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...

Uniglaze, a Bengaluru-based company, is the first automated plant in the country for manufacturing façade and fenestration products. The plant, which started commercial production in the month of August 2017, is making enormous waves in the façade industry and is literally seeming to touch the sky off lately. In an exclusive interaction with WFM, Aditya Kankaria, who dreams to see his company in the list of top three façade manufacturers in the country in the coming years, discusses about the company’s specialities, strategies for the Indian market and the state of the industry. Tell us briefly about your company, your journey and the milestones achieved over the years. Uniglaze has started production in October 2017, our aim is to make Uniglaze India’s most trusted, innovative and technologically- advanced building façade company. We are already executing projects in in Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi and Kolkata. Prior to starting of Uniglaze, I...

The importance of façades with respect to Fire safety cannot be emphasised enough, especially in the context of the spate of fire disasters globally. Let’s consider the current scenario of urban architecture in India - crowded spaces, little or no awareness about Fire safety within occupants and add to this, the chaotic traffic that does little to ensure that external rescue operations are effected within quick time. Now consider the majority of new constructions where the traditional brick walls with small window-to- wall ratios have been replaced by expansive glass, aluminium and stone façades. Fire safety façades, then become a pivotal aspect of design and final construction. Some of the important aspects are: Adequate checks to ensure that only noncombustible materials and fire-retardant materials are used. Horizontal and vertical firestops should be in place to check the propagation of fire within floors and vertically between floors. In case of openable...

What are the important aspects of façade design for fire safety? Generally, façade design considers the passive design for fire safety and is limited to fire stop and smoke seal. In addition, the design also needs to consider smoke vents in the form of an operable window or actuator for smoke. In Mumbai, it is becoming mandatory to provide fire drenchers specifically for highrise curtain wall buildings. What are the impacts of façade design on the fire safety of buildings? The impacts of façade design are very significant and can be hazardous and unsafe by using combustible materials. The materials used could be due to ignorance or value engineering (VE) options as the façade cost is considered at the fag end of the project. Façade design ideally needs to consider the design parameters for a proper fire stop and smoke seal between the floor and provision for the smoke extraction...

Alumil is the largest privately-owned aluminum extrusion group in South East Europe, in terms of production, distribution network and range of aluminum profile system for architectural use. With over 40 years of experience, Alumil is one of the most advanced companies globally in the design and production of Architectural Aluminium Systems, owning state-of- the-art production lines in its 18 factories over South East Europe. Through our modern production facilities and strict quality controls along the entire production line, we ensure the creation of superior products of high added value. Our continuous research and development leads to offering unique solutions with many innovative features, which totally meet the needs of our customers. Alumil offers very wide ranges of product to investor solutions like: Building envelopes: curtainwalls, unitized systems, window walls, cladding, double skin facades Windows and doors (residential and commercial buildings): cold systems, thermal-brake systems hinged, sliding, lift-slide, folding doors Entrance...

Renson, a European developer and manufacturer of aluminum-based solutions for the building industry, has showcased their innonvative products at the exhibition Fensterbau Frontale 2018 held in Germany. Renson Linarte: The product opens up a new dimension in aesthetic, vertical design wall cladding. For Linarte can be customised in endless ways and it can be combined to produce an eye-catching façade, both indoors and outside. The Linarte profiles of aluminium are mounted onto a horizontal supporting structure at the rear using invisible clips. This not only excludes the possibility of distortion by thermal expansion, but it especially means that the profiles – each individually clipped on – can also serve as finishing elements for curved walls. With surface treatment in a RAL colour of your choice or with an anodized finish, a Linart façade is durable, colour-fast and easy to maintain. [caption id="attachment_30071" align="alignnone" width="774"] Linarte design wall cladding[/caption] Renson Algarve...

Over the years cladding industry has been going through a sea change. Along with a flood of innovative materials and designs introduced in the market, we see the advancement in technologies in application as well. As per a research report Grand View Research, Inc.’, the global cladding market is expected to reach USD 111.1 billion by 2025 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 2.6 per cent from 2017 to 2025. The increasing construction spending and the development of more efficient building technologies using automated production and installation processes are expected to foster industry growth. Stringent green building regulations and codes such as the LEED certification, and growing demand for energy efficiency in project exteriors, especially for key construction industry participants, including architects and designers, are encouraging investments in lightweight and energy-efficient exterior panels in commercial as well as residential buildings. The choice of cladding has a significant...

Schuco, a company that develops and sells system solutions for windows, doors and façades, has launched the Schuco Panoramic System ASE 70 PD.ME. It is a high-quality system with a high degree of flexibility to meet customers’ requirements in functionality and design. The sliding system has been developed for the MENA region and tested in accordance with project-specific requirements as per the European Standards in recognised test institutes. Thanks to the high stability of aluminium, Schuco Panoramic System ASE 70 PD.ME sliding systems can be designed with narrow profiles and particularly large areas of glass, providing maximum transparency and light penetration. The excellent performance to investment ratio, the large possible vent dimensions and the robust fitting range for a long term and reliable performance makes the system a great choice. Villa Interior Design A construction designed for the minimal tool usage and the simplest possible production guarantees excellent fabrication quality....

Buildings in India were traditionally built with a high thermal mass (brick, stone masonry) and used natural ventilation as their principal ventilation and cooling strategy. However, contemporary office buildings are energy-intensive and increasingly make use of steel, aluminium and glass as primary materials for construction. These resource-intensive materials, their processes and operations require a high level of fossil fuel use. According to UNEP, approximately 80 to 90 per cent of the energy a building uses during its entire life cycle is consumed for heating, cooling, lighting, and other appliances. The remaining 10 to 20 per cent is consumed during the construction, material manufacturing, and demolition phases (United Nations Environment Programme, 2010). It is therefore imperative to aggressively manage building energy efficiency and include a slew of  (ECMs) as important metrics in the integrated whole-building design. These ECMs have to be planned during the design stage to achieve large, but relatively...

