Window and Facade Magazine India January 2020

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www.wfmmedia.com Volume 6 | Issue 2 | ` 150 November - December 2019

FUTURE FAร ADES Advancements in Technology & Materials Towards Flawless Future Faรงades

Faรงade Actions: Climate Change and Wellbeing

Mabel Aguerre, Architect, Arup Mercedes Gargallo, Associate, Arup

Insights into Future Faรงades Mathieu Meur Director, DP Faรงade Pte Ltd

Face to Face

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Volume 6 | Issue 2 November - December 2019 PUBLISHED BY F & F Media and Publications C-55, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase - 1, New Delhi-110 020 T: +91-11-40623356

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Façade Actions: Climate Change and Wellbeing.

Mabel Aguerre, Architect, Arup; and Mercedes Gargallo, Associate, Arup

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Smart Architecture: Advancements in Materials & Technologies Aishwarya Khurana, Architect & Writer, Base4

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Defining Future Façades and Fenestration Peeyush Srivastava, Principal Architect & Managing Director, Nexusplus Consultants Pvt Ltd

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Energy Harvesting Façades Ar. Rohin Sher, Founder, StudioSher

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Negotiating Boundaries Dhurgai Kumaran SSN, Director - Studio,FHD Group, Hyderabad

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Insights into Future Façades Mathieu Meur, Director, DP Façade Pte Ltd

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Material Driven Futuristic Façade Systems Sushant Jai-Amita Verma, Co-Founder, rat[LAB]- Research in Architecture and Technology

DESIGN & CONCEPT BY Prashant Kumar

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Cover Story Future Façades: Advancements in Technology & Materials

MARKETING & OPERATIONS Kapil Girotra kapil@wfm.co.in +91 9560925255

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Face to Face Interview with ar. Anand Sharma, Founding Partner, Design Forum International

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Industry Speaks Interview with Krishnakumar G. Bajaj, Managing Director, Geeta Aluminium Co. Pvt. Ltd.

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Project Watch Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence, Bengaluru by Space Matrix Group

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Post Event Report Zak Expo, New Delhi

CO-FOUNDERS Syed Ahad Ahmed Amit Malhotra TECHNICAL PANEL Mahesh Arumugam Director Meinhardt Façade Consultants KR Suresh Regional Director xis Façade Consulting A EDITORIAL enu Rajaram R renu@wfm.co.in +91 9312864830 Shefali Bisht shefali@wfm.co.in

SUBSCRIPTION & CIRCULATION Richa Parmar support@wfm.co.in +91 9871151112 Mukesh Kumar mukesh@wfm.co.in +91 9560088995 RNI: DELENG/2014/57870

Cover image, courtesy: Design Forum International - 'HELIX, a new prototype of Vertical Living', designed by Design Forum International

DISCLAIMER: With regret we wish to say that publishers cannot be held responsible or liable for error or omission contained in this publication. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek expert advice before acting on any information contained in this publication which are very generic in nature. The Magazine does not accept responsibility for the accuracy of claims made by advertisers. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced in any form or context without the permission of publishers in writing.

WRITE TO THE EDITOR Please address your suggestions to: The Editor, Window & Façade Magazine, C55, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase – 1, New Delhi, 110020 or email renu@wfm.co.in. Please provide your full name and address, stating clearly if you do not wish us to print them. Alternatively log on to www. wfm.co.in and air your views. The opinions expressed in this section are of particular individuals and are in no way a reflection of the publisher’s views.

“Printed and Published by Amit Malhotra on behalf of M/s F & F Media and Publications Printed and published at EIH Limited - Unit Printing Press, Manesar, Haryana-122050. Name of the Editor-Ms. Renu Rajaram”

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EDIT

O NOTE

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Technological advancement is at the core of the transformation, especially in the construction industry. More than just helping improve the look and feel of a building, technologies and materials applied to facades play a crucial role in terms of sustainability and operational cost-effectiveness. Façades account for a large percentage of the external building composition, so it’s only logical that this space is effectively utilised to support sustainable building design, energy savings, economic independence, reduced pollution and carbon footprint.

This edition of the magazine presents many articles on cost/energyefficient facade systems, on advancements in designs and materials, boosting building envelope performance, addressing hot industry topics spanning from facades’ fire safety, BIM, technological innovations and smart designs, among others. Without the innovation of façade materials, improvements in performance, reduction in development costs, ease and speed of application along with more creative uses of built façades and space, the ambitions of sustainability are devalued.

The past year has been significant for the industry, both in terms of designs and technologies. We saw many fascinating buildings taking shape around the world, like the Opus, Dubai (by Zaha Hadid Architects); Daxing International, Beijing Airport (by Zaha Hadid Architects); Raffles City, Chongqing in China (Moshe Safdie); the Jewel Changi Airport, Singapore (by Moshe Safdie); CopenHill, Copenhagen (by BIG) etc.

At WFM Media, we have always looked for designs, materials and technologies which are beautiful, life-enhancing pieces that stand the test of time and have championed the idea of resonating the same in all our endeavours. With the pursuit of ever bigger glass windows, the escalating geometric complexity in the building skin, the expanding palette of facade materials, dynamic systems, etc., the decision-makers have to consider the deeper trends and drivers that may shape building and facade market practices over a longer time frame of years and decades, call it out towards 2050. As we enter a fresh new decade, we’d do well to bear this in mind, and celebrate the designers and producers who are making a positive difference.

Here’s to a better-designed future and a brighter year of glory, excellence, and achievements in the construction sector!

Renu Rajaram renu@wfm.co.in

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Future Façades

Façade Actions:

Climate Change and Wellbeing

W

hat will the façades of our buildings look like in the future?

One would be hesitant to answer that question and indeed be uncertain of any answer as we cannot predict the future. At this moment in time, we could only make assumptions about what will come. However, what is in our hands is to establish objectives and priorities of how we would like the future to look to help us to reimagine our role as designers and engineers.

In 2015, the 193 countries of the United Nations adopted, as part of the Agenda 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) to achieve peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and in the future. The UN SDGs are deeply interconnected and environmental sustainability and wellbeing are two major elements on which the buildings can positively contribute.

To achieve the goals by 2030, measurable actions must be taken now.

At Arup, we aim to shape a better world and have committed to align our firm to the UN SDGs through the projects we work on.

We intend to actively participate in the future that we want to see. It is our objective to make informed decisions on the design and planning of the built environment showing how progress towards achieving the goals can drive change for our planet’s health and societal conditions.

The impact of the building envelope is significant on the

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carbon dioxide emissions, materials sustainability, people wellbeing and costs, and consequently has a contribution to achieving the UN SDGs. Moreover, the envelope represents a significant portion of the construction cost and has a fundamental relevance in terms of building physics as filtering element between the exterior and the interior.

Three of our global principles on which the building envelope has a major contribution are:

• Improve human health, safety and well-being recognising that this is intrinsically tied to the health of the planet and quality of the built environment.

• Transition to a zero-carbon economy and a world where everyone has access to clean energy and potable water.

How Arup addesses UN SDGs through the projects

Future Façades • Adopt circular economy principles leading to decoupling of economic growth and consumption.

As designers, we envision the use of innovative design tools and techniques to bring new ideas to life that can help us to improve our current systems and the built environment through our work. A large amount of information and different factors are involved in the envelope design process and our approach takes into consideration the factors multiplicity. The tools, the construction process and the materials adopted during the design and construction phases are three main variables that influence the result. We have developed inhouse tools to assess and quantify the envelope sustainability during the design, construction and postoccupancy stages with specific objectives for the future: Reducing carbon dioxide emissions: The greenhouse effect has a fundamental impact on the rise of temperatures. A major contributor to emissions from the construction industry is from the embodied carbon and the carbon in use. The embodied carbon is the emissions needed for the extraction, production and transportation of the materials. The carbon in use is the CO2 emitted during the building’s operational life. In addition, the emissions associated with the disposal have an influence on the total emissions.

With the objective of reducing the embodied carbon emissions, Arup developed the Façade Embodied Carbon Calculator. The tool enables the environmental footprint evaluation of the façade materials by inserting the specific processed material and its quantity. It is focused on the materials sustainability and its use at the early design stages enables the support of informed choices to reduce the emissions and contribute to the limitation of the global temperature rise.

Optimising solar exposure in buildings: The in-house developed Arup Solar tool provides an efficient resource to collaborate within the design team. It investigates and assesses the interdependent relationships between envelope parameters such as solar heat gain coefficient, window to wall ratio and shading, and the cooling strategies, identifying the potential of renewable solar energy. It allows a 3D visualisation through an intuitive interface and its use at the early design stages is highly valuable to support informed choices. The tool reports how much sunlight falls on a particular location and the design model updates with the most appropriate shading and glazing, given the amount of solar radiation. The design improves in real time, becoming more efficient and cost-effective as parameters are tweaked during these early design stages.

Improving maintenance through data collection: As our buildings get more complex more documentation is being created. It is becoming imperative to develop tools that help with the storage and retrieval of information in a speedy manner. Arup Street was

developed with the vision that façade data is retrieved as users walk down through a digital twin street. The tool is based on an updatable model with design details, information and study models linked to it. Recently the tool has been improved further to be adopted as a construction tracker and as an operational tool during building use. Arup Maintain allows the capture and recovery of information on-site as inspections occur. In the pipeline is the use of machine learning to process the captured information throughout the building life with the aim of improving maintenance and lifecycle procedures.

Adapting the environment to the users: A research focused on the design of the façade around the occupant’s health, wellbeing and ultimately their productivity is currently being carried out in collaboration with University of Cambridge and Permasteelisa.

Façade Impulse aims to evaluate parameters such as daylight, natural ventilation, thermal comfort and acoustics.

The research allows the understanding of the performance of the façade in terms of occupant satisfaction,

Arup Solar tool provides an efficient resource to collaborate within the design team

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Future Façades

MABEL AGUERRE Architect, Arup

MERCEDES GARGALLO Associate, Arup Arup Street - another tool developed by Arup to assist with the visualisation of project documentation

using subsequently this data to develop strategies for the next generation of façade to enhance the occupant’s wellbeing.

Data technology applied to buildings enables to link materials, products, energy efficiency and internal comfort.

The interrelation between the captured data is a key factor for the design, use and refurbishment of the building envelope. Machine learning technology plays also a fundamental role in this context, characterised by the process of a large amount of data collection.

Our in-house tools aim to contribute to achieving the UN SDGs through the building envelope assessment, enabling quantifiable actions from the

early design stages.

The adoption of post-evaluation tools and monitoring are fundamental elements that are under further exploration in order to validate the adopted strategies for emissions reduction, energy consumption and wellbeing improvement.

Today’s actions play a significant role in the future we will experience.

Each and every one of us has the ability to drive and impact change.

Joint participation of clients, contractors, designers, stakeholders and governments is crucial to support positive future envelope strategies, tools and processes to achieve the environmental, social and economic sustainability defined by the UN SDGs.

Arup Impulse aims to evaluate parameters such as daylight, natural ventilation, thermal comfort and acoustics

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mabel Aguerre is an architect with experience in the architectural design of medium and large-scale projects, from the concept to the construction phases. She worked for many architectural practices in Europe, collaborated and managed the façade and architectural design of numerous LEED 2009 and LEED v.4 certified projects. Aguerre is currently managing the façade design and construction systems development and leading the UN SDGs within the façades London team.

Mercedes Gargallo is an architect and holds a master’s degree in façade engineering.

She has fifteen years of work experience including thirteen years in the façade industry as a cladding contractor and a consultant. She has extensive expertise in the design and analysis of curtain walling, double-skin façades and rainscreen systems using a wide range of materials such as glass, aluminium, steel, timber, copper, etc.

Future Façades

Smart Architecture:

Advancements in Materials & Technologies

F

rom the stone age to the current age of modernity and high-end technology, architecture has witnessed an evolution in terms of building materials, construction systems, and design solutions. While materials like stone, clay, and timber were prominent in ancient constructions, a shift to brick, concrete, metal, and glass enhanced the way we built.

In the era of smart cities and smartphones, building materials are becoming smarter as well.

What is the need for materials and building technologies to constantly evolve? As nature is already depleted of its natural resources and global warming is at its peak, architects and designers have stepped up to create new materials and techniques.

Architects have created designs inspired by the honeycomb and living organisms

SMART FAÇADES: BIOMIMICRY & BIOMIMETIC FAÇADES

Buildings are capable of producing up to 33% of carbon emissions, because of which architects are striving towards designing smart façades that are energy efficient.

A façade is like a “barrier” between the habitual spaces and the outside environment and most of the energy transfer (heat/cold) takes place through it. A smart façade should be sustainable and its most important criteria are that it should be material and energyefficient I.e. the façades should consume or release the least amount of energy to maintain comfort in the interiors.

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Design inspired by ‘moth eye’

Future Façades

Design Hub in Australia has come up with an “Operable Skin”

“Good architecture lets nature in” - Mario Pei Rightly said, a combination of art and nature has rarely been unappreciated, but not all natureinspired designs are necessarily sustainable. Architects nowadays have started applying the principles of nature to create façades known as “Biomimetic Façades” or “Biomimicry” I.e. mimicking nature and applying it to design. It is said that one can find inspiration anywhere and architects have created designs inspired by the human skin, honeycomb and living organisms.

The three design parameters for biomimetic façade are air/ wind, shade and the climate which relates to thermal and visual comfort. Apart from these, an energy-efficient façade should also take into consideration factors like solar radiation, wind speed and humidity. To help designers inculcate nature into the design, a software known as BioTRIZ converts data analysis from biology into technology. Using this, architects designed a roofing system inspired by a honeycomb that reduced the heat transfer by allowing longer wave radiations to pass vertically through the open pores of the comb and drastically reducing the surface temperature.

Design Hub in Australia has come up with an “Operable Skin”, inspired

by the pores of the human skin, which has numerous sandblasted glass circles connected to a central rod, that can be pivoted. Apart from its property of collecting solar radiation throughout the day, the rods pivot automatically when it experiences changes in the moisture content and temperature of the interiors. Reducing the overall energy consumption of the building drastically, the façade envelopes the structure in a way that fresh air and shade is available to the people naturally.

The human body is the most complex and dynamic

design and the phenomenon of releasing “sweat” during heat gain encouraged designers in New York to develop a doubleskin technology that worked in a similar way. To make this work, the team created an actuator or “an artificial muscle” that is made up of a dielectric elastomer enveloped over a core of polymer. The core being flexible, enables contraction and expansion allowing it to bend and respond to the climatic condition automatically, which helps regulate the internal temperature.

Solar panels are also an example

Solar panels are also an example of biomimicry as they are termed as “artificial leaves” that convert the radiation of the sun for human use and renewable energy

WFM | NOV - DEC 2019

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Future Façades of biomimicry as they are termed as “artificial leaves” that convert the radiation of the sun for human use and renewable energy, just like the leaves of a tree. Another interesting adaptation of the properties of a “leaf” called the Oxalis oregana, which has the capability of tracking the path of the Sun and changing its angle consequently, has been seen in responsive façades that reduce energy load and can also be applied to existing highlyglazed buildings by retrofitting.

SMART MATERIALS

What defines a smart building material? A smart material can be defined as a material that can function and be responsive to adverse environments and climate conditions, in an effective and useful manner. A smart material can be and should be sustainable, energy-efficient and of course smart!

As we are talking about “smarter” possibilities of construction and the materials that we use, recent developments to upgrade the

properties of metals have been successful. Thermo-bimetals are being used to develop ‘Smart Façades’ which allow the façades to self-breathe I.e. self-ventilate.

L.A based architect Doris Kim Sung found her inspiration for thermo-bimetals by comparing the human skin to the skin of a building, which is the façade.

Developed by the combination of steel and copper, this product is capable of bending or reshaping itself when exposing to sunlight, ultimately to provide shade without using electricity. The sheet of this Thermo-bimetal has many cuts and fenestrations that provide adequate ventilation by capturing the hot air as it rises up and releasing it outside. A one of a kind material that can operate on its own to provide shade, light and air, designed to function in a hot climate, it is an incredibly smart product ready to be explored in all capacities.

Surely saving the best for the last! One of the pioneer materials in the wide and readily increasing array of biomimetic materials are

Thermo-bimetals are being used to develop ‘Smart Façades’

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the “moth-eye nanostructures”.

Creativity has no limitations and this material is a true example of that. Buildings with high levels of glass in its façade result in high glazing reflectivity and increased energy consumptions. Researchers have applied the ability of the eyes of an elephant hawk moth that minimises light reflection and also improves night vision. Applying this theory to achieve anti-reflectivity in façades, nanostructured moth-eye has been successful to be used in the glazing of high-rise structures.

Scientists have taken the motheye mimicking to another level by enhancing its anti-reflectivity by working on geometrical parameters like shape and height, which help to scrutinise the behavior of light on complex nanostructures. It has been observed in some cases that there was a significant decrease (around 10%) through the measurable spectral range.

Our inspiration for design lies everywhere and in everyone; from moths to humans to honeycombs.

Nature has endless possibilities and so do our minds. Biomimicry is the perfect example of reducing if not eradicating man-made problems with natural solutions.

