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Striking The Balance of Sustainability Through Responsive Façades Zak World of Façades 15th July 2016, ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru

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The elite conference from the house of Zak Group on façade design and engineering successfully completed its 15th Indian edition in Bangalore. The second conference in 4th season, Zak World of Façades, Bangalore revolved around the theme of responsible façade execution to harness sustainability.

The one-day conference, held at Hotel ITC Gardenia, Bangalore on 15th July, saw a never-before gathering of some of the most prominent and appreciated names from the construction industry in India and abroad, sharing their expertise and experience in order to achieve the best façade execution practices.

The cosmopolitan city of Bangalore has grown manifolds organically in the last couple of decades. The city is constantly striving to strike a sustainable balance between its ever-growing industry and residential population. Building façades play an irrefutable role in the functionality of a building and determine its prowess to provide comfortable accommodation while giving an exceptional experience. Needless to say, this edition exhibited some of the finest façade products and hosted some highly technical, but relevant to the Indian context, façade talks. The event saw over 330 attendees who thronged the Mysore Palace (Ballroom) of ITC Gardenia.

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 and thereby enabling an adept and empowered façade industry. The conference doubled up as a unique platform for networking and enhancing business relationships.

The 15th edition started on a positive note and Tariq Kachwala, Director of FG Glass, who was the Master of Ceremony for the event initiated the conference proceedings. Relating the past journey of Zak World of Façades, 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 Sourabh Kankar, Regional Manager Architectural, Modiguard, who took the audience ‘From Rendering to Reality’ and highlighted the ‘Principles of Glass Selection for Façades’.

This was followed by another power-packed presentation by Dr Prashanth Reddy, Managing Director & CEO, FunderMax who elaborated on “High-Pressure Laminates (HPL) as a Façade Material” while explaining their benefits and highlighting the aesthetic & functional superiority of HPL as a sustainable façade material. Next to present was the knowledgeable and stern Tapan Mozumdar, Senior Divisional Manager – Projects at ITC, who took the audience through a ‘Tale of Two Cities’, drawing parallels between the façades of two buildings in different climatic zones, and asserted that the costliest is not always the best.

Session 2 began with Vijay Sawant, Technical Head of Q-Railing, who explained that ‘Higher is Now Safer’ and that if structural safety norms are adhered to, modular railings are a way to go.

Tilak Thomas, Partner, Thomas Associates

‘Thinking Out of the Box’, Dr. Winfried Heusler, Senior Vice President – Global Building Excellence, Schueco International shed light on “Advanced Façade Design & Technology” where he explained the evolution of façade at the macro level and drawing synergies for the Indian market, He also spoke about their product Panaromic façade systems Schueco FWS 35 PD. Antony John, Engineering Director, Schueco India joined Dr. Heusler in presenting the topic.

As the day progressed, came the Keynote presentation of the day, which was given by Jae Kim, Vice President, Callison RTKL. He elaborated on “The Art of Façade” and explained ‘How Building Envelope Enhances the Art in Architecture’ by means of texture, material etc., and the challenges and opportunities with respect to regulatory constraints.

The second session concluded with a panel discussion on “Upcoming Trends in Façade Design”. The panel comprised of some of the most sought-after names of their respective fields. They were Kavitha Selvaraj, Director, CRN Architects; Michael Cohen, Vice President – Projects, Embassy Group; Kamlesh Choudhari, Director, Glass Wall Systems; Purushotam Palaksha, Project Manager, Global Façade Solutions; Geetha Pillai, Director, Hadi Tehrani Project Consultants and moderator Ravindra Kumar, Design Director, Venkatramanan Associates, deftly steered the discussion that revolved around façade performance objectives of mixed-use developments, lifespan considerations and ventilation requirements for sustainable façades while debating on whether the engineered systems are a way forward to the responsible façade building.

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 3 opened with an interesting presentation by Steve Swales, Chief Commercial Officer at Siderise Group, UK on ‘Perimeter Barrier Fire Stop Systems for Curtain Walls’. He elaborated on specification compliance while giving insight into current testing methodology and explained various installation methods and their associated risks. Presenting next was Dr Bernhard Koll, Technical Marketing Manager, Kuraray Europe, who explained how one can achieve the desired optimum noise attenuation by means of “Acoustic PVB Interlayers for Sound Damping Glazing”.

Continuing the flow of technical discussions, the next presenter, Tanuj Sharma (National Head Commercial, Kinlong Hardware India) spoke on ‘Choice of Façade Hardware’ and explained how hardware is customised for each application and also cast the need and importance of using castin anchor channels in the minds of façade industry professionals. key highlight of his presentation was the case study on the tension rod façade structure at Godrej One, Mumbai. Next to present was S. Ravishankar, Manager – Application Engineering at Dow Corning, who delved into traversing the path from ‘Innovation to Sustainability by means of a Collaborative Approach’. He explained the concept of point fixed glass façade using seamless bonding technology and their concept of Quality Bond which is their means to build customer confidence beyond structural glazing The power-packed session was concluded with an equally powerful panel discussion on “Sustainable & Efficient Façades”.

The moderators were Tariq Kachwala, Director, FG Glass and K R Suresh, Regional Director, Axis Façades, who moderated the panel comprising Tilak Thomas, Partner, Thomas Associates, Shyam Laxminarayan from Wipro, PV Varghese, Director & CEO, Sobha Developers (Glazing & Metal Works), Niraj Borikar, Head Project Sales, FunderMax India, Jatin Shah, Director – Development, Synergy Property Development Services, Rudresh KV, Vice President Projects at Bhartiya City Developers and Jawahar HH, Director, Glass Wall Systems. The Panel deliberated on the façade optimisation for occupant’s comfort, various combinations of glass and the ways to avoid over-designing. The panellists also talked about safety considerations and new concepts like double-skin façades and shading technologies.

Session 4 commenced with the presentation on ‘Building Envelope – More than an Ornamental Feature’ by Vikram Desai, Principal/Studio Head, CnT Architects Final presentation of this extraordinary conference was by Kapil Chikodi, Head – of Business Development at Glass Wall Systems who spoke on ‘Façade Explorations’ vis-a-vis design evolution in residential high-rises and options in high-rise window designs. He also put forward a case study on The Capital building of Mumbai.

The high octane day was concluded with the panel discussion on ‘Façade Engineering for Higher ROI’, where the panellists touched upon the key subjects of the role of building an envelope in pitching for a new project, timelines and how it affects the final ROI and on form and performance of the building in terms of ROI. Praveen Chaubey, Project Manager, Priedemann Façade Consultancy moderated this exceptional and interesting panel. Panellists included Sudhakar Pai, Director, Sudhakar Pai Associates, Mahesh Khaitan, Director, Salarpuria Sattva, Antony John, Engineering Director, Schueco India, Pankaj Keswani, Managing Director, Alufit, Vikas Gore, Director, DP Architects and Tejasvi Nagaraju, Associate Director – Design, RMZ Corp

The conference was complemented by a unique display where some of the most fascinating façade products were showcased. Schueco displayed their Panoramic Façade System – Schueco FWS 35 PD while Glass Wall Systems showcased their exceptional façade building services. Modiguard was present with their high-performance Sunguard range of glass and complementing that was the high strength and acoustic interlayer systems by Kuraray. The display included high-precision hardware from the houses of Cotswold, Kinlong, Lavaal and specialised adhesives and sealants from Dow Corning. Premium and high on safety Modular Railing Systems were exhibited by Q-Railing, Germany. McCoy Soudal displayed their silicone and adhesives and Siderise from UK exhibited their unique range of perimeter barrier systems for fire and acoustic isolation.