WFM: Tell us about your company, its products, and your business in India? Jean-Paul Hautekeer (JPH) : Dow Corning is a speciality chemical company, now a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, formed specifically to explore the potential of silicones, and their applications in various industries. We have more than 70 years of experience in the industry. Silicone is actually made from sand, which is transformed into poly crystal and silicon polymers, thereafter it is used in making different products. In the construction Industry, silicon is mainly used due to its durability and flexibility. Building components like glass on the facade are fixed using silicones due to these characters. Silicon will not deteriorate when exposed to sunshine, water, and any type of weather - hot or cold. Increasing urbanisation and rising need for energyefficient buildings (especially high-rises) are leading to growth in demand for silicone based materials. Applications containing...

Glass in architecture has been used in façades and as a construction material for many years. The invention of steel and plate glass in the late nineteenth century made possible an imaginative leap - the transparent steel framed enclosure - which underpinned the development of architecture in the twentieth century. Glass perhaps, is the only material that has seen continuous technological advancement since its first use as a building material. This is evident from the vast range of glasses now available to clad the buildings depending on the usage and budget. In this article, we present are view of today’s available architectural glass types as well as their characteristics and potential for future development of glass as a structural material. In the past few decades, the use of glass in buildings has remarkably increased. As a result, several transparent buildings have been constructed. The flexibility or versatility of glass keeps...

Productivity, well-being and happy employees are all key considerations in the ideal office environment. With noise being high on the list of annoyances in the workplace and a cause of work-related stress, how can designers and specifiers create a quieter office space, improve privacy and deliver exceptional floor-to-floor, room-to-room sound reductions? Office space has changed quite dramatically over the years, with informal, open-plan and flexible spaces replacing the more formal enclosed and private rooms of the past. This flexible working ends up having a knock-on effect - increasing the level of occupation, and upping noise levels, which in turn hinders productivity.   [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="774"] Office Space[/caption] Acoustics, like lighting, should be an integral part of good architectural design and when it is done well, is a significant contributor to the well-being and productivity of the office employee. From the outset, it’s important to use materials that will achieve...

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="192"] Jean-Marc Luvisutto Managing Director, Sapa Building Systems - Middle East & India[/caption]   Jean-Marc Luvisutto is the Managing Director, SBS (Sapa Building Systems) - Middle East and India. He is associated with the company for the past 38 years, spearheading various divisions including technical, marketing and communication, from various locations (France, Portugal, UK). He is a civil engineer (MSc) from ENSTIMA (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Industrielles et des Minesd’Ales) in France. He Joined Technal in Toulouse (France) in 1979 as a product development engineer in the R&D department. From 2000 to2008, Luvisutto managed the entire R&D activity for the Technal Brand. In 2008, he moved to Bahrain to manage Technal Middle East. After the merger between Orkla/Sapa and Hydro in 2013, he took over the management of Sapa Building Systems (SBS) Middle East, and its two additional brands: Sapa Building System and Wicona. Since July...

The proposed building for the Library Block of reputed state government technical university named Abdul Kalam Technical University (formerly Gautam Buddh Technical University) at Jankipuram, Lucknow, showcases an amazing multi-coloured and bright façade. The façade of the building is designed by Ar. Ritu Gulati and Ar. Vandana Sehgal. The building is located at the outskirts of Lucknow city in very calm locality. The project is one of its kind and will prove to be a milestone in the city’s architecture. Details of material used in the project are provided below:   [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="265"] Details of Double Glazed Unit panel[/caption]   Glass Details: The glass used in the project is security glass with coloured film pasted between glass sheets. Detailed description is given below: 6mm Clear Tempered Glass + 0.38mm Coloured PVB + 0.38mm Clear PVB + 0.38mm Coloured PVB + 0.38mm Clear PVB +6mm Clear Tempered Glass +...

WFM: Please brief us on the history and objective behind the formation of your company - Global Aluminium. Anil Agarwal (AA): Global Aluminium (P) Ltd was started in the year 1996 with a clear vision and commitment to change the Aluminium extrusion industry from one that sells to one that serves. It started with an Idea to give less importance to revenues and profits but more to quality and service for which today it has become very well-reputed. We started with one press of 1000. M.T. and gradually expanded to 5 extrusion presses catering to the needs of engineering, industrial, electrical, defence etc. Global has expertise on the making of extrusions ranging from 1xxx to 7xxx series alloys and has a well-established name among its clientele and general market. In the year 2010, we entered the field of architecture through marketing, finding out needs and viability and discovered that this...

Minimalistic and simplistic façade design incorporated with façade systems which are current and energy efficient are paramount factors when dealing with residences. The integrated design approach of combining both aesthetics and functionality helps in developing the architectural form and give rise to an “intelligent skin”. Design firms create SVAGRIHA rating awareness by practically executing Green construction practices in façade designs. Effective façade systems and techniques have been used in the independent residential project called ‘Green One’ to achieve a 5 star TERI GRIHA rating, first of its kind in India. The most basic and essential façade design aspects that affect the interior living quality that have been taken care of are: Natural ventilation Natural lighting Solar control Strategic massing is vital and is done to provide shade and maximise diffused lighting in the interior by staggering and stacking of the built form. The hard scaping is then reduced by adding...