It is mesmerising to see how architects have adapted the mechanisms of nature and applied to design to make it more sustainable and make the future façades technological advanced and environmentally friendly.

Homeostatic façade

Case Study

G.I School, Mumbai

GI School, Mumbai - Designed by Sanjay Puri Architects

I

n a country like India and especially in a city like Mumbai, the level of heat and humidity is at the peak level. There is a dire need to design structures and façades that would lead to less heat-gain and more ventilation, and Sanjay Puri Architects’ upcoming project- The G.I. School is an incredible step in that direction. Parametrically designed, this transformative façade has hexagonal modules present in the second skin that regulates the internal temperature.

Inspired from nature, the hexagon modules work contrastingly in the difference zones of the façade, depending upon the direction it is facing.

Situated in a densely populated area of Mumbai, the hexagonal outer skin envelopes the entire 45m high structure.

As the south side produces the harshest sunlight, the façade requires the most treatment to reduce heat gain. The modules

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have small openings that minimize the heat penetrating the structure and increase the cross-ventilation across. To achieve the exact opposite result on the north side with the best sunlight, the hexagonal modules work differently. There, the modules are designed like curtailed pipes that are placed in and out, also creating additional spaces that can be used for sitting and reading.

The design of the façade not only regulates the temperature and air-flow and shelters the entire building, it is a crucial part of the structure, as the flow and curve generate spaces that can be incorporated as a part of the design. The combination of the fenestrations and openings are extremely important as the size of the openings viz-a-viz the location of each hexagonal module dictates the performance of this school block. In institutional buildings where there is a high density of people, a façade which is self-sufficient, self-ventilating and regulates heat, ultimately reduces carbon emission as well as increases the overall energy efficiency.

QUICK FACTS:

Project: G.I School Location: Mumbai, India Architect: Sanjay Puri Architects Materials used for façade and fenestration: Metal

AISHWARYA KHURANA Architect & Writer, Base4

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Aishwarya Khurana is an architect and architecture writer who has been working passionately as both, for the past two years. Graduated from the prestigious Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture, Mumbai, she has worked for several design firms and creative publications. Currently working in Nagpur as an architect in a multinational firm called Base4, known for hotel and modular designs, she has also worked as an architect at Ashok Mokha Architects, Nagpur for over a year. Aishwarya has worked on several projects like bungalows, hospitals, hotels, auditorium and residential buildings. Also working as a freelancing writer, she believes that architecture write-ups and articles help one to keep up with architectural trends, expands one's knowledge immensely and helps inspire architects and designers.

IN A FIRE, SMOKE KILLS. FIRE SAFETY | GIVE OCCUPANTS A FIGHTING CHANCE

EXTRACT SMOKE TO SAVE LIVES. DON’T TAKE RISKS. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

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For over 35 years, SE Controls has been developing innovative control systems that automatically open vents in a fire to facilitate the extraction of smoke, keeping escape routes clear for the fire service to enter the building and allowing occupants to escape safely.

SE Controls is the trusted global expert in fire safety, façade engineering and product manufacture, providing bespoke project specific smoke ventilation and control solutions by partnering with our clients from early stages of the project to system installation, commissioning and testing.

Contact us today for technical tailor made solutions for your façade ventilation needs, as every building is different.

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Creating a healthier & safer environment

Future Façades & Fenestration

Future Façades and Fenestration

"L

et's face it, sometimes you do judge a book by its cover, and a building by its

façade..."

Pondering back at architectural history, we observe that concerns

Shanghai Theatre

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related to façade treatment have gathered a multitude of consciousness to create a much pleasant visual impact to the public. But in today's scenario, what goes beyond the frontier, is a building that stands the test of times, the one which is more

than just a static vertical design constituent. The question that immediately strikes our mind is what if a façade is more than this conventional perception of its character; merely being a building envelope. What if it is a living façade that changes with time its

Future Façades & Fenestration shape and size. What if it responds well to the climatic conditions, sunlight, wind and even day to day technology. There can be nothing better than a façade that adapts itself to the surrounding environment following its own path and pattern, defining new trends in architecture and setting standards to minimise the energy consumption, thus giving us major goals of dynamic yet sustainable façades.

AN INTRODUCTION TO FAÇADES OF FUTURE:

The design of façades that does not become obsolete in the upcoming future and gels perfectly with the building interiors as well as creates a reflection of its exteriors is the need of the hour. They hold a strategic position in the environmental performances of buildings and are a representation of its quality that creates an everlasting impact on the end-users or the passers-by.

It forms the barrier between the internal space and the external climate and acts as the medium of interaction between the activities taking place at both ends. The image of a building, and therefore for the users is a reflection of its façade design.

It has been seen that in recent practices, architects and engineers have been strategically designing and installing dynamic façades to enhance the aesthetic values, at the same time taking measures for improving the buildings’ energy performance. The concept of ‘environmental planning’ is raising the bars of thinking about the future of these façades where environmental sustainability is of paramount importance.

Eco-friendly and sustainable architecture is not a fashionable design concept anymore, but it is the only way to deal with

Ventilated cladding

architecture today. This poses an important question, as to what are the energy requirements and those new products for the façade design that comply with the requirements of energy.

FAÇADES AND HUMANISATION:

Is it the material technology or the user's experience linked with façade design??

Façades are an integral part of architectural design from the human perspective as the prime concern of any design is to focus on its end usage and the purpose for which it is built. The building façade provides the opportunity to create a personality and character to a building. A simple yet elegant façade design can suddenly bring a character to a building and how it will be perceived. Dealing with humanisation and its architectural quality means to focus the human needs and understand their interaction with the environment.

In these terms, it is not easy to define the architectural quality,

because it is based on principles, which in turn are not quantifiable, thus leading to a façade that just adds value to the building.

The spaces serving any built structure not only communicate and represent their health content, but they also provide stimuli affecting the user’s psychological well-being, satisfying his or her needs of humanisation.

An example of a façade that humanises with the surroundings is the Shanghai Theatre building encircled by a moving veil, which adapts to the changing use of the building and reveals the stage on the balcony and views towards the city Pudong.

Nowadays, building façades with curtain wall technologies ranging from double-wall systems to integrated solar to specialty coatings and films, triple insulating glass units and dynamic glass products have a big impact on the flow of air and light on a building as well as how it copes with environmental conditions. With the inception of framed structures, precast and prefabricated façades came into the picture. The same factors are going to define the future façades. Following are some of the trends that are popular while designing façades: VENTILATED CLADDING:

Use of double-skinned glass with frameless photovoltaic panels provides an energy-efficient system for cladding purpose on building skin.

As a way to retain the Chinese shipyard’s character and material essence, the architect has designed a permeable brick wall for its west-facing, main façade.

Four different shades of red clay bricks, suspended by stainlesssteel-wire fixtures, form a gradient pattern that changes in density,

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Future Façades & Fenestration

Shipyard 1862 Shanghai, China, designed by Ar. Kengo Kuma

and fades towards the exposed south elevation, a visual reminder of its demolished brick façade.

MOOD FAÇADES:

The outermost layer of the Bloomberg Center’s façade is composed of aluminium panels surfaced in an iridescent, PPGpolymer coating, which, from afar, register a continuous image pattern that mirrors several of the site’s views, thus creating different moods of the building

The Bloomberg Center, New York – designed by Arup

façade. The façade’s 337,500 tabs were mechanically punched by a welding robot, controlled by an algorithm.

PARAMETRIC FAÇADES:

It facilitates the generation of design alternatives using stochastic algorithms and their evaluation using multiple environmental performance metrics. In the presented design experiment, a façade panel is modeled into an agent-based fashion and the multi-agent system toolkit is used to generate and evolve alternative façade panel configurations based on environmental parameters (daylight, energy consumption); a method of finding modular design alternatives by exploration in a 3D

software.

Using the solid mass of concrete enveloping the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum as its framework, SHoP Architects have created an intricate metal façade of folded fins with 225,000 Sq ft of Alucobond® PLUS, an ultra-light and flexible aluminium-composite material. Each of the 4,700 brushed-aluminium fins that make up the latticework differs slightly in profile and dimension, creating a subtle flow of light and reflection over its surface.

Parametric texture and undulated surfaces applied in parametric designs could be inspired by nature. When looked deeper, it is seen that breathing façades are a kind of parametric façades only.

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Uniondale, United States – designed by SHoP Architects

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Case Study BREATHING FAÇADES:

“Nature” is one of the wonderful blessings of God that have been an inspiring concept to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.

Mimicking nature is not a new approach but has been recently reformulated under the scientific term” “biomimicry”.

As we said earlier, the building skin is an essential parameter for building performance. Also, it is a medium through which intelligence can be imparted to a building system to respond to an environmental stimulus.

So the key characteristic of an effective smart building façade is its ability to save energy through its texture.

The scientific term “biomimicry” aims to innovate non-biological systems inspired by nature. The various methods of thermal adaptation to the hot climate found in nature provide a wide source of inspiration to develop new concepts for achieving thermal comfort. Biomimicry introduces “breathing skin” as a bio-inspired idea, found in the skin of living organisms. So based on this concept, the buildings with breathing façade design, provide a rich connection between the exterior environment and interior spaces, and they breathe through thousands of pores.

Biomimicry introduces “breathing skin” as a bio-inspired idea

TIMBER CLADDING:

Timber is a material perfect for this due to its environmental credentials, cost, installation properties and its ease of use.

Timber cladding has potential to create façades that provide value to a building, as well as create stunning aesthetics.

PEEYUSH SRIVASTAVA

CONCLUSION:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Thus the façade brings the building to life and is a Medium of Experience for the users in and around the building providing the opportunity to create a character and giving a persona to a building that highlights its character.

Though it should be attractive; living with time but the façade isn’t just an aesthetic element; it’s an essential parameter for building performance along with being a significant contributor to the energy conservation and comfort parameters.

Timber is a material perfect for façades

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Principal Architect & Managing Director, Nexusplus Consultants Pvt Ltd

A graduate from GCA, Lucknow and 25 years of rich and vast experience as an architect, Peeyush Srivastava heads the team Nexusplus Consultants Pvt Ltd. His real estate experience has been phenomenal with brands like Omaxe and Jaypee which makes him proficient with the planning and execution of bigscale housing and commercial projects. His role in GIFT, Gujarat has been imperative where his involvement included tall building design, site development and site services integration. His expertise in the healthcare industry has led him to work for FORTIS Group, Kailash Hospitals, ILBS etc.

He has hands-on experience in housing projects and has diligently handled 20 million Sq ft of projects. Apart from being an architect, he is also an author and a motivational speaker.

Future Façades

Energy Harvesting Façades

C

onstruction industry is a huge contributor to environmental degradation worldwide. According to the International Energy Agency, the buildings and buildings construction sectors in 2019 combined are responsible for 36 per cent of global final energy consumption.

There are many ways for a building project to become more environmentally sensitive. It is important to mention that at the very outset, the simplest way of “harvested energy” through a building is by designing a building that is sensitive to the local climate and thus needs less energy to build and operate. If a building needs less energy for heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, etc., it will automatically have a much lower energy demand. Similarly, there are many other ways of contributing positively; such as using low embodied energy construction materials, reducing water usage, addressing construction and operational waste, etc.

This article however focusses on current technological achievements and possibilities of energy harvesting through a building façade in 2019. While the

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Image 1 - Adaptive solar façade - First implementation of ASF, HoNR at ETH Zurich, 2015

industry and government goes full throttle in terms of promoting and implementing conventional solar panels and wind power, it is useful to also investigate the possibilities of newer energy harvesting technologies.

DYNAMIC SOLAR PANELS

Conventional solar panels only work efficiently on a building façade when they are positioned perpendicular to the sun's rays.

The most obvious place to mount them is on a building roof. Typical high-rise buildings (occupying most of our cities) have a small roof area compared to its total built up area. Moreover, the roof houses service elements such as water tanks, ventilation ducts and cooling towers, further decreasing the usable area for harvesting solar

Image 2 - Adaptive solar façade - Second implementation of ASF prototype at the NEST site in Dübendorf, 2017

energy. A solution to this challenge is to integrate solar energy harvesting components into the sides of the building. However, this is far less efficient as compared to the roof and solar harvesting only works optimally on certain orientations. It will also result in obstruction and unsatisfactory availability of daylighting within habitable spaces.

Therefore, without including dynamic elements that adjust tilt angles of façade mounted solar cells to the sun’s incident rays, the efficiency would be low. This is how a project about adaptive solar façades is interesting.

In order to study the adaptive façade under real-life conditions, a

Future Façades first prototype was implemented in 2015 on the south-facing façade of the HoNR (House of Natural Resources) on the ETH Zurich campus. In 2017, a second prototype has been developed and implemented as part of NEST – the future living and working lab on the Empa-Eawag campus in Dübendorf, Switzerland. The following project combines recent developments in architecture, energy technology and robotics. The delicate, movable photovoltaic modules can be mounted onto a lightweight structure on the building envelope. The modules are not only lightweight and flexible, but also are rather multifunctional.

Aside from energy production, they offer shading and daylight control for the interior as well as individual adjustments to the view by the occupant. The façade is also equipped to store energy.

ALGAE-BASED FAÇADES

BIOENERGY

One of the fuel sources of the future is algae, small aquatic organisms

that convert sunlight into energy and store it in the form of oil. The Bio Intelligent Quotient (BIQ) building in Hamburg, Germany, is powered entirely by algae. It has been in operation since 2013 and is still going strong. Built for the International Building Exhibition (IBA) in Hamburg, this zero-carbon apartment complex sports a bright green façade-cum-algae farm.

The sides of the building that face the sun have a second outer shell that is set into the façade itself. Microalgae – tiny plants, most no larger than bacteria – are produced within this shell. They enable the house to supply its own energy. The only thing that the algae have to do is simply to grow.

They are continuously supplied with liquid nutrients and carbon dioxide via a separate water circuit running through the façade. With the aid of sunlight, the algae can photosynthesise and grow. This façade is the first of its kind in the world and makes use of the very latest energy and environmental technology.

Aside from producing energy and performing the usual job of

Image 3 - Algae-Based Bioenergy Façades at the Bio Intelligent Quotient (BIQ) building in Hamburg, Germany

heat and sound insulation, the façade is characterised by other valuable traits. Heat from excess sunlight, not needed by the algae, is collected and can be stored in brine-filled boreholes, to be used for space and water heating.

In addition, the algae provide adaptive shading throughout the year; the more intense the sunlight gets, the more algae grow inside the façade and the more shade is provided.

ENERGY PRODUCING BRICKS

The Living Architecture (LIAR) project is a collaborative effort between Newcastle University and experts from the universities of the West of England (UWE Bristol), Trento, the Spanish National Research Council, LIQUIFER Systems Group and EXPLORA. Bricks are available everywhere on the planet. The aim of this project is to develop building blocks that convert resources from sunlight, waste water and air into clean energy. Further down the line, these blocks could form "bioreactor walls" that generate the energy required to power whole structures. The prototypical bricks are based on Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology originally developed at the University of West England. They harness the

Image 4 - The Living Architecture (LIAR) project is developing building blocks that convert resources from sunlight, waste water and air into clean energy

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Future Façades metabolic power of microbes, taken from an organic nutrient source such as pond slime, and converts it into fossil fuel-free electricity.

So far, the energy density of an individual unit is relatively low. While the eventual goal is to build entire structures, such as toilet blocks for people living in developing countries, with walls that can produce their own energy for lighting, they are currently capable of producing sufficient electricity to light an LED light.

ENERGY BLINDS

PRODUCING

VENETIAN

Solar Thermal Venetian Blinds (STVB) represent another façade technology combining solar thermal, solar control functionalities and control of daylight and glare.

Being integrated into something as common as a venetian blind, this technology can very easily be propagated. By changing the blind curtain position and slat tilt angle, e.g. preventing glare or allowing solar heat gains to the building, while maintaining the functionality as solar thermal collector (except for the case of fully retracted blinds).

As such these systems can be integrated into glass façades such as double-skin, closed cavity or boxtype window façades as shown in figure.

WIND POWER VIEWED DIFFERENTLY

Wind energy has a very important role to play in our energy future, but

so far it has been more successful as large, freestanding wind turbines operating in laminar-flow winds. The appeal of integrating wind turbines into our buildings is strong. However, factors such as noise, vibration, safety & efficiency and cost of installing and operating small to mid-sized wind turbines are among the greatest obstacles to integrating them into buildings. Small turbines, even stand-alone, pole-mounted ones are not very cost-effective. When we put those small turbines on top of buildings, the costs go up and the performance goes down.

Wind turbines are subjected to a great deal of stress, and if installed on a building, the stress can be transmitted to the building structure, creating substantial problems. Very often, the vision behind integrating a turbine into a building is perhaps less a practical solution to be widely adopted and is instead an architectural and cultural statement.

The way forward in the future may be a slightly different approach.

