of 130 kg, catering for a broader range of building requirements. C.H.I.C. 130 is perfectly in line with the 100 kg version. There are no extra component parts, but simply a set of newlydefined codes to give priority to one key feature that SchlegelGiesse has always refused to compromise on - simple and quick...

uPVC Window and Door Manufacturers Association (UWDMA) organised a window workshop "U-RC 2.0" at Hotel Gokulam Park in Coimbatore on 21st November. The workshop addressed the issues of quality window production and sales method to create better value for uPVC window producing community. The workshop on uPVC Windows witnessed a large gathering of industry people. G. Srinivasan, Managing Director, Srinivasan Associates Pvt Ltd, Nivasan Homes Pvt Ltd, graced the event with his presence as the chief guest. Key dignitaries from UWDMA warmly welcomed the chief guest and the delegates. The program started with the opening speech by G. Srinivasan, he shared his views on uPVC window industry. The programme agenda included welcome address and UWDMA updates, UWDMA quality sales team window presentation and an open forum discussion. One of the key speakers of the workshop was P. Jothi Ramalingam (Director, Winwall Technology India PVT. Ltd.). He conducted the session on “Window...

Executing the project of installing over 300 windows for three family villas at Lapkaman, Ahmedabad was not an easy task. Here is the detail of the challenging project. [caption id="attachment_31150" align="alignnone" width="774"] Individual villas for three members with more than 300 windows in total[/caption] The Challenge Executing three individual villas for three family members with more than 300 windows in total within the same plot, following the individual design, taste and aesthetics, and maintaining the overall look of all three villas as one structure, was a challenge. It was also a challenge to unite the different aesthetic expectation of the owners so that the overall concept of the building remained the same. Multiple sample approval lead to the slow execution of the project, but it was completed as per the time frame calculated and given by the owner. [caption id="attachment_31151" align="alignnone" width="774"] Family villas at Lapkaman, Ahmedabad[/caption] The Task The...

South-Asia’s leading show on fenestration, aluminium extrusion, glass and glazing industry, was held successfully at the MMRDA Exhibition Centre, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai from 6th to 9th December 2018. The 10th edition of Zak Aluminium Extrusions Expo, the 15th edition of Zak Doors & Windows Expo, and the 16th edition of Zak Glass Technology Expo witnessed a huge gathering of industry leaders, architects, builders and consultants. The exhibition impressed the exhibitors as well as the visitors with the riveting display of latest advancements in windows, doors, railings, curtainwall systems, cladding, hardware, fixing systems and much more. The expo saw participation from a huge segment which included glass, doors & windows, and aluminium industry. More than 600 domestic as well as international brands showcased their products and technologies in this four days exhibition. The event also witnessed a remarkable visitor footfall, with over 5000 industry members marking their presence. [caption id="attachment_31097" align="alignnone"...

Sustainable. That’s perhaps the most spoken buzzword in architectural circles today. With climate change trending all social media, an increasing world population, resulting in limited resources being shared by a larger consumption pool and energy generation, increasing at a faster rate than its replenishment, developers and architects are entrusted, both logically and morally, With an important responsibility to ensure that the carbon footprint from their construction is either ideally zero or as close to this magic number as possible. So, what makes a building sustainable? At a very fundamental level - the materials used for its construction. Of course, its design and layout are the foundational philosophy that dictates its sustainable intent, but without the right choice of material, even the best design will yield little or no results Hence it becomes imperative that architects and consultants work with material suppliers at the very concept design stage to find the...

What is your view on façades of the future? Latest state-of-the-art fenestration is proven and durable. In future, all fenestration will have a minimum carbon foot print when processed and/or manufactured. The steps for the same are: use of renewable energy; minimum or no wastage of raw material resources; should have a similar life cycle as the whole building envelope; should be fully recyclable and contribute towards energy and CO2 reduction. In addition, they should be ergonomic in operation, especially for the ageing population; safe and secure to use; should offer for traditional or modern designs and should be cost effective. Complying with these desired attributes is a tall order for any of the known fenestration materials. Industry has not found the ‘perfect’ frame material yet that ticks all those boxes. Selection of the appropriate or most suitable fenestration solution in terms of frame material and glass will always depend...

No doubt, façades are the most important building element from both the user's and the architect’s point of view. They are the most difficult to design too since the perception of iconic and technologically advanced facades is changing frequently. Designers are researching and experimenting with new and complex façade forms and patterns. The glass aluminium facades are bygones now as we see a lot more new materials in the market such as rusted iron panels, zinc, copper and steel, and even high-pressure laminates. Along with the materials that furnish the look and feel of a building, technologies applied to facades are also changing. Leading-edge technologies play a crucial role in terms of sustainability and operational cost-effectiveness. Truly successful facades do far more than merely project an iconic image, they play a vital role in driving or transforming building performance, engaging with the external environment, significantly enhancing durability, and reducing energy...

Ozone, the leading player in Architectural Hardware Segment, introduces Smart Glide Automatic Sliding Door System under its flagship brand Ozomotion. The New Ozone Smart Glide System runs on magnetic linear motor technology which is a noiseless, safe and reliable operating mechanism. Unlike other automatic door operators that run on motor and belts, Ozone Smart Glide is a low-energy operator. The Door System comes with a remote control and push button, though other access control devices can be integrated with it like microwave sensor & handwave sensor. It is offered in two variants, Smart Glide 80 for door weight 30-80 Kgs and Smart Glide 150 for door weight 50-150 Kgs. Ozone Smart Glide’s compact and linear construction offers design flexibility to suit the user’s aesthetic and functional needs. It can be applied for single or double sliding door panels of wooden or glass finishes. With its slim linear size and alterable...