Case in point is the Brisbane airport kinetic parking garage façade by Ned Kahn, who has collaborated with Hassell Architecture, UAP and the Brisbane airport corporation to create an eight-storey, fivethousand square meter kinetic façade for the car park of Brisbane’s domestic terminal. viewed from the exterior, the entire exterior face will appear to ripple fluidly as the wind activates 118,000 suspended aluminium panels. as it responds

Image 5 - Solar Thermal Venetian Blinds

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Image 6 - A wind-driven kinetic façade on the blank wall of the Randal Museum in San Francisco,

by Charles Sowers Studios

to the ever-changing patterns of the wind, the elevation will create a direct interface between the installation and its natural environment.

A similar example is Windswept which is a scientific observational instrument that consists of 612 freely-rotating directional arrows.

Each arrow acts as a discrete data point, visually revealing the complex and ever-changing ways the wind interacts with the building and its surrounding environment.

These could conceptually be a way forward in terms of integrating wind power into buildings.

POLLUTION REMOVAL THROUGH FAÇADES

Titanium dioxide (a common ingredient in sunscreen) can help buildings act as air purifiers. Pureti, a Cincinnati-based manufacturer offers a façade-cladding treatment in which titanium dioxide nanoparticles are sprayed onto the components of a building’s exterior. When ultraviolet rays hit the treated surface, they set off chemical processes that burn away grime and convert contaminants such as nitrogen dioxide into nontoxic minerals and water vapour. The result: a self-cleaning structure that also cleanses the air around it.

Similarly, London-based architecture office EcoLogicStudio

ALFA ICA

ALFA ICA

Future Façades

Image 7 - Façade of 570 Broome, a 25-story luxury condo tower in Manhattan's Hudson Square actually cleans air

harnesses photosynthesis in algae to remove air pollution with this living curtain, designed to rest over building façades. The studio's Photo.

Synth.Etica "urban curtain" is a photobioreactor – an incubator for algae, which carries out the naturally carbon-sequestering process of photosynthesis. The micro-algae feed on daylight and air, capturing carbon dioxide molecules and storing them within the curtain, while producing oxygen and releasing it back into the surrounding air.

REFERENCES: 1 & 2: (Schlueter, A. (2019). Adaptive

Solar Façade (ASF). [online] Systems. arch.ethz.ch. Available at: https:// systems.arch.ethz.ch/research/active-and-adaptive-components/ asf-adaptive-solar-facade.html [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019].)

3: (Travers, J. (2018). BIQ: the Al-

gae-Powered Building in Germany | Videos. [online] LabRoots. Available at: https://www.labroots.com/trending/ videos/11463/biq-the-alga-poweredbuilding-in-germany [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]; Internationale-bauausstellung-hamburg.de. (2019). BIQ. [online] Available at: https://www.internationale-bauausstellung-hamburg.de/ en/projects/the-building-exhibition-within-the-building-exhibition/ smart-material-houses/biq/projekt/ biq.html [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019])

4: Laylin, T. (2016). "Living Bricks" could turn sunlight and waste water into energy-generating bioreactor walls. [online] Inhabitat.com. Available at: https://inhabitat.com/living-bricks-could-turn-sunlight-and-waste-water-into-energy-generating-bioreactor-walls/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019].

AR. ROHIN SHER

5: Denz, P. (2019). Solar thermal façade

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

systems – an interdisciplinary approach. [online] Iea-shc.org. Available at: https:// www.iea-shc.org/Data/Sites/1/publications/DenzMaurer18_3bistTechnologiesForSolarArchitecture_ABS18.pdf [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019].

6: Wilson, A. (2019). The Folly of Building-Integrated Wind. [online] BuildingGreen. Available at: https://www. buildinggreen.com/feature/folly-building-integrated-wind [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]. designboom | architecture & design magazine. (2019). brisbane airport kinetic parking garage façade by ned kahn + UAP. [online] Available at: https://www. designboom.com/art/brisbane-airportkinetic-parking-garage-facade-by-nedkahn-uap/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019].

Kim, E. (2012). Building's Wind-Driven Kinetic Façade. [online] My Modern Met. Available at: https://mymodernmet.com/ charles-sowers-studios-windswept/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019].

7: Olson, C. (2018). This New York City

building's façade actually cleans the air. [online] Architectural Digest. Available at: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/new-york-city-building-façade-cleansair [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019].

Founder, StudioSher

Rohin Sher has nearly 15 years of experience in the fields of architecture, environmental design and interior design across two continents. Before studying B.Arch. at CEPT University, he spent a year learning construction technology. He is trained with the Goan architect Dean D'Cruz.

After 6 months’ sponsored exchange program to the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Winterthur, he pursued his Masters in Sustainable Environmental design at the prestigious Architectural Association School of Architecture, London. In 2011, Sher founded StudioSher in London, which provides architectural, interior and environmental design advice. Rohin’s interests lie in the architectural expression of environmental control systems and in exploring the effect of design choices (such as embodied energy of materials) in minimising energy usage within buildings.

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Future Façades

Negotiating Boundaries

T

he building façades are not just the skins of the structures that give its face value externally.

They cannot be purely a result of aesthetic dimensions (decorative) nor only for controlling internal climate, a safeguard from the fluctuation of the weather outside. They are operated from both internal and external flows and constrains.

Conrad Waddington, a developmental biologist’s “epigenetic landscape” explains this operative nature of the façade intensively. Waddington’s model consists of an undulating sheet of the suspended surface with underside ‘tied down with a complicated network of guy ropes which are attached to the pegs’.

These are representations of genes and their interactions - internal constraints of the system. As the diagram indicates, the course of the slope of any valley is a resultant of the tension that execrates by these ropes. Above the surface, the rolling marble represents the cell’s future where any sudden external forces accelerate the momentum and define its pathway in differentiated surface valleys.

The following projects showcase FHD’s approach towards defining those internal and external conditions/parameters that would shape the façade of the building.

Waddington's (1957) depiction of his 'epigenetic landscape' (Source: Internet)

unchanged for the last few decades. Large open floor plates with as much unconstrained adaptable interior areas catering to single or multi-tenant, primarily in the IT sector, have been the norm.

The challenge raised in this project is to create an affordable model of offices for the small scale industrial

SWITCH BALCONY TOWER

The typology of office tower design has generally remained

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Small scale commercial sector

sector where office sizes are never more than 45-50 Sqm. This unique requirement led us to create a module-based approach to the design with each self-contained

Office Spaces

Common Spaces

Building mass and programme distribution

unit accommodating up to 8 staff members.

The reduced size of the office meant that amenities like meeting rooms, lounging areas had to be brought into a communal space shared by all offices. The modules are congregated into two towers that are connected with special bridge offices that offer such communal areas like cafes and rentable board rooms with large triple-height terraces.

The faรงade is an aggregate of many independent entities working together as a collective whole, like leaves ruffling in a tree - fully reflective of the multiplicity within the building. It is animated by a parametrically varying repetition of double-height balconies.

The parametric logic of these balconies allows variations in depths, angles and location based on office sizes, creating various sub-conditions and variety within the module. The modules are identified by various combinations of selected types. These types are distributed across the surface to

evaluate its densities and created a matrix of density variation from high to low. This density differential creates a differentiated self-shade across the faรงade.

Module density matrix

Module definition and its variants

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Future Faรงades combinations are distributed and studied its various densities and shadow casts in relation to their depths, angles and location.

Various patterns were evaluated with its distribution of those modules and their quantities.

The economy of the individual typological combinations was studied for all the generated patterns. The selected pattern displays the least amount of variations of those types and only 5 typologies were utilised.

The selected pattern is being appropriated to build mass that was defined by the programs earlier and highlighted the flow of the pattern across the faรงade.

Pattern variations and distributions

THE MODULARITY

Modules are defined by balcony type and sunshade type. The combinations of these two typologies will generate various

Optimisation of types and its economy

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conditions that are used to study the density variation by those.

MODULE DENSITY MATRIX

These

various

typological

Future Façades

The selected pattern is being appropriated to build mass

MATERIALITY

The sides of the pre-engineered

balconies are made from powdercoated perforated aluminium panels, which incidentally are manufactured by the client's factory.

Switch balcony tower is a result of the operation of internal parameters inherent in its program with an external parameter of minimising solar radiation on the façade by shading. The aesthetics of the multiplicity are defined not from a top-down wholeness, but from the aggregation of individualities that defines its totality.

DHURGAI KUMARAN SSN Director - Studio, FHD Group, Hyderabad

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Detailed view of the balconies

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Dhurgai Kumaran did his B. Arch from SAP, Anna University, Chennai and an M. A. in Advanced Architectural Design from SAC, Staedelschule, Germany under Ben Van Berkel.

Having 18 years of experience in India and Germany, he has worked as a design architect with Bengaluru-based firms like ‘Inform architects’ and ‘Ocher Architects’.

Enthusiastic in cutting edge design methods and methodologies, Durgai has had previous experience in implementing paramedic design methods for a project "Skyline Plaza" for Jourdan Muller PAS, Frankfurt, Germany.

Abreast with the latest trends and technologies, he had also run the architectural studio for the ‘Masters in Architecture’ programme at Anna University.

Currently working as Director - Studio for the FHD group, Dhurgai was involved in Naandi, Togetherments and various key projects in implementing parametric design approaches.

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Future Façades

Insights Future Façades into

I

have a confession to make: I am an inveterate sciencefiction fan. I particularly enjoy reading the grand masters of the genre from the fifties to the eighties, the likes of Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov.

What fascinates me in these books is the power of prediction of these authors. Many of the descriptions of the future in their stories have become today’s reality, only a few

decades later, even though Asimov and others probably didn’t expect them to come to pass so soon. Let’s dive into a similar exercise, albeit at a much smaller scale, and take a peek at what the future likely holds for façades.

It doesn’t take great powers of foresight to see that building envelopes of the future will need to be highly sustainable. This is a trend that has taken the construction

VR system is used to navigate façade interactive virtual mock-up

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industry by storm and is set to stay and spread. Sustainability will likely come in a number of flavours. Firstly, the materials incorporated into the façade will themselves need to be sustainable.

Many materials currently used in building envelopes, such as glass, aluminium and steel, are infinitely recyclable. However, their production from raw materials can consume as much as 20 times

Future Façades more energy than producing them from recycled materials. I believe that progressively, these elements will increasingly be manufactured from recycled components, possibly even from the building envelope of demolished buildings.

One of the fascinating aspects of peering into the future is that it often brings us right back to the past. After decades in oblivion, vernacular design strategies are likely to make a strong comeback, blended with modern materials and updated construction techniques. Our forefathers had invented ways of dealing with the common issues relating to building envelopes, such as air and water infiltration, harnessing natural daylight, conserving heat, and many more. These had been refined over the centuries, to be promptly forgotten thanks to an abundance of cheap energy from fossil fuels. In times of greater respect for nature and diminishing raw materials, designers are bound to look back at these vernacular approaches to design, further enhancing and modernising them to turn them into future building envelopes.

Over the past few years, tremendous efforts have been put into developing ever cleverer ways of using the building envelopes for energy generation

Electrochromic glass in its dark state, when sun shines on the façade

from sustainable sources.

While photovoltaic panels are undoubtedly the most common of these techniques, many others have also been tried or at least conceptualised, including kinetic façades leveraging wind power, bio-façades using photosynthesis to produce natural gas, etc. With the inevitable increasing scarcity of energy from fossil fuels, the use of building façade to generate energy seems inevitable. Already, solar panels for space exploration offer more than twice the efficiency of consumer panels. With increasing demand for ever more efficient panels, research will undoubtedly come up with breakthrough photovoltaic technologies. One of the most exciting possibilities that is starting to emerge is that of transparent PV panels. Absorbing photons in the infrared range, they offer the dual benefit of producing electricity while at the same time reducing the heat gain on the building. Piezoelectric façade, which generate electricity from the minute flexing of their materials from wind, do not exist now, but they could be developed in the future. Façade materials can be developed that harness the kinetic energy of raindrops impacting it.

While a single drop encapsulates a minute amount of energy, billions of drops crashing onto the

Electrochromic glass in intermediate state, under overcast conditions

building envelope could generate a significant aggregate amount of electricity. We can also imagine high-efficiency phosphorescent coatings for the façades, which would reduce or eliminate the need for street lighting. The façades would store up solar light energy during the day, and slowly releasing it at night. Countless other creative methods of generating energy from the building envelopes could be developed.

I foresee that building envelopes will increasingly become adaptive, no longer remaining static or requiring active human intervention to adapt to evolving natural conditions, as is currently the case. On overcast days, the would let more daylight in, and dim down on brighter days.

Moveable external shades, or blinds built into glazing have been cropping up on buildings over the past few years, but are still the exception rather than the norm. This is possibly due to higher maintenance cost, or perceived difficulties in implementation. Thermochromic, electrochromic and photochromic glazing solutions already exist today, but these are plagued either by technical performance problems, or by extremely long return on investment. These issues are bound to be eliminated over time, allowing building envelopes to become perfectly adapted to

Electrochromic glass in its light state at night or under very dark external conditions

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Future Façades

MATHIEU MEUR

Director, DP Façade Pte Ltd AI-enabled algorithms applied to speed analysis of façade performance

ambient conditions, minute by minute, every day of the year.

On the same topic of adaptive façades, trickle vents in façades could be linked to indoor sensors, and open automatically when CO2 or contaminants exceed certain levels within the building.

Similarly, heat exchangers can be built within cladding panels, reducing the need for HVAC ducts and large AHUs. Research is even being focused on new façade materials able to clean or filter the atmosphere free of pollutants. Such technologies are only just starting to emerge, but are currently either a monopoly or prohibitively expensive, and so limited to a few niche projects.

With improving technologies and increased demand, I am convinced that they will become commonplace.

Another direction that façades are very likely to take is that of connectedness. Pretty much everything nowadays is becoming connected, and façades are unlikely to be left

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behind. Façades of the future will be controllable right from one’s smartphone, to override automatic adaptive behaviours, for instance, or to pick a colour scheme for night lighting.

Informationgathering is fast becoming an obsessive activity. Sensors built into the building envelope and linked to artificial intelligence systems will undoubtedly appear in due time. There is no limit to the information that these could yield, and more importantly how such data would be used. One exciting opportunity would be the ability to extract information on the actual performance of the façade and of the building, which could then in turn be used to optimise that performance, as well as to improve on the design of future building envelopes.

While these insights into future façades are still a long shot from the ethereal but extremely highperformance force-field windows of Star Trek, I have good hope that these will come to pass within my lifetime.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mathieu Meur provides strategic and technical leadership as the director of DP Façade.

Through his training as a multidisciplinary engineer, and subsequent years of experience heading the largest façade consultancy practice in the world, Meur has developed extensive knowledge of all types of building envelope systems, their design, aesthetics, engineering, and related codes of practice. He has worked on numerous major construction projects in Asia, the Middle East and beyond, including Resorts World at Sentosa, Changi Airport Terminal 1 upgrading, and The Dubai Mall. Meur is also a fellow of the Society of Façade Engineering from the United Kingdom since 2010.

Mathieu was the Chairman of the Singapore Green Building Council Taskforce on Cladding & Roofing from 2012 to 2016.

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SHRIRAM

Future Façades

Material

Driven Futuristic Façade Systems

B

uilding skins and façades have a multitude of roles and functions. On one hand, they provide a visual character to a building, which extends to the local character of a neighbourhood or at times, to a skyline of a city. On the other hand, façades have a key role towards building performance and creates a link between the interiors and exteriors of a building with respect to climatic response, protection from harsh physical conditions and maintaining user comfort levels. The role of a façade is as complex as the building itself as it needs to strike a balance between all the parameters such as aesthetics, visual character, structural stability, solar heat gain, daylight filtration, visibility, thermal comfort, branding and programmatic zoning, among other aspects. Due to its complex nature, usually designers opt to harness the potentials of a façade to either aesthetic effects or to building performance.

While there is innovation happening in various aspects Façade such as construction methods, structural systems deployed, new material and cladding solution and even design & aesthetics, there is still something missing out to be called as a ‘Eureka moment’ or innovation that can surpass the rigid boundaries of the conventional.

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Rarely one is looking into material innovation that can lead to design innovation. This is one area of research where rat[LAB] Studio co-founders Sushant Verma & Pradeep Devadass based their research in 2012 with a vision to develop a new façade system that can change shape using the heat from the sun and adapt to local conditions to control building performance. As complex as it may sound, and it indeed was, this is a project that had its basis rooted in years of research in the domain of adaptive and dynamic architecture, and a vision grounded somewhere in the future where material innovation would support the science behind the project.

BUILDING SKIN: SETTING UP THE CONTEXT OF INNOVATION

A building skin consists of vertical (façade) and horizontal (roof) components which protect the building from the direct external environment and helps in maintaining comfortable interiors along with providing structure and stability to the building. Building skins are a vital component to resolve issues of responsive architecture as they are a medium through which intelligence can be imparted to a building system to respond to

an environmental stimulus. Thus, key characteristic of an effective, intelligent building skin is its ability to modify energy flows through the building envelope by regulation, enhancement, attenuation, rejection or entrapment.

Buildings that inherit intelligence to move passively with the sun, to automatically control the level of heat gain and day lighting in the interior environment, is the vision of London originated research group rat[LAB], that led to the project adaptive[systems]. rat[LAB] – Research in Architecture & Technology, now headquartered in New Delhi since 2015, started the project adaptive[systems] with a sole vision of challenging the static built environment against the dynamic natural environment, where numerous layers of architecture have to come together to make a building function in negotiation with changing environmental parameters such as sun, rain and wind. The research has taken a series of iterations from 2012 to 2016, with developments shaping up in Los Angeles, CA at The MAK Center.

The team designed a dynamic façade system as a proposal for MAK’s Exhibition Space at the site of Mackey Apartments, which was designed by one of the pioneers of Modernism – Rudolph Schindler in 1939.

Future Façades

Proposal for dynamic façade at MAK’s Exhibition Space in Los Angeles, California

The project questions the static nature of architectural spaces and engenders dynamism and motion in architecture in a complex and dynamic environment, combining art, architecture & interactive media. The aim is to develop prototypical systems, digitally and physically, and test them as interactive installations, speculated as building envelopes in the context of California and other geographical locations with hot climates. The installation is a system made of evolved tensegrity components, with embedded sensors and actuators, to make it respond to human movement and

Project Details: Project Title: adaptive[tensegrity] Type: Research & Built Installation Categories: Architecture, Material System, Computation Location: Los Angeles, USA Designed by Sushant Verma, Pradeep Devadass Fabrication Collaborator: Oliver Hess (Aperiodic Industries) Electrical Design Support: Howard Chen (Hsin-Hao Chen) Volunteer Support: Richard Ruiz, John Whitcomb Interactive prototype of adaptive [systems] at MAK Center Mackay House, Los Angeles

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Future Façades

Interactive prototype of adaptive[systems] at Maker Faire 2014, New York

interacting with users through its state of dynamism and motion.

Adaptive [skins] also investigates responsive building skin systems that adapt to the dynamic environmental conditions. These systems regulate the internal conditions in a habitable space over different periods of time by exhibiting a state of motion and dynamism. Heat and light are the primary parameters for regulation, leading to energy efficiency and dynamic spatial effects. Passive and active skins using shape memory alloys and pneumatic actuators are developed through investigations of smart systems that integrate smart materials and smart geometries.

The precedents in this domain have rarely dealt with individually controlled multiple parameters of heat and light in a single system, which is attempted in this project.

Owing to the complexity of the multi-parametric system, genetic algorithms are developed for system optimisation and calibrated with physical prototypes at varied scales. The developed systems are tested against two distinct climatic models – New Delhi and Barcelona – and evaluated for performance, based on heat and light, which are quantified as solar gain and illuminance as principles, and daylight factor for evaluation purposes. The use of genetic algorithms makes problem-solving faster and more accurate. New toolsets are developed in the process by combining various digital tools, to create a real-time feedback and a memory loop system.

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MATERIAL INTELLIGENCE

Material Intelligence was a major part of the research from project adaptive[skins], carried out in London, followed by adaptive[systems] Installation exhibited in Los Angeles. As designers, we sometimes miss out on potentials of the materials themselves and start to use them as a secondary layer. It is in these materials and their materiality that potentials can be explored, analysed & put to a smart use.

A previous iteration of the interactive system uses Nitinol, a shape memory alloy in the form of compression springs that respond to heat from the sun to actuate the system passively, regulating the heat & light that permeates through the building skin, in the process. It is a prototype for investigating architecture that moves passively, without the use of any external electrical energy. It exploits the materiality and structural potentials of the system that responds to heat from the sun and gets self-actuated during the hot hours of the day to automatically move and provide controlled shading, heat gain &

lighting conditions in any space.

Complex algorithms are coded while designing the system to study the emergent dynamic behaviour of the system with respect to angular changes, axial shifts and force transfers, that take place when the system actuates with heat. This type of a building skin can potentially be used as free standing roof structures, building façades, window panels or installations that can be preprogrammed and configured in a way that it responds to the environmental conditions of any place, while using the potentials of shape memory allow and structural principles of tensegrity, and without needing any electrical source to function. This prototypical model was exhibited in San Francisco at Maker Faire Bay Area.

Four strut tensegrity component is evolved to fit a cuboidal bounding box that can be aggregated as a 3-dimensional grid for modular assembly.

Actuation experiments are carried out in a computational setting by applying forces in various springs and corresponding shape change is studied. This system responds differently with different actuations and aggregation settings, and this kinetic behaviour can be harnessed at an architectural scale to design the glow of the building skin system. An algorithm is written to control the kinetics of the system by introducing sensors that feed in the data to actuate the system. In the current prototypical iteration, we are using a proximity sensor to control movement and lighting.

An early stage experiment of Shape Memory Allow- Nitinol to calculate force generated for using in a dynamic tensegrity system

Future Faรงades

The process of development of Genetic Algorithm to simulate the material and geometric intelligence in a digital / computational framework

Prototype of 3-strut tensegrity faรงade system

Iterative development of faรงade component using 4-strut tensegrity system and computational simulation to study its behaviour and performance

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Future Faรงades An international collaboration of rat[LAB] with Takumi Yoshioka and Masaki Morinobu of Nonscale Co. Tokyo led to a proposed shopping

centre in Japan & India, exhibited at the SC Fair 2016 held at Yokohama, south of Tokyo, in Japan. The project is designed by Nonscale Co., while

Long-span Tensile-Grid Shell (SC Fair 2016, Yokohama) (Sketch & Visualisation by Nonscale Co. Ltd. Tokyo, in collaboration with rat[LAB])

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the highlighting roof-structure has been envisaged and designed by rat[LAB]. This large span adaptive roof structure inherits

Future Façades

Environmental Analysis (SC Fair 2016, Yokohama)

hybrid qualities of a tensile and a grid shell, with automated shading devices inbuilt in the structure. The project explores Computational Techniques to develop Form, Structure & an Adaptive Skin /Envelope for the Architectural Built. The material-driven intelligence of adaptive[skins] project formed the basis for adaptive control of the building skin to derive a complex geometric system that can harness the potential of sun using sensing and actuating systems. On a large scale, Nitinol has limitations in scalability and production, but which is something that might not be constant in future and we may be able to see architectural façade systems that can make sure of shape memory allows or bimetals.

WHAT THE FUTURE MAY HOLD FOR US

A focus on materiality for seeking innovation is necessary for the profession to bring forth something meaningful and lead to an innovation that has not happened since last many decades. The moment we start looking into possible solutions into material sciences, we are

bound to have smart solutions that never ceased to exist before.

An intelligent, pre-programmed mechanism of response and feedback needs to be embedded in architecture, with a real-time response and improvisation, for it to be termed ‘adaptive’. It is a complex phenomenon with a multi-layered non-linear process.

Buildings do not merely provide shade and protection from the external environment, but have a multitude of functions to perform and a range of conditions to adapt and respond to. Architecture has transformed from being functional to intelligent, with the changing requirements of time. Social environment is a constantly changing parameter and architecture needs to modulate and change with it too. Since its very origin, architecture has been evolving and developing to serve the needs of the cities and its people.

In today’s complex lives however, with the fluctuating parameters and conditions of the cities and changing environments, architecture needs to serve to a multitude of functions through its life cycle. Thus it is necessary that architecture responds to all the fluctuating parameters and serves the purpose of its existence.

SUSHANT JAI-AMITA VERMA

Co-Founder, rat[LAB]- Research in Architecture and Technology

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sushant Verma is a design entrepreneur, architect, computational designer & educator, currently leading rat[LAB] Studio (Research in Architecture and Technology) (www.rat-lab.org) that investigates the intersections of design, art & technology through architecture, interior design and art installations.

He holds a Masters Degree in Emergent Technologies & Design from Architectural Association, London and is a former architect at Zaha Hadid Architects, London & a Senior Editor at Arch2O. He is a prominent TEDx Speaker, and the founder of the rat[LAB] EDUCATION, which is an initiative to spread the idea of computation in design through independently-organised design workshops. Recipient of MAK Schindler Award from Vienna / Los Angeles and a finalist for AIA Emerging Leaders Fellowship from Chicago, his work is widely published and exhibited.

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Brand Watch

PSS App McCoy’s New Business Solution

T

he Partner Self Service (PSS) is a mobile App which is developed for McCoy’s distributors/ dealers. It is a very simple App to help them transact and connect with McCoy. McCoy has created the PSS App with the objective of delivering a seamless exchange and flow of business. Whether it is meeting distributor expectations or understanding retailer requirements, McCoy was looking for a mobility solution that would help them to bridge the gap. This App helps McCoy to understand their distributors and retailers by

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providing a cohesive experience across channels.

Distribution plays a vital role in any business and there is no better decision a company can take than getting WHY PSS APP? • Real-time updates on sales activities • Status of placed orders • Live tracking of shipments • Customer’s accounts • Loyalty rewards • Product videos • Quick notification of schemes, offers

their exclusive distribution App to connect, engage and create more business just over a tap. The App helps to manage the business more smartly by engaging with existing as well as more new smart customers. This PSS App gives more control and freedom to customers and their partners in doing business with ease.

McCoy is present across almost all growing and emerging industry verticals ranging from automotive and transportation infrastructure and building construction to chemicals to glass and industry and now in retail. Their range of products and services includes sealants, adhesives and foams, automotive sealants and adhesives, architectural building hardware and accessories, an entire range of silicones and chemicals, and insect and wellness flyscreens. Their products are available across South East Asia, employing more than 150 professionals across 9 offices in India and around the world.

The PSS solution understands the needs and the importance of the growing base of distributors and retailers in order to serve the brand’s customers efficiently and effectively. The App saves time by managing all the sales and marketing activities at ease. The PSS App enables the company to do order management, managing loyalty programs, display of product catalogues, track invoices and payments, customer settlement chart and ability to show meaningful dashboards and insights. The distributor and retailers can view offers, stock rates, schemes, showcase proper order history details and can also check their ledger and outstanding with much ease.

PSS App is available on Google Play & App Store. Through PSS App the company is aspiring to expand its relationships with the customer and provide digital engagement experience.

Brand Watch

REHAU The display store and office were inaugurated by Ajay Khurana, Chairman, REHAU South Asia

R

EHAU Polymers - one of the leading global players in uPVC windows & doors, furniture, and building industry, has opened its display store and office in Varanasi. To mark this occasion,

a gala ceremony was organised.

The display store and office were inaugurated by Ajay Khurana, Chairman, REHAU South Asia.

The new display store is built at a prime location - Virat MS Manduadih at Varanasi. Through

The newly opened REHAU display store and office in Varanasi

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Opens New Display Store and Office in Varanasi this display store, REHAU is offering its top of the line product range.

During the event, the company also revealed its current sales and marketing strategies.

More than 100 REHAU dealers, distributors, sub-dealers, retailers, distributers besides architects and interior designers witnessed the amazing growth streak of REHAU while it unveiled the new product range through live demo session.

Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal and Ratnesh Kumar Jaiswal from REHAU’s authorised channel partner, Rajesh Agency, were also present at the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal, Proprietor, Rajesh Agency said, “We are delighted to have this brand new REHAU display store and office in Varanasi which will help us in ensuring fast delivery of our most impressive product line.”

REHAU is known for its quality uPVC edgebands, uPVC doors & windows, solid surface, prelaminated boards, laminates, flooring, roller shutters, and underfloor heating and cooling solutions.

The interiors of the new display store

Product Watch

-Craft

Launches Premium Aluminium Window and Door Systems

(From Left to Right) - Huub Van Der Staak, Managing Director - South East Asia, Craft Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong, Stuart Orr, CEO, Craft Holdings Limited, Aparna Reddy, Executive Director, Aparna Enterprises Ltd, Ashwin Reddy – Managing Director, Aparna Enterprises Ltd at the launch of Alteza by Aparna-Craft in Hyderabad

A

parna-Craft, a joint venture between Aparna Enterprises Limited, and Craft Holdings, Hong Kong, has forayed into the premium aluminium window and door systems under the brand name Alteza. Alteza will offer its customers end-to-end services that include designing, manufacturing, installation and post-sales support for high-end aluminium window and door systems.

The solutions include aluminium

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casement & sliding windows and doors to customised applications like slide and fold, tilt & turn, lift & slide systems. Alteza systems can also offer bespoke solutions to fulfil various other system requirements, including structural strength, increased safety & security, uninterrupted wider view, among many other benefits.

Speaking on the occasion, Ashwin Reddy, Managing Director, Aparna Enterprises Limited, said, “Owing to the durability and malleability of aluminium as a

premium material, aluminium window and door systems are fast becoming the preferred solution in India. The market for high-end aluminium window and door systems in India is pegged at Rs. 1000 crore, however, there are very few players offering endto-end solutions that match the international standards. We are confident that through Alteza, we will be able to bridge this gap.

We are aiming at achieving 10% of the market share for premium aluminium windows and doors within the first year of the launch.”

Elaborating about Alteza, Stuart Orr, CEO, Craft Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong, commented, “Alteza will come as a relief to architects and builders who have been scouting for bespoke premium aluminium window and door solutions. Alteza will leverage the designing and engineering expertise of Craft Holdings and the execution capabilities of Aparna Enterprises and offer revolutionary aluminium window and door systems.”

Alteza will be manufactured at a state-of-the-art production facility located at Bachupally, near Hyderabad. The plant will have a production capacity of around 75,000 sq ft of premium window and door systems per month. Though available across the country, Alteza in the first few months will focus on addressing the growing demand in the Southern and Western markets, particularly Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.

Product Watch

Renson Endura Twist to Provide Pollution-Free Air Inside Your House

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ENSON® - one of the preferred names for ventilation, solar shading, and pergola requirements, has introduced Endure Twist to provide clean air inside your homes or buildings.

Renson Endura Twist is a decentralised fresh air ventilation system integrated with windows.

The Renson Endura Twist filters the outside polluted air for 1 micron level using PM1 filters and supplies the pure fresh air in the house. It has a heat exchanger inbuilt that stores the AC energy of the indoor air in the heat exchanger. As the fans turn every 30 seconds, the heat exchanger pass the stored heat to the fresh incoming air and a pleasant, pre-cooled air is blown into the room.

Due to the continuous cyclic operation of the alternating fans, it ensures a constant air supply

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and air extraction, the customer can enjoy an optimal air quality at any time. It offers quick installation without ducts and easy maintenance that makes it ideal for both new-builds as renovations.

During the cool nights of a hot summer, the system automatically switches to bypass mode due to the integrated temperature sensors. The Endura Twist blows fresh outdoor air in, extracts hot indoor air without any heat recovery and in doing so, it freshens the house.

The vertical Endura Twist can be combined with an integrated sun protection screen or shutters to prevent overheating. The combination of a comfortable ventilation with beautiful and efficient sun protection provides the perfect aesthetic solution for beautiful warm summers.

SPECIFICATIONS OF THE PRODUCT: • They have PM1 filter to provide pure air • Inbuilt heat recovery system • Indoor air quality sensors as CO2 • Ensures cross ventilation in the room • 1 unit for the room without any ducting

Product Watch

Modular Railing System from

KELCO

handrail & balustrade system is achieved by applying advanced polishing processes as components are completely manufactured at the factory only.

• Wherever required, joints of the modular railing system are internally enhanced with bushing made of stainless steel for extra strength.

K

ELCO is one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of stainless steel 316/304 Grade modular handrail and balustrade system and architectural hardware products from India since 1999.

They aim to supply high-quality products of a unique design with precision in each stage of production.

All of the KELCO products are manufactured under one roof following ISO 9001:2015 quality management system.

KELCO is having expertise in the modular railing system with a wide range of designs.

FEATURES OF KELCO MODULAR RAILING SYSTEM: • The material used for KELCO modular railing is 1.2mm thick for S.S.304 Grade material and 1.5mm thick for S.S. 316 Grade material

• No welding, cutting, finishing is required at the site as all the finished parts are developed at their factory • The balustrade is mounted on specially developed solid stainless steel 304 grade base to provide extra grip and strength to the staircase system. Base fitting is also concealed with a cover cap, which adds aesthetic value to the staircase • Extra-long high tensile specially developed brass anchor and S.S. fasteners are used to fix the balustrade on the floor area to give additional strength to the mounting of a balustrade • The railing bend is a perfect 90-degree angle. That is why railing is visually attractive and aesthetically appealing.

• The unique finish of the

BENEFITS OF KELCO MODULAR RAILING SYSTEM: • KELCO modular railing system eliminates any damage at a site which normally happens during fabrication work of railing. It saves the cost of repairing expensive flooring after installation of the railing system.

• KELCO modular railing system can be dismantled and re-install at any time in the future. It saves the huge cost of replacement of the railing system in the future.

• Joints of the modular railing system are coupled with stainless steel bush which provides extra strength and tolerates even forceful and intense use of the staircase.

• The high-quality unique finish of KELCO modular railing system will add a unique and luxurious touch to buildings.

For more details on the product, visit: www.kelcoindia.com

Brass anchor and SS bolt

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Product Watch

New Age Products from Saint-Gobain

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aint-Gobain’s new offerings - SGG Equinox and SGG Quartz make glass more than just an aesthetically appealing building material.

SGG EQUINOX SGG Equinox provides the twin benefits of optimum light transmission for tropical conditions and excellent thermal comfort across all seasons. The product is inspired by the Equinox, which happens twice a year when the duration of the day and night are approximately equal across the globe.

In a tropical country like India, there is an ample amount of daylight for almost 10 months a

year which causes visual discomfort to the occupants. Hence there is a need to optimise the light entering the building to avoid glare.

Buildings with poor insulation allow more heat inside during sunny days and dissipate more heat to the atmosphere during winter due to differential temperature.

Also longer days mean more light and longer nights equate to less light; both tend to have a negative impact on the habitat. Shorter days shorten the amount of time spent on outdoor activities, weakens the ability to learn and process information and results in lesser productivity at work. On the other hand, longer days release excess melatonin hormone, which causes sleep deprivation and disturbs

SGG Equinox provides the twin benefits of optimum light transmission for tropical conditions and excellent thermal comfort across all seasons

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the sleep cycle. SGG Equinox was hence developed to counter all these issues and ensure the ideal combination of optimum light and thermal comfort for wellbeing.

It can be used in any place that demands optimum light with thermal comfort; it is particularly suitable for façades, skylights and buildings with high WWR. SGG QUARTZ SGG Quartz is a new range of neutralshaded glass from Saint-Gobain. In the world of architecture, subtlety has a way of finding a place for itself. SGG Quartz is one such ode to the neutral look, transforming buildings into elegant edifices.

Clothed in neutral, it underlines the power of the elements where less is more.

Today, there is an increasing demand for neutral-shaded façades as they emanate a soothing appearance. There is a need for colours that do not appear garish, but leave a lasting impact. SGG Quartz is a top-of-the-line product that is expressive and enigmatic all at once. A high-performance glass, it also delivers the desired design intent. Aesthetics aside, it is a premium glass that ensures optimum daylighting and superior heat cut for enhanced comfort.

It comes with a double-layered silver coating that blocks out UV & infrared radiations for maximum comfort and safety. It can be used as it is or mixed and matched because it is a shade of glass that will truly stand out with its sheer subtlety.

Product Watch

SoudaFrame SWI Intelligent Modular Pre-Frame for Windows

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oudal - a reputable manufacturer of highquality products for insulation and sealing, has developed solutions for optimally sealing joints around windows. With SoudaFrame SWI, the company has introduced an

intelligent modular pre-frame for the installation of windows with L-profiles that offers better energy efficiency results while also shortening the installation time.

A good insulation layer is indispensable for meeting strict energy performance requirements.

No tedious installation and sealing methods, but quick and easy. The frame is assembled in the workshop or on site and mounted on the wall in one part

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Windows are best fitted at/ level with the insulating layer for optimal thermal effectiveness.

“A thicker insulation layer also usually results in better insulation values, but this also means that the distance between the window and the supporting wall is greater,” says product manager Steven Van Orshaegen.

The larger the overhang, the larger and stronger the metal window anchors have to be, or the more anchors need to be used.

The raised presence of metal in the insulation layer also increases the thermal conductivity, which leads to an increased risk of thermal bridges. SoudaFrame SWI avoids this situation and guarantees a perfectly insulated and airtight window assembly while reducing installation time.

INTELLIGENT MODULAR WINDOW INSTALLATION SYSTEM SoudaFrame SWI (Soudal Window Installation) is an intelligent modular pre-frame with L-shaped profiles, highly suitable for external wall insulation systems (ETICS) and ventilated façade systems, where the interior wall is first built and only then is the insulation and façade finish completed.

“SoudaFrame SWI is made of glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP), an extremely strong and lightweight material with a high load-bearing (up to almost 800 kg/m) and insulation capacity.

When the window is installed in the insulation layer, the isotherms pass straight through

Product Watch

SoudaFrame SWI (Soudal Window Installation) is an intelligent modular pre-frame with slim L-profiles

the insulation and window, with considerably better scores for heat losses at the transition between wall and window (PSI values),” says Orshaegen.

The pre-frame, available in four sizes, can be assembled either in the workshop or on-site before being fitted as one part against

the wall using a hybrid hightack adhesive. The initial grab of the adhesive is high enough to keep the frame-up. The installers then have their hands free to further fix the pre-frame with a number of bolts. Unique spring clips guarantee a uniform joint between pre-frame and window

With the pre-frame system selector, the user can easily choose the type of wall and insulation used in the project

frame. Exactly how much product is needed to seal the window joints can be easily calculated before the start of project construction, thus reducing waste, lowering the cost and shortening the time of installation.

The biggest benefit of the SoudaFrame SWI is that the windows can already be manufactured, even before the walls are built. The pre-frame is madeto-measure to the dimensions of the windows and not the hole in the wall. An installation margin allows for a perfect alignment of all external joinery, even with an error margin of the wall of up to 2 cm. By using this product, the total building time of a project can be reduced by approx. 4 to 6 weeks.

After the window frame has been directly screwed /fixated into the SoudaFrame SWI frame, the clips can be removed and the joint filled with Flexifoam, a flexible PU foam, and sealed with the liquid Soudatight membranes. All products of the Soudal Window System-range can be used in combination with the pre-frame.

BIM-READY Soudal has developed its own BIM application to simplify the cooperation between the different parties in the construction process.

“At bim.soudal.com, the user can find a clear and always-up-todate library of BIM objects for the installation and sealing of external joinery,” explains Van Orshaegen.

With the pre-frame system selector, the user can easily choose the type of wall and insulation used in the project, after which the possible solutions are visualised. With a simple click, the user can download all the necessary technical information, specifications texts and certificates.

The sealing system selector allows to select the best suitable sealing system in the same way. This new system is available with McCoy Soudal in India.

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Cover Story

Future Faรงades Advancements in Technology & Materials

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Cover Story

F

açades are the most important building element from both the users and the architect’s point of view. They are the most difficult to design since the perception of iconic and technologically advanced façades is changing frequently.

As per the United Nations Environment Program, buildings and their construction together account for 36 percent of global energy use and 39 percent of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions annually. Since the building’s envelope is the primary contributor of energy

gain, and correspondingly its most important element in controlling the carbon footprint, it is no longer a matter of choice but mandatory to come up with technologies that perform better, are more functional and, of course, look great. Designers are researching and experimenting with new and complex façade and fenestration technologies.

We interviewed a number of experts, including architects and manufacturers of cladding materials, to know their views on future façades, fenestration technologies and materials that can accentuate the building design horizontally and vertically.

This edition’s cover story attempts to delve deeper into various aspects of future façade designs and materials and throws light into many aspects that would help building flawless ‘future façades’.

Gift International Club, Gandhinagar by Designers Group

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Cover Story

AR. KHOZEMA CHITALWALA

Principal Architect & Designer, Designers Group

AR. MANISH DIKSHIT

Partner & Principal Designer, Aum Architects

ROHIT SURAJ

Along with the materials that furnish the look and feel of a building, technologies applied to façades and fenestrations are also changing, says Ar. Khozema Chitalwala, Principal Architect & Designer, Designers Group. Besides technology, materials like glass, concrete, etc., used for the building skin are an integral yet singular aspect of the façade design.

Durable, malleable and scalable materials like zinc, aluminium and concrete are the choice for architects who innovate in designing functional cladding.

A façade can be constructive or destructive for any building. Major advancements have been made in the application of new techniques with the changing materials. Recent buildings are more responsive to the environment as well as the design. The deviation towards energy conservation and efficiency is for the better, says Ar. Manish Dikshit, Partner & Principal Designer, Aum Architects.

According to Rohit Suraj, Founder, Urban Zen, to protect a building from external elements, to maintain ambient internal temperature, and for ventilation and natural light at the same time ensuring visibility from inside, metals like copper, aluminium, corten steel, and brass alloys are now being explored as façade elements in India.

Moiz Anwer Kamil, Director, KaenatCorp notes that by

empowering the user with technology, it is possible to bring a paradigm shift in terms of comfort. Designers are looking at new ways to pioneer energy efficiency.

As a result, the façades have taken the technological route. He agrees that conventional products that were once used as the default cladding materials – such as ACP (aluminium composite panel) – are gradually being replaced by much better alternatives like slim porcelain slabs.

Talking about the trends in façade architecture, Ar. Kapil Mehta, Principal Architect, Kapil Mehta & Associates stresses the need for architects to stay informed about the latest trends, innovations, and performance requirements which will maximise efficiencies in their projects. He agrees that iron panels, copper, steel, highpressure laminates, aluminium, zinc, tile, stone, extruded resin, ETFE, etc. have taken up the trend.

Prachita Singh, Architect, GSC Glass Pvt. Ltd, observes that apart from creating panoramic views, façades can harness solar energy, double them up as a media wall, and allow the building to breathe. The smart glasses allow buildings to respond to the sun.

Founder, Urban Zen

MOIZ ANWER KAMIL Director, KaenatCorp

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Deutsches museum proposed 3D-printed facade

Sky Tower Ankara. Courtesy ALUMIL Systems India

Cover Story

AR. KAPIL MEHTA

Principal Architect, Kapil Mehta & Associates

Proposed design for a project by Urban Zen

AR. PRACHITA SINGH Architect, GSC Glass Pvt. Ltd.

TARIQ KACHWALA Director, FG Glass

AR. UTKARSH GOR Associate Architect, Ingrain

From the advancement in terms of technologies, the façades are becoming smarter and are ably responding to the environment.

According to Tariq Kachwala, Director, FG Glass, some of the striking and notable material innovations here are electrochromic or photochromic glasses, energygenerating BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaic) façades, “green” algaepowered façades and external dynamic shading devices that are electronically controlled, just to name a few. These smart designs will ensure that the façades of tomorrow are not only different but more functional and practical than today’s general norm.

Ar. Utkarsh Gor, Associate Architect, Ingrain notes that the approach towards the building façades has changed a lot, from ‘conserving energy ‘to ‘generating energy’ through façades. Technologies like Building Integrated Photo Voltaic (BIPV) are reforming our point of view towards the façade, he adds.

Hemant Rathod, National HeadStructural Glass Solutions, SaintGobain India Private Limited (Glass Business) too observes that with 'smart' being the keyword across every vertical, glass has also lived

up to transform itself to align with the digital world. The electrochromic glass takes dynamism to whole new levels, allowing user preference to determine the appearance and performance of the façade. Dynamic and electronically tintable, it enables users to actively control daylight and solar heat, improving occupant comfort while reducing energy consumption and costs. It completely negates the need for traditionally used sun control systems like curtains and blinds, says Rathod.

Revolutionary products are available, says Rathod, which allows occupants to choose between transparency or translucency at the touch of a switch and thereby control their privacy. It can be installed as a façade or an interior glass as partitions, floors, doors, windows and even walls. Despite high light transmission, says Rathod, it ensures low power consumption. Some futuristic glazing solutions allow any image or vector file to be processed and printed onto it. It is ideally suited for both indoor and outdoor applications.

Dhurgai Kumaran, Director-studio, FHD group observes that the façade systems are moving from a climatic control/protective hermetically sealing role to an energy harvesting role. Tesla’s solar roof is the best utilisation of the roof system for solar energy production

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Cover Story

HEMANT RATHOD

National Head - Structural Glass Solutions, Saint - Gobain India Private Limited (Glass Business)

AR. DHURGAI KUMARAN Director - Studio, FHD Group

AR. KIRAN KALE Partner, Ingrain

as one can see in energy modelling on the roofs. Stressing on the need for physiological and psychological wellness with the increasing pollution and taller buildings and diminishing connection with nature, Kumaran suggests that the ‘Biophilic’ approach is the right way to integrate green in façades and roofs. “It promotes not only mental wellness but also cleans up the pollution (both chemical and noise) in the environment and produce clean air to breathe,” he says.

Kachwala notes that static façades are perhaps the most limiting factor considering façades. The performance expected from façades during day and night, and during seasons, is entirely different and the occupants resort to additional shading devices like blinds or films. Another limitation inherent in most façades today is its non-interactive nature. These two areas are the ones where technology has the greatest scope of the transformation - and we are seeing new advancements, at an increasingly quicker pace in transforming façades to be dynamic and “living”. While buildings are static objects, some of the more successful buildings have achieved a sense of movement or fluidity. As the sun travels across the façade casting alternating highlights and shadows on the surface, the dynamics of how that structure sits on the environment is an important component of becoming a respected partner in its surroundings, says Mehta.

Geneva airport, Switzerland - application: skylight renovation; product: SageGlass Climatop Classic; photography: Adri

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SUSTAINABILITY & OPERATIONAL COST-EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH FAÇADE TECHNOLOGIES A designer needs to engage in different design strategies for specific climatic zones. In terms of thermal energy, says Ar. Dikshit, façades can substantially pacify the amount of heat absorbed by the building in a hot climate zone. With the partial reflection of solar radiation by the covering, ventilated air gap and application of insulating material, a designer may achieve a considerable reduction in the costs of cooling and air conditioning. Vice versa, in winters, ventilated walls can manage to retain heat, resulting in savings in terms of heating. Also, high solar gain façades can be used to harness solar energy with solar panels.

Façade is being looked upon as an opportunity to harvest energy, while still maintaining high aesthetic value.

Ar. Kiran Kale, Partner, Ingrain adds that efforts are being put to increase the efficiency of solar panels as a façade in the form of louvers, surfaces, shading devices, and so on. Attempts are being made to increase efficiency by using nanotechnology in the solar panels. Also use of solar panels and microturbines on the façade in selected locations can be an upcoming potential idea, adds Ar. Kale. Double skin façade and the airflow in between can also play an important role. Leading-edge technologies like photolytic glasses can be incorporated in the façades, notes Ar. Chitalwala.

This glass on the complete building envelope acts as a solar panel, that can harvest energy during day time.

Ar. Kumaran points out that integrated façade products such as solar and wind turbines can increase the underutilised façades into a clean energy farm. As we have tools for energy modeling, i.e., the methods to evaluate and reorient the façades of the building to achieve maximum solar exposure or wind direction within the design logic of a project is possible, through which we can achieve the maximum potential of harvesting the energy through sun and wind. The tools can give accurate flow rates across the façade of different orientations, which

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Cover Story

An example of coloured thinfilms for solar energy generation, courtesy FG Glass

will help us to evaluate how much min/max energy will be produced/ optimised, adds Kumaran.

According to Kamil, the global market for zero-energy buildings is projected to achieve explosive growth from $629.3 million in 2014 to $1.4 trillion by 2035. In Europe and America, buildings consume around 40 percent of all energy – around 10 percent more than transport and create the same proportion of CO2 emissions.

That forced the governments of the countries to increase energy code stringency by implementing new building design standards LEED Certificate, Living Building Challenge (LBC) certification and the most growing- Net Zero Energy Building (nZEB’s), says Kamil. A nZEB solution means that the building uses as much energy over the course of the year as it generates from onsite renewables. Power Harvesting Cladding is a novel high-tech product developed as an answer to the architectural community to integrate solar power generation into building envelope keep focusing on architecture and aesthetics. Combining the latest technologies of a special glass treatment, newest achievements of the photovoltaic industry as a unique lamination solution, Power Harvesting Cladding provides multi-functional building material, generating clean solar energy as an add-on façade function, points out Kamil.

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Metallic textured BIPVs, courtesy FG Glass

Ar. Mehta points out that by integrating energy harvesting systems onto building façades, one can maximise their potential energy output while decreasing their reliance on the power grid. The façades of tall buildings provide a greater amount of square footage to provide electricity and allow the building to function more selfsufficiently. In addition to this, a new system of windows, shading, and lighting will increase natural daylight inside the building and reduce energy costs.

While talking about advances in glass technology, Ar. Singh notes that earlier, glass panels were replaced by solar panels, thereby cutting out the natural light and creating un-aesthetic designs. With the advancement in technologies, we are able to create photovoltaic glass which converts light to energy.

Responsive intelligent systems such as motorised shading devices, photochromic glass, employing light crystal technologies, SPD, etc. are new and upcoming technologies all over the world, adds Singh.

Rathod too spots on passive energyefficiency, like the solarcontrol offerings, which cut down on heat transmission, keeping the interiors cooler, even while allowing plenty of natural daylight. This would tantamount to a reduction in the use of artificial lighting and air-conditioning, and reduced electricity bills as a result.

Kachwala agrees that the

most common form of energyharvesting façade technology is BIPV systems. According to a recent study, the global BIPV market was valued at USD 16.86 billion in 2018 and is projected to increase significantly at a CAGR of 15.9% from 2019 to 2028. Such attractive numbers have unsurprisingly got many more producers of BIPV systems in the market. Higher efficiency numbers are the key to this technology picking up pace as use in façades. Developers need quicker ROIs, typically in four to five years, compared to the eight to ten years currently. “One of the upcoming solar cell technology called Perovskite solar cells have demonstrated efficiency values of 25 to 28% - and the huge monies invested in solar technology research will ensure these values will only get better with time,” points out Kachwala.

Suraj talks about smart building technologies, which integrate the façade response to the internal lighting and heating conditions. On a warm day in an office building, for example, the shading devices on the façade tilt their direction to avoid direct sunlight entering the building glazing. At the same time, the internal temperature auto-adjusts to ensure a room temperature of 23-25deg and the lighting inside is brightened to compensate the reduction in natural light. That said, there is a fine balance to be achieved between the investment and operational cost-effectiveness of such cutting edge technology vs. sustainable long-term benefits of the same in every project, he adds.

Leading-edge technologies play a crucial role in terms of sustainability and operational cost-effectiveness. Truly successful façades play a vital role in driving or transforming building performance, engaging with the external environment, significantly

Cover Story enhancing durability and reducing energy consumption.

USE OF GLASS & SMART FAÇADES Parametric façades are a great way to enhance both the appeal and the climatic adaptability of a building, notes Kachwala.

It is also a great avenue for architects to showcase their innovative and smart design skills while amplifying the functional attributes of a building envelope.

With its enormous flexibility and bespoke application adaptability, glass can be fabricated to fit in any parametric façade design.

With virtually any complex shape possible, in laminated and insulated forms to suit the building’s spectrophotometric requirements, glass is the product of choice that can add “smart” transparency to buildings and ensure conformance to all the building codes. With the popularity of cold bending also on the rise, glass can now take even more complex shapes and forms, observes Kachwala.

According to Rathod, glass allows infinite possibilities to architects in bringing alive their envisioned blueprints in more ways than one. Few materials can match the versatility and flexibility of glass, and it is precisely why it is lending itself seamlessly to parametric design.

According to Ar. Kale, glass is a NEVER die façade material and new inventions in glass properties and its use in parametric façade technology can change the perspective towards the glass.

In a hot climate like India, the use of different types of glass in the parametric façade enables the possibility of designing the façade of climate adaptability.

Low-E, frit, translucent, coloured, tinted, etched, mirrored, reflective, patterned and channel glass and various other glass types can be used by understanding the sun

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angle and the façade directions.

Ar. Mehta points out that improvements in the manufacturing process of glass have made it stronger, purer and thinner than ever before.

These high-strength sheets can be shaped by machines, in specialised furnaces or onsite, without breaking, enabling architects to create sculptural glass buildings. These façades bend, twist and undulate, proving that in the parametric present, glass is the wave of the future.

Ar. Khozema notes that using the right kind of glass reduces energy consumption and it reduces the weight on the foundation and hence makes the building lighter as compared to constructing walls.

Ar. Kumaran explains that parametric façades are meant to achieve design solutions that are specific to internal pressures (such as user groups, lighting requirements, etc.) and optimising external parameters such as solar radiation, wind and glare, etc.

Previous generation products, mostly respond to these issues in a more pre-engineered way of standardised format. Parametric

Solar cells and façade glasses integrated in a parametric façade; courtesy: FG Glass

methods allow us to explore the possibilities (variations) as well as optimisation of energy, and material.

Kamil adds that glass has not only given parametric façades a more premium look but enhanced the capability of a structure to integrate a conventional glass façade with incredible designs.

This process has, in turn, paved the way for technological, creative and engineering advancements.

Glass, in its true form, has considerable elasticity which makes it a good building material for parametric architecture, agrees Suraj. There’s no evidence that glass deteriorates overtime under stress. With its phenomenal aesthetic properties, it is also known to withstand the harshest of weather conditions. In addition, glass is also used to make materials like GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete) which is moldable and has an excellent environment performance (GFRC is a fire-rated material with class 'O' rating, does not corrode and is safe to handle, has acoustic properties, weatherresistant) and is very quick in its erection on-site, saving both time and cost.

Parametric façade, New York; courtesy: FG Glass

Cover Story

Membranes for Optimised Energy Performance of Façades

STEPHANE RIONDET

Business Developer - Façade, Serge Ferrari India Pvt Ltd

E

nergy performance and energy savings are at the center of the concerns of architects and operators.

Buildings-related CO2 emissions have continued to rise by around 1% per year since 2010. Buildings and construction together account for 39% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Solar protection devices equipped with membrane screens as a solution for exterior blinds or façade, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by optimising the energy performance of the building and reducing the energy needs for cooling.

The façade membranes, used as a second skin, save up to 75% of the energy used for heating and air conditioning, depending on the quality of the glazing and the location of the building. The air gap created between the building and the canvas creates an airflow that contributes to the building's energy performance.

Façade membranes, used as a solar screen, protect the buildings against the solar gain and helps in reducing energy consumption by blocking up to 100% of solar energy outside. They contribute to the finish and the aesthetics of

the building, giving the building a unique identity. Metallic finishes have been developed in the past 5 years to meet the architects and market needs, special varnish for printing are used on the façade as communication support and photocatalytic membrane are used for self-cleaning benefits.

Flexible composite membranes are economical and lightweight solutions. Thanks to their flexibility, they allow all types of shapes and aesthetics. Depending on the season, the time of the day or the activity, users can open or close the blind to adapt and optimise the level of daylight in the room and limit the use of artificial light.

Daylight, transparency and glare control contribute to the comfort and the wellbeing of the users.

One could improve air quality and

the self-cleaning effect with TiO2 membranes specially developed for façade applications.

The membranes, with other materials (such as a sound absorber), can reduce city noise. By using façade membranes, overheating can be controlled, which in turn limits heat islands in cities for human well-being.

Serge Ferrari Soltis FT 381 membraPlaza Guayarte in Guayaquil, Ecuador

A new parking structure at Rice University has a paneled façade printe

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Cover Story AUTOMATION IN FAÇADES & FENESTRATION There has been a slow but very perceptible shift from the use of traditional masonry towards the use of compelling automation in façade and fenestration, observes Ar. Chitalwala. Motorised shades, switchable windows that modulate daylight and solar heat transmissions, model predictive controls for optimised performance end-user comfort, satisfaction, and acceptance of automated façade systems are the various ways automation is incorporated in façades and fenestration.

Automated façades ensure optimal use of the energy harvesting or conserving technologies used in the system, notes Ar. Gor. A façade performs multiple functions, i.e. it has to protect the users from rain, fire, theft, as well as regulate light and ventilation to ensure low energy consumption and also energy generation. If all these essentials are automated individually, the performance of the façades can be enhanced drastically. Technologies where elements of façade can be opened or closed, angles of louvers and other shading devices can be changed, based on the time of the day or depending on the seasons are already available in the market.

The new techniques used in façades by a single automating machine can control/regulate various aspects including daylight, climate, aesthetics and lighting, says Ar. Dikshit. The use of such techniques contributes to the various environment rating systems like LEED. Ar. Kumaran adds, with the help of IoT, the automation on façades and fenestrations are seamless and user-friendly.

Combining with voice assistance like’ Alexa ‘and ‘Siri’, we are now able to do automated climate moderation, lighting, view and privacy control with operable elements of the façade. A ‘Human-

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centric’ design approach is considered in this automation, as things are adjusted in relation to human comfort and mood.

Technology can be provided within the glass or glazing assembly, or the functionality can be added to the façade either on the interior or exterior. In all these cases, sensors, actuators and control logic must be applied for proper functionality, points out Ar. Mehta.

Traditional manually operated mechanical shading systems such as blinds or shades can be motorised and then controlled by the occupants or by sensors and building controls. In all of these cases, electric lighting should be controlled to meet occupant needs, while maximising energy efficiency and minimising electric demand. As with the fenestration controls, lighting control requires sensors (photocells or the human eye), actuation (switching or dimming), and control logic that determines what action should be taken under each set of conditions.

These rigorous performance goals must be achieved with automation that is cost-effective and operates over long periods with minimal maintenance, explains Ar. Mehta.

Ar. Singh agrees that automations in the façade, which can integrate motorised sun shading devices with BIM systems, are a great solution.

With improved technologies, glasses with high performance will have added solar control

Merck dynamic glass from FG Glass

and insulating properties, thus maximising the benefits from the outside environment (in the form of natural light) and eliminate the excessive heats thus minimising cooling loads in our buildings that have begun to be heavily occupied, says Rathod.

Static glazing, however, does not address the issue of glare, or the way of eliminating it, which can be done through dynamic glazing. Now, with the click of the button, the user is able to control the glare in the habitable space, Manufacturers of Electrochromic glazing have reached advanced levels in the technology that the tinting in the glass pane can acquire even a gradient form and therefore have an uncompromised view of the outside world with complete glare control, elucidates Rathod.

According to Kachwala, static façades have greatest limitations and the dynamic glazing that can change its light transmission, and correspondingly its heat gain-coefficient electronically is great innovations. There are now various technologies available in this space today, he adds. Special sputtered coatings, electrically charged laminate films and liquid crystal (LC) infilled units are some. While the construction technologies are strikingly different, most of these have a light transmission in the range of 1% to 50% and correspondingly the heat transmission ratios range

A mall entrance designed by FHD Consultants

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Cover Story

EMAAR PIXEL tower by FHD Consultants

from 0.09 to 0.40. Most of the products available in the dynamic glass category are electrochromic giving users the flexibility to change the light and heat transmission on demand. All these systems today can be integrated into the building automation system and can be controlled by users with an app on a smartphone, reveals Kachwala.

Elan Mercado, Gurugram - Aluminium elliptical louvers in pergolas inspired from European and Australian design and architecture. Courtesy: Kaenat Glass

INTERACTIVE FAÇADES BENEFITS & LIMITATIONS With the technological advances and easily programmable lighting systems, façades are being used as display screens for messages to be shared with people, says Ar. Gor. Through the use of sensors, façades can respond to any movements in particular areas

Al-Bahar Towers, Abu Dhabi Besides dynamic glass, use of dynamic shading is another upcoming trend and if given the budgets required, they are an architect’s dream product! Consider the Al-Bahar Towers, in one of the world’s hottest cities during summer months Abu Dhabi. Designed by AHR (formerly Aedas UK), the doubleskin façade utilises a high-performance silver low-E coated glass as the inner layer and this is further encapsulated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) based adaptive façade that automatically open or close depending on the intensity of sunlight. Adaptive façades can also be controlled manually or through pre-set timers that dictate its movement at different times of the day.

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which can be programmed. From advertisements to live gaming through mobile phones, can be projected on façades, and it acts as a digital canvas for any kind of animation.

The interactive/media façade is a façade that is both aesthetically and functionally specific and in this manner states the connection between technology, architectural design, innovation and substance to new media introductions of present-day art as well as communication, explains Kamil.

The idea is that the user from within, and the viewer from outside can both interact with a dynamic ‘face’. According to Ar. Dikshit, with the intelligent use of technologies, these visual interactions could be energy-saving and responsive to the exterior climate. Motion sensor lighting, pre-programmed laser effects or even projections of images or creative content visually uplift the modern cityscape.

Interactive façades are now even seen as an effective tool for the propagation of social or cultural public service messages.

According to Ar. Kumaran, with electrochromic glass and liquid crystals, we are able to create media façades that are responsive, expressive and informative and in some cases entertaining. It could

Cover Story be an expressive architecture with environmentally-conscious, sustainable design – both for interiors and exteriors Ar. Mehta notes that the term interactivity, relates to human experience with an intelligent, responsive building system.

Through artificial intelligence and machine learning, this interactive architecture causes an intelligent response.

According to Ar. Singh, Switchable glass technology is becoming very popular in India, where the glass changes its tint/opacity depending on the amount of light and heat falling on its exterior surface.

However, these prefabricated units are available in the market which

Façade louvers installed at Organo Naandi, Hyderabad, designed by FHD Consultants

have a size limitation. Motorised Shading devices reduces the amount of light directly falling on the glass surface, therefore reducing the heat travelling within the building, adds Singh.

Interactive Façades – Responsive & Expressive The term interactive façade is self-explanatory façades that are expressive, responsive, can change the appearance on demand and interact in ways that allow it to function as An example of interactive media more than just a simple façade (courtesy G-Smatt) building envelope. While many iterations of this definition are possible, currently the most accepted and available technology available is LED integrated façades, more commonly called media façades. These façades can play content on demand, with varying resolution and colour saturations, and can transform a façade into a giant billboard or simply a great city landmark. Technologies for creating these media screens vary from LEDs embedded within a laminated glass unit to creating an LED-mesh network as a second skin. Since this is a relatively new technology, volumes today are relatively low at high price points - limiting their overall acceptance. However, their potential as a revenue generation source by creating giant advertisements can result in innovative ways to proliferate their use. As an example, manufacturers can offer this product at greatly subsidised costs and getting a share of the revenue generated through advertisement over a few years, thereby reducing the initial capital expenditure for the developers.

(Tariq Kachwala, Director, FG Glass)

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Retractable sails on glass dome at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore (Automated façades)

According to Kamil, bioclimatic architecture is an important new international design trend that can help to reduce building energy requirements and dependency on external resources. Bioclimatic façade architecture is about designing buildings and spaces, both the interior and exterior, but ensuring local climatic conditions are utilised to improve thermal and visual comfort.

ADVANTAGES OF MEDIA/ INTERACTIVE FAÇADES: Today, when the buildings are becoming iconic, interactive façades act as a value add, both aesthetically and commercially, specifically in retail architecture, says Ar. Chitalwala.

Media façades allow correspondence by means of technology onto a façade as advanced media, and media architecture represents the social, cultural and financial ramifications of these façades for the instant environment, states Kamil. Interactive façades are devised through LED’s. They are presently fit for yielding 135 lumens/watt so they are energy productive. They have long lifetime - 50,000 hours or increasingly if legitimately designed, notes Kamil.

With LEDs, one can coordinate the light where it is needed. No light is squandered and gives rise to excellent colour rendering.

Moreover, LED’s don’t wash out

Cover Story hues like other light sources, for example, fluorescents, making them ideal for presentations and retail applications.

LIMITATIONS OF MEDIA/ INTERACTIVE FAÇADES: The limitations of interactive façades are that they leave less scope for creativity aspect and it is left being monotonous and sometimes dull, note Ar. Chitalwala, Ar. Mehta and Ar. Suraj. Since most of the interactive façades are based on lighting systems, this technology is used on the exterior surfaces and generally targeted for viewers outside the building, says Ar. Gor. With the installation of interactive systems, most of the building façades typically will have the same façade dictated and certain plans that prevent any creativity, dynamism and spatial quality within and out of the project. The connection between the interior and exterior of the building is not created.

In media façades, LEDs are costly for starting expense and they must be provided with the right voltage and current at a steady stream, notes Kamil. The customary LED screens, especially in huge sizes, have gigantic ecological results that keep them from being deployed as building façades. They produce a huge amount of warmth that can’t be dispersed without the utilisation of air-conditioners and don’t permit the free flow of air and light from outside to inside, thus affecting the indoor condition and aesthetics.

Other disadvantages are light scattering and light pollution.

Light scatterings that can annoy people on shining into houses.

There is also a waste of electrical power. Light pollution, also known as photo pollution, (the presence of anthropogenic and artificial light in the night environment) is worsened by excessive, misdirected or obtrusive use of light.

Dancing with Nature, Hyderabad. Material used - MS steel fabricated frame with thermally stable pine; designed by Urban Zen

IMPORTANT TOOLS FOR CREATING FUTURE FAÇADES The use of new and efficient tools such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) is remodelling the process of architectural design, says Ar. Dikshit. It integrates the design and technical data of the building on a single platform. Through this process, we actually perceive the entire building. It provides efficiency in productivity and time saving, which makes a combination of visual and geometric reasoning.

Ar Suraj agrees that BIM is the future of architectural design.

According to Ar. Chitalwala, investing in technologies like BIM allows designers distil options down to a set of criteria that meet the aesthetic ambitions and tactical requirements, ensuring that these are met with optimised environmental parameters.

Ar. Suraj too opines that the tool BIM enables designers to explore the building form real-time and

A project by ALUMIL Systems India Pvt Ltd

derive key insights into the thermal, daylight and solar performance, informing decisions pertaining to the building orientation, solar shading, glazing, etc. thus, saving cost, mitigating error and increasing efficiency. The model can be analysed for structural loading, MEP clashes and contains all material specifications with their actual quantity estimates. The possibilities are endless, however, the software itself requires further refinement in terms of interface and performance on data heavy models, observes Suraj. Also, the power of the software is harnessed only when used in conjunction with MEP, structural and façade models, which means the entire team on board need to be well versed with the program and trained before a project.

3D printing is a very promising tool for future façades, says Ar. Gor. It has an exceptional ability to brace the relationship between

A project by Kapil Mehta & Associates

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Cover Story technology and art. With Additive Manufacturing (AM) method used in this system, the amount of waste generated can be brought down significantly with the use of precise quantities and specific geometries. Also, it is a much faster

method than conventional ones, but the usage has been limited due to the high budget required.

With attempts being made to bring down the costs, it can really be a boon to the industry.

Ar. Kumaran insists on the

GlassPro Live and Signature Façades Saint-Gobain has developed unique digital services: The Glass ProLive and the Signature Façade, which will shape the façades of the future.

GlassPro Live (GPL): The decision-making of glass appearance in façades is largely based on 1’ x 1’ samples or small-sized physical mock-ups. The final appearance of the façade postinstallation can have some discrepancies as compared to what was seen in the mock-up stage, due to sky conditions, angle of viewing, environment, etc. GlassPro Live is a digital mock-up tool that enables the AEC community to take a call on the glass to be used in the façade based on appearance – giving them the freedom to simulate the whole façade entirely with glass and not get restricted to small samples. It is a revolutionary physico-realistic visualisation of glass on the building geometry to understand the appearance of different glass products on the façade. The GPL requires 3d model – 3ds max, 2D Drawings – Plan and Elevation in AutoCAD, rendered image for reference to arrive at a full-scale physical-realistic rendering. It uses actual physical measurements of the façade for representing the glass in renders and this is the reason why these renders are a more accurate representation of the glass than traditional photorealistic rendering.

use of tools like Rhino3d with ’GrassHopper3D‘ for modelling parametric façades to explore various design possibilities. “We do Revit modelling for development and construction details. We use GH plugins along with ‘Open Foam’ for wind and ‘DaySim’ for solar simulations. We do climate analysis in ‘Ecotect’ and ‘Climate consultant’,” he adds.

Ar. Prachita Singh relays on softwares and plugin available in the market from Grasshopper, ecotect. Some other softwares available are honey bee plugin for Rhino. “These softwares are not used only for energy modelling or wind tunnel analysis, but they are able to compute how the façade or fenestration responds to various parameters such as light, heat, fluid design. One is able to extract fabrication details and understand

Benefits of GPL: GPL is a decision-making tool for stakeholders in the façade design process. It makes possible visualisation of glass options on larger façades than in samples. It can simplify the glass selection process, allowing one to view different products from different angles in different sky conditions. As compared to actual physical mock-ups, it ensures a lesser carbon footprint.

Signature Façade: Signature Façade is a tool to visualise glass products on different building types and different patterns.

It helps to understand the appearance of glass in different building types. Signature Façade uses physico-realistic visualisation technology from Saint-Gobain to represent the appearance of different glass products. When multiple glasses are to be used on the same façade, this tool simplifies the selection process by the concept of mix and match.

(Hemant Rathod, National Head - Structural Glass Solutions, Saint-Gobain India Private Limited (Glass Business)

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Section - Togetherments at Miiyapur, Hyderabad. Designed by FHD Consultants

Cover Story each element 3 dimensionally.

Which enables us to pre plan in case of any issue and finish the project on time”, says Ar. Singh.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMART FAÇADES, ADAPTIVE FAÇADES & INTEGRATED FAÇADES Smart façades, adaptive façades and integrated façades - all are systems to keep the energy efficiency of the building in control.

These can collaboratively bring exceptional results if assimilated suitably.

India is the world’s fourth largest energy consumer and fifth largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, says Kamil. With the building sector contributing 35% of the total electricity consumption and projected five-fold growth in the constructed area anticipated by 2030 - from a 21 billion Sq ft in 2005 to 104 billion Sq ft, building energy efficiency plays a major role in managing energy use in India. Building façade design and engineering is critical considering air conditioning loads through solar heat control, natural ventilation and night cooling, effective daylighting, and even free passive solar heating in cooler climates.

According to Ar. Gor, the approach towards façade design has to be on all-inclusive learning from the nature of structural systems, including organic designs, biomorphic designs, etc. Innovations in the field of biomimetic façade systems have a lot of opportunities. With smart and adaptive façades being used to respond to the environment, adding biomimetic properties to them through programming, or materials that can mimic how nature responds to environmental conditions can be a step forward.

Ar. Mehta too votes for Integrated Façade Systems (IFSs) - where different technological solutions are integrated to improve performance and to lower the

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impact of the building—are still an underdeveloped yet a fast-growing field of research. Such systems can reduce solar heat gain, lower air conditioning costs and lessen the glare while maximising the use of natural light and help produce energy.

Ar. Chitalwala and Ar. Mehta says that developing adaptive façade systems, represent a growing field of research and exploration. These systems react to a single parametric situation and adapt dynamically to changes they detect in stimuli.

Integrated façades, where different technological solutions are integrated to improve performance and to lower the impact of the building, is a fast-growing field of research with a broad scope of application and significant positive impact on the environment.

Today, with the use of technology buildings are getting smarter.

Energy conservation usually starts from the façade perspective of a building. Architects have been connecting their designs with building management systems, while integrating them with the IOD. Buildings may also change its behavioural pattern with the climatic and geographical conditions. Apart from architects, specific consultants need to be involved in the process of designing façades in order to make the built forms more energy-efficient and sustainable.

Integration of green,

photovoltaic and responsive interfaces with relation to climate and human comfort will be the future in opposition to the static, hermetically sealed façades, predicts Ar. Kumaran. Integration of green will be the important aspect for the ever increasing chemical and noise pollution in the air. A ‘Biophilic’ approach has already been adapted in other developed countries in response to global environmental catastrophes.

CONCLUSION With the manufacturers offering state-of-the-art intelligent materials that can respond to the environment, architects have begun their adoption in the buildings they create. These dynamic material solutions powered by the Internet of Things (IoT) can be integrated with the overall building management system to build intelligent buildings that are efficient in use and easy to maintain. It is a matter of time and increasing rate of adoption before futuristic building becomes commonplace in the Indian skyline. Continuous innovations bring in products and solutions and serve the façades of today and tomorrow in an intelligent, energyefficient and sustainable manner.

It is this sense of agility from manufacturers, and curiosity and sense of experimentation from designers that will help us leapfrog into the arena of ‘futuristic façades’.

Mahindra Livespaces, Pune. Materials - Glass, concrete and aluminium fins.

Designed by Aum Architects

Cover Story

“The Next-gen Façades Will Generate & Store Renewable Energy”

HEMJITH A VENGATERI

Managing Director & CEO, ALUMIL Systems India Pvt Ltd.

W

hat are the ad v anc em ents in façade technologies & f a ç ad e m at erials in the pa s t 5 y e ar s?

During the past 5 years, advancement in façade technology has led to the introduction of innovative curtain wall systems.

One of the most significant changes in technical solutions and the aesthetics of high-rise buildings was caused by the role of the contemporary glass façade of the building. It is noticeable in the last few years of development of new advanced f a ç a d e

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solutions integrated with plants to combine architectural features and trends to reduce carbon emissions.

Currently, ventilated doubleskin façades represent the most valid technology, where shading devices are placed between two layers of glazing, capturing the energy trapped in the cavity. In a naturally ventilated façade, the cavity between the two skins is ventilated with outdoor air. An active wall façade is composed of an external insulating glazing unit and an internal single layer of glass. The cavity between the two skins is ventilated with return room air, which is extracted from the room at the base of the glazing and returned to the air-handling unit at the top. The interactive wall façade has a digital, mechanical a d a p t i v e solution

system, which can react. The concept is that the interior side of the façade interacts with its inhabitants, perceiving their body movement and adjusts its form accordingly. The exterior side interacts with the movement of the sun, working as a shade, reacting to environmental changes.

What are the advancements in energy harvesting façade technologies?

The next-gen façades should be able to generate and even store renewable energy. Energy harvesting façades would be the ideal solution, where façades should help the building to generate sufficient energy. This could ensure that the buildings of the future can stay off the pier grid and can truly be self-sustainable.

The main advancements of energy harvesting façade technologies are: • Building Integrated Solar Thermal (BIST) • Solar Thermal Venetian Blinds (STVB) as adaptive energy harvesting façades • Solar Thermal Strip Collector (STSC) • Solar thermal UHPC façade panels

Cover Story How are products like glass helping in building parametric façades?

Improvements in the manufacturing process have made glass stronger, purer and thinner than ever before. These highstrength sheets can be shaped by machines, in specialised furnaces or on-site, without breaking, enabling architects to create sculptural glass buildings. These façades bend, twist and undulate, proving that in our parametric present, curved glass is the wave of the future.

What is the role of automation in façades and fenestration?

Automation can cover any standard or project-specific solutions for windows and any type of façade project. There is an extremely flexible range of products that can cover project-specific solutions that meet the requirements of modern façades. From an electrical window opener to a control unit and also a variety of smoke ventilators and smart solutions, they all meet the modern façade requirements.

What are Interactive façades?

Adaptive façades can improve the building's energy efficiency

New technologies - naturally ventilated façade

and economics, through their capability to change their behaviour in real-time according to indoor-outdoor parameters, by means of materials, components, and systems. Therefore, adaptive façades can make a significant and viable contribution to meeting the EU´s 2020 targets. Several different types of adaptive façade concepts have already been developed and an increase in emerging, innovative solutions is expected in the near future. According to recent research, the word 'adaptive' in the context of building façades is often associated in the literature with a long list of similar words.

Moreover, there is no consistent definition of façade adaptability, although studies exist in relation to characterisation issues, design parameters, and classification. Even within the discipline of architecture and engineering, words such as 'smart', 'intelligent', 'interactive',

Nana Princess Luxury Suites, Villas & Spa - Greece

'adaptive', or 'responsive' have been used loosely and interchangeably, creating confusion as to their specific meaning and their conceptual relationship to building performance and design.

What are the future opportunities for smart façades?

In the future, we will see many super tall and smart buildings having complex but efficient structural systems like diagrids, exoskeleton, space trusses, etc. and façades would follow the process. In the next few decades, we will witness multiple options and experiments in automated or electronically controlled dynamic façades with dynamic property changing glass for improved energy efficiency, indoor comfort and overall environmental quality.

The recent progress in computation technology and the availability of diverse software, plug-ins, and coding platforms have provided the tools to identify problems and develop unique design solutions.

Emerging technologies using complex algorithms and AI will assist designers to understand complex design challenges so as to offer comprehensive distinctive resolutions.

The Plaza Tirane - Albania

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Creating a Distinctive Identity through the Integration of Building Engineering Systems & Technologies with Architectural Design Breaking Away from the Typical Glass Façades

AR. NITIN BANSAL Director - Projects, Morphogenesis

T

ell us abo u t the ad v an c e m ent in façade t e c h n ol ogies and f a ça d e m at e r i al s in the past 5 y ea r s?

There has been an exponential growth in façade technologies and material in the last few years. that focus on energy-efficient materials and fabrication systems, as buildings have become one of the primary consumers of energy. Furthermore, the building envelope, consisting of a façade and roof, can contribute largely to energy conservation to maintain a balance between thermal and visual comfort. Advancements in the material technology and in the construction methodology, along with innovations in fabrication systems have aided in achieving the design aesthetic with maximum efficiencies,

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Fig 1: IT Building in Hyderabad breaking away from typical glass and metal building. Unitized system for entire façade cladding including brick, glass and fin

A

n exemplary way to utilise the innovations in fabrication systems were explored by Morphogenesis in an IT project in Hyderabad where the unitized system was explored for cladding brick, in combination with glass and fins for shading. Along with aesthetic and identity, energy efficiency was a key criterion while envisioning the entire façade. There was a considerable reduction in

Window Wall Ratio (WWR) by keeping it less than 30%. Brick, in general, is not associated as a material for IT Buildings, as it is a time-consuming process to clad it within a given timeframe. This challenge was met by unitizing the entire façade along with brick, glass and fin cladding. Brick not only created a unique and a strong identity for this IT building, but also acted as an insulation material, helping us achieve a U-Value of less than 0.3W/m2K.

Cover Story imparting identity to the building without compromising the energy efficiency parameters.

What are the advancements in energy harvesting façade technologies?

Energy harvesting is yet to be completely successful for the façade. The efficiency of Building Integrated Photovoltaic Systems (~7%) is roughly one third as compared to the roof-mounted (~22%) solar panels. The intent for the Solar Photovoltaic façade is an interesting approach towards innovation and energy efficiency together, however, the potential of the same is yet to be fully explored. The current technology solutions available in the market are expensive and inefficient. In addition to this, it also imposes significant restrictions in building façade design which acts as a deterrent in its adoption among the architects.

How are products like glass help in building parametric façades?

The innovation in glass manufacturing technology and its ability to perform in climatic response is one of the most important ways in which

it is contributing to parametric façades. However, façade material is not the only factor that aids in building parametric façades.

Our approach is always to first identify such parameters that govern building design and then design the façade. This process begins with identifying the right building orientation, form-finding and then individual façade. One such project which exhibits this process is the IT campus designed for Infosys in Nagpur. IT Buildings have a generic identity of glass and metal; however, this building has a very distinguished form and façade as a parametric approach was adopted in this case. Nagpur is located at 21.15ºN 79.09ºE. The orientation of the building was determined based on the sunpath diagram of Nagpur. Due to the location of the site, a pure N-S orientation was vulnerable to both the morning as well as the evening sun of an azimuth angle of up to 21.15°. However, rotating the building by a similar angle (on either side) naturally resulted in obstructing the solar azimuth for at least half the day. This meant that the solar control devices could now be designed for single-sided protection, also simplifying the

Fig 2: Parametric studies done for form-finding for IT project in Nagpur for Infosys

architectural implications. Finally, it was concluded that, for the given location, orienting the plan at 22.5° reduced the shading requirement on either of the façades. 4 floors were stacked on each other, forming a tube. These modules were then staggered at 22.5° either way and at 45° overall, mutually shading each other, and as a result, creating ‘new-ground’ or breakout spaces as shown in dig below.

Various iterations of interlocking these modules were explored in order to determine the most robust morphology for the complex with the given parameters of mirroring and rotation. This not only resulted in interesting options for forms, but also created a network of shaded courtyards and terraces. This form became a part of the catalogue and can be used in future expansion of the development, imparting a uniform, yet a dynamic character to all the blocks.

The individual façade was then looked at as per various disciplines, and a parametric approach was adopted. Parameters for integration with structure, energy efficiency, user experience (shading and glare control) and aesthetics were considered. The output resultant was a combination of studies conducted to create an optimised façade for each orientation.

Please tell us briefly about automation in façades and fenestration?

Automation should be a solution for user experience and needs, instead, it is currently being used as a solution to respond to certain external factors and conditions only. Apart from the generic sensors and electrical controls, the intent is to try and design our façade as per user experience. The important aspect to be considered in automation is to first inform the user about any abnormal conditions and then give them the flexibility to choose to respond. This

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Fig 3: Various iterations deduced from parametric form-finding combined together to impart a unified character to the entire development for IT campus for Infosys in Nagpur

Center building designed for ITC in Kolkata. Building envelope for this centre was designed in the form of a stone Jaali which not only helped in shading, but also was a key component in imparting a unique identity deeply rooted in Bengali culture. The Jaali was designed as a crossword puzzle in Bengali script to engage people, encouraging them to stop and creating a pause space around it. The design of this crossword was inspired by the

is a subject of ongoing research and shall evolve until the objectives of the user interface with these technologies are fully resolved.

What are Interactive façades and what are their benefits and limitations?

The interactive façade would lie in the domain of responsive buildings and façades and are achieved through robust envelope design.

One such example is a Convention

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Day-light Analysis using Ecotect with Radiance for Top-most floor of building no glare, 100% day lit workspace, uniform distribution of daylight

Fig 4: Shadow analysis for building with shading device and daylight analysis of the topmost tube to design optimal façade

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works of Rabindranath Tagore since he is an indispensable part of the Bengali psyche. This analogue interactive screen not only enhances the building-user relationship, but also creates a space around the building for social engagement.

The remaining buildings on the same campus also exhibit features that have distinctive analogue interactive façades, deriving inspiration from context.

This project was designed as an urban art frontage provided on the east-west elevations. The fabrication approach was to design a system-based aesthetic solution.

This bespoke façade design was achieved by introducing modularity in sizing stone and fabrication systems. 75mm stone panels were CNC carved into unitised facade panels. Aspects of sustainability were hence achieved as the eastward façades were made solid thus reducing U-Value and an otherwise blank facade became a way to interact with people and respond to the context.

What are the important Tools for creating future façades?

The primary function of the façade is to protect and interact. Protection is from external environmental factors of noise, air quality, thermal comfort, and interaction. It refers to the relationship with the outside for view and daylight with the user. Energy efficiency and user experience are the two important factors which all future façade technologies will need to address.

High-rise residential development is a new upcoming typology and the facade design plays given conditions, and the facade design plays a significant role. Residential typology witnesses 24X7 occupancy all year round. Thus, the façade needs to be more adaptive to the external environment and internal user. The integration of automation systems with the façade will further inform the user about the external

Cover Story

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Fig 5: Typical wall section with structure, MEP (radiant cooling) and shading integrated

factors for interaction with outside environments.

A similar challenge was addressed in a 200-meter-tall and 47 stories high ultra-luxury high rise apartment for the Trump towers. The Challenge was to bring Bungalow living to a highrise format, tackling the issues of high wind velocities at those heights, structural sway due to wind pressure and at the same

time provide a feeling of safety for occupants of all age groups while standing on a balcony150 meter up in the sky. Therefore, the design of this façade was conceptualised with high performance unitized glazing with the provision of automation on external façade elements to inform the user of external environmental conditions based on which façade doors and windows may be operated.

Fig 6: Convention Center envelope used as an analog interactive façade in Kolkata

Fig 8: High-rise development for Trump in Gurugram

Fig 9: Integrated façade iteration done for façade of IT building development in Nagpur for Infosys

Fig 7: The east-west façades used as an analogue interactive façade

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“People have Started Experimenting with Bio-façades” However, these technologies are rapidly improving and should be viable soon.

How are products like glass helping in building parametric façades?

Typically, glass is a rigid material.

However, one can create unique moulds with a double curvature.

Efficiency lies in restricting the number of unique sizes/shapes in doing a parametric façade to control costs.

AR. ANUPAM DE

Founder and Principal Architect, Anupam De & Associates

T

ell us abo u t the ad v an c e m ents in f aç ad e t e c hno lo g ies & f a ça d e m at e r i al s in the past 5 y ea r s?

In recent times, there have been interesting experiments in façade technologies and materials. There are some good examples of responsive or active façades which adapt to the incident daylight.

Besides the usual materials (glass, stone, FRP, etc.), people have started experimenting with “biofaçades” including using microalgae impregnated in façade panels.

What are the advancements in energy harvesting façade technologies?

While there are good examples of buildings using photovoltaic and wind, these are still costprohibitive. Other challenges also been handling façade opacity and incident angle in BIPV applications.

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Tell us briefly on automation in façades and fenestration?

Automation typically can be for operable panels, sun control louvres, screens and any other design elements which respond to the climatic conditions. These can be integrated with the BMS and controlled suitably to maximise energy savings. Automation can also be effectively used in operable panels for fire control and smoke extraction.

and kinetic façades. Media façades create visual interest/interaction and can be very effectively used in retail and commercial spaces. The capital cost is high, but the same can be recovered with advertising revenue when strategically used.

Kinetic or dynamic façades are generally used to create interest in large wall faces or parking structures. These are not as capital intensive as media façades, however, usage is limited where vision from inside is not important.

What are the future opportunities for smart façades, adaptive façades, and integrated façades respectively?

As in other facets of modern building construction, opportunities are available if used effectively and wisely.

Notwithstanding the above, you need a client willing to support your artistic endeavours.

What are interactive façades and what are their benefits and limitations?

Typically, one can classify them into two categories: media façades

Kinetic façade

Active façade

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Face to Face

Vanijya Bhawan, a new office complex for the Union Department of Commerce at New Delhi

Always Relate Buildings

to the Context 94

WFM | NOV - DEC 2019

Face to Face After graduating from IIT Kharagpur in 1995, three architects - Anand Sharma, Anoj Tevatia and Goonmeet S Chauhan - started an architectural practice that specialised and excelled in developing individual family homes. Initially called Tevatia Chauhan & Sharma Architects, the practice rechristened itself as Design Forum International (DFI) in 2005.

Since its inception, DFI has established nationwide presence by developing solution-based master plans for multi-disciplinary projects. The firm has produced a wide range of awardwinning projects pan-India including housing, urban planning, institutional buildings, and various governmentcommissioned infrastructural facilities.

With a team of over 100 professionals, each pursuing a distinctive value-based architectural and design spirit, the practice works as a single force that is both socially and culturally diverse.

DFI has unveiled several landmark architectural projects in line with its quest for nation building. Within projects, acclaim, dialogues and discourse, as DFI grows by leaps and bounds, its constant efforts are deep-rooted in the principles of responsiveness to the local context and sustainable architecture. Through its urban design interventions such as the New Courts Complex at Delhi High Court, the upcoming New Terminal Building at Guwahati International Airport, etc., DFI has been credited with reimagining the way designers should craft the built environment, communities and cities.

AR. ANAND SHARMA Founding Partner, Design Forum International

In a candid conversation with WFM, Ar. Anand Sharma, one of the founding partners at DFI, gave an insight into DFI as a practice, its design approach and projects. He pushed energyefficient factors to be considered while designing façades and fenestrations into the spotlight, which support designdriven interventions and improve users’ experience. Here are the excerpts from our conversation.

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Face to Face

P

lease tell us about your practice?

After studying together and graduating from IIT Kharagpur in 1995, we started an architectural practice as collaboration and turned into partners from co-peers. Completing 25 years of our practice together with our team of professionals, we have had lifetime opportunities of working on projects reverend to the urban context and architecture of India.

Our journey started with smallscale residential and retail projects, and since then, our team has worked tirelessly in the spirit of service and labour of love to create a new face of architecture and urbanism for the capital city Delhi as well as for the country. Our discussion about our current projects deals with the infrastructure segment of the country, with upcoming airports, railway stations and judiciary-institutional facilities.

As the complexity of the projects increases, the domains of the verticals under which our buildings fall have been changing along with the scale of the buildings in accordance with changes in the construction industry.

The evident paradigm shift in the market, from an archaic system of construction by the government alone to current trends of construction under a public-private partnership, has led to the establishment of projects that otherwise seemed to be farsighted ambitions. At present, the diverse government projects introduced will prove that ‘Design Dynamics are Evolving’. Furthering our efforts in the nation-building endeavours, including the present government’s initiative ‘Housing for All’ through the affordable housing sector, we are striving to innovate and delve into our expertise in the miscellany of domains, coherent to the current technology and design innovation.

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Could you please talk about a few of your ongoing and recently completed projects?

We feel privileged to see our efforts get recognised for our designs of large-scale retail projects like Select Citywalk in Saket, Delhi and other retail projects panIndia, in cities like Chandigarh, Mohali and Patiala. We also have worked extensively in the housing segment, approximately designing 30 to 40 million square feet of both affordable and luxury residential projects still date. We have also had lifetime opportunities for

institutional projects; from 2012, we started moving on to institutional designs, by signing up the New Courts Block for Delhi High Court and Directorate Complex for PWD Assam. It was in the year 2015; that we made a conscious call to get into infrastructure project segments. In 2016, we started making alliances with various companies, and later in 2017, we landed our first airport project, the New Integrated Terminal Building at the Guwahati International Airport which is also the first-ever international airport in the north-eastern region of

Select Citywalk Mall, Saket, New Delhi

New Integrated Terminal Building, Guwahati International Airport, Guwhati, Assam

Face to Face India. In addition, we also have been awarded the Amritsar Railway Station Re-development project. The year 2019 brought more opportunities for us in the infrastructural segment in the form of upcoming airport projects such as that in Bihta, Patna.

As a close observer of the retail market, can you please tell us about the changing trends and your approach to retail project design?

During the retail boom of the early 21st century, India witnessed the construction of large scale malls and retail centers when cities like Ludhiana, business districts like Gurugram (earlier Gurgaon) welcomed their first ever malls.

Developers such as DLF and MGF casted these small-scale shopping centres that covered an area up to 2 – 2.5 lakh sq.ft. Whereas malls like the Garuda mall in Bangalore were inspired by the trends in Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai, they are essentially closed, inward-looking retail destinations, and adopt conventional planning including typical retail on the lower floors and food and entertainment like multiplexes on upper levels. The static retail + ‘what else’ gave the market mixed-use development (addition of residential and corporate) and large scale projects like DLF Galleria. With the upcoming large scale malls, the closed malls were struggling to engage tenants that proved the demand for retail spaces to be more open, accessible and friendly, yet cheaper on the pocket, while the shopkeeper wanted the retail spaces with lesser maintenance charges.

We have always divorced ourselves from closed floor plans in retail design and believed in the large scale format of retail projects that can house a variety of functions and appeal to the users’ as well as the customers’ experience. The way our projects function, our

Gulf Adiba, Gurugram, Haryana

design approach has always been in sync with the current trends, policies and framework. For what it’s worth, to mention a few of our projects in the domain of retail and high-street model retail, JMD Suburbio and AIPL Joy Street are some of the projects in the pipeline while Silverglades Merchant Plaza at Gurugram is being readied for fit-outs.

Tell us about your projects featuring innovative façades and fenestration designs?

Context and Functionality, these are the two pillars of our design approach towards façades. If you see our institutional projects like

The Delhi High Court, Vanijya Bhavan at New Delhi, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology in Noida, you will notice that we have gravitated towards providing a functioning façade in glass combined with elements cast in traditional materials like sandstone, red sandstone and Dholpur stone inspired from the surrounding heritage buildings, assuring conceptuality.

On the other hand, our corporate project Gulf Adiba at Gurugram has a fully glazed façade with an organic shape that lends a lot of variety to the façade. High energy sensitive materials have been

New Courts Block, Delhi High Court, Delhi

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Face to Face installed in our project Cyber Walk at Manesar which is a LEED goldrated building.

Façades and cladding industries in India have gone through a sea of changes in the past decade. Tell us about the latest in façade & cladding material and technologies available in the Indian market and those used in your projects?

Very interesting question indeed!

As I have observed in my 24 to 25 years of practice to date, initially, two specific materials were used for façades - ACP and glass.

The design inspirations, as we know, were borrowed from the international practices; Aluminium Composite Panels (ACP) was essentially preferred irrespective of context and functionality.

We have always looked for materials that are contextual, maintenance-free, ageless and aesthetically pleasing.

Stone façades can have practical issues especially in larger projects. So, we came across some good materials like porcelain and sintered slim tiles that hold importance in terms of physical properties such as minimum (almost nil) water absorption, lightweight and availability in large sizes. These

are 100 percent UV resistant and easily adaptable, perhaps workable unlike the time-taking wet cladding that requires high precision.

Another material called the Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete or GFRC for façades is a versatile material, offering workability in terms of execution as well as implementation of any shape and size.

Materials like zinc and Corten steel as cladding materials provide timelessness and age well. Ceramic fritting in the glass is something that we have started using recently. Other than the innovation of materials, the guidelines and framework by Green rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment or GRIHA has revolutionised the way green buildings were imagined earlier. We make sure that our projects meet the mandatory guidelines for high Green building ratings.

What are the key factors to consider while designing the façade and fenestration?

Elements that contribute to sustainability, the context of the surroundings, timelessness of the material, innovation or new techniques and maintainability are some of the key factors that we

Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute Of Archeology, Greater Noida

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consider from the start, during and post-completion of a project.

People are using uPVC to some extent for fenestration. But for residential projects, people still prefer wood. Which one would you recommend and why? uPVC is the chosen material for us owing to its properties, however, residences are heavily influenced by the owners’ personalities and taste and therefore there’s a constant conflict between functionality and aesthetics(the natural appearance of WOOD vs. manufactured appearance of uPVC). To take the middle path, many residence designers are recommending uPVC in a wooden finish. And therein lies the irony.

The irony is that people want the tiles to look like stone, and stones to be blemish-free with zero variation; it is a confusing era.

Natural stones will have variations and they are inherent. No stone will look alike. If it is an artificially made material, it will look artificial no matter what.

In the same way, people who want uPVC with the feel of wood are unreasonable. uPVC owns properties like it is lightweight, can be manufactured as energyefficient fenestrations, an alternative for very precious natural resources, it is cheaper and can be maintained at a reasonable cost. Looking at all these positive characters, awareness has to be created for uPVC to be accepted in its full originality.

Please brief on the technical factors which help to build energy-efficient façades and fenestration?

Technical energy simulation and modeling is the first step towards building energy-efficient façades.

Façades of a building should be designed based on the orientation of the building. If it is glass, the glasses on different façades have

Face to Face

Cyberwalk at Manesar, Gurugram, Haryana

to be different, depending on the sun path and building orientation.

GRIHA and LEED parameters on VLT or Visual Light Transmission, U-Value, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, etc give insights to decisions towards a smart selection of materials, glass or installation of shading devices, like terracotta louvers which could cut heat and control lighting. As industry professionals, an architect must know how to use one material and bring in all the desired qualities or a combination of materials and get the desired character.

What are your views on future façades & fenestration technologies, and materials?

Façades will have to move on from just being looked upon as an outer surface or elevation; they have to move on to become the interface between the space within and the space outside. Façades must: 1) convey the context of the building 2) are dynamic from outside as well as inside 3) Parametric façades need to be explored more 4) There is a need to introduce varieties in façade that are nonstatic, and changeable 5) Energy generating façades are the need of the hour

6) Air conditioning can be done through façades (called cold walls), which can bring in cooling along with daylight and keeps the interiors comfortable.

7) Intelligent energy-efficient façades that change the colour, transparency, and/or opacity of the façade Façade so far has been about light and glass, and about energy efficiency. One must start thinking, how the façade can start giving back to the building; like introducing solar panels (PV Panels) on façades to generate electricity. The next generation

Chintels Corporate Park, Gurugram, Haryana

IRCON Office, Gurugram, Haryana

façades will be different in the way they control the internal environment, the way they interact with the outside environment and the way they change dynamically at different angles of the sun.

What are the key factors to consider while selecting hardware for façade/fenestration?

Hardware is about two things: User comfort and maintenance. Postsales service matters a lot. The hardware brands which are in the market for long, who give quality stuff with least maintenance problems and complaints, are what we look for.

Can you elaborate more on the prevailing green building rating system and the sustainable practices that are being undertaken while designing?

In the case of hardware, for the affordable segment, there is not much to choose from. Green buildings are essentially driven by two approaches: active and passive. The passive approach requires designing and aligning the building in the right manner.

For example, positioning the building based on the direction of movement of the sun, wind, etc. with the application of shading, fenestration, etc. These are smart

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Face to Face Therefore, the biggest changes or awareness has come in the Government buildings due to two reasons: 1. The available budgets, which is far more than what real-estate developers spend on their buildings 2. All architects who were not doing Government buildings are all going for such projects, including the big design firms.

The public-private relationship has led to a better quality of end products of the projects AIPL Joystreet, Gurugram, Haryana

approaches to design a building under a passive approach. The architect has to keep sustainability at the back of his mind while designing any building; it is purely driven by climate, weather and little attention.

In terms of active approach, green buildings are about energy conservation, water conservation, using materials that come from without destruction of the environment. There are existing laws by which the government needs to be followed to a large extent. Environmental clearance is one of them. Most of the criteria for green building will be met if we follow the laws. One cannot plan a project without a proper sewage treatment plant or rainwater harvesting. GRIHA rating holds more importance for corporate sectors and it has to be between 1 to 5 stars. If you are aiming to get the environmental clearance from the ministry of environment and forests, you can’t miss a 3-star rating. 4 stars is a bit tougher and getting a 5-star rating is a huge effort and so are the Silver, Gold and Platinum LEED rating from GBC. Corporate or high-end residential projects can afford to go the fivestar route. Some government buildings can earn Griha 5-star, while most go for Griha 4-star.

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Extra investment is required for a 5-star or Platinum rating. But the return on investment, by reducing maintenance and operational costs, is much higher in a 5-star or Platinum rated building.

What is the kind of awareness your clients have on the usage of sustainable façade and fenestration materials?

It depends on the segment of the building. When we talk about individual houses, they want whatever is best globally and locally. The construction industry is maturing and materials are globally available. There has been a dynamic innovation especially in corporate and their high-end or large-scale projects. While ACP was available at Rs.300/Sq f, it offered high maintenance costs. Therefore, the corporate started looking for materials in the same price bracket but opted for those that were long-lasting, and timeless with least maintenance.

Maximum changes are happening in Government projects. They are changing from drab to fab buildings. There are very few government buildings built by classy architects like B.V. Doshi, Charles Correa, Raj Rewal or Kanvinde, which are still beautiful pieces of architecture.

What is your advice to young, aspiring architects?

I think our generation grew up looking at government buildings which were drab and houses with very or no semblance of architecture except in the architecturally important heritage buildings. The design was very low on priority. With liberalisation in the mid ’90s, things have changed; the first reaction was to copy international designs. Therefore, all the works that had happened during the early 2000s have mostly been copied from western countries. All modern buildings, whether in Mumbai, Bangalore, Gurugram, Singapore or Dubai, built during that time are similarlooking. This was definitely not the way to go!

But in the last 8 to 10 years, architects have started to realise that we have a mind of our own with our rich culture and traditions and vernacular architecture, and there are lessons to be learned from them. We don’t need to copy- but need to learn from our traditional past.

My advice to the young architect is to not to get swayed by a trend or a fad. But think for themselves.

Do research and design as per the requirement. This is what is taught by our professors in the colleges – “Think globally and act locally”, and this is still very relevant.

Industry Speaks

“Our Products are Inspired by International Designs, but are Priced for the Indian Pockets”

Krishnakumar G. Bajaj is the promoter and Managing Director of Geeta Group.

He has over four decades of experience in the aluminium industry. A visionary and the pioneer behind Geeta Series, he is committed towards setting up fenestration industry standards and continues to guide the company’s strategic planning and new initiatives.

KRISHNAKUMAR G. BAJAJ Managing Director, Geeta Aluminium Co. Pvt. Ltd.

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In a candid interview, Bajaj talks about his company Geeta Aluminium, its journey over the years, products offered by the company, their inhouse manufacturing facilities, the company’s contribution towards the growth of the industry, and their iconic and innovative projects. Here are the excerpts from the interview:

Industry Speaks policy was welcomed by the industry, i.e., ‘Fixed price no bargain’ - particularly the commodity business. After 1998, when local and unorganised players came into the market and construction industry was growing, high rise building was the only solution for the cities to meet the ever rising demand of the population. Time to time, whenever the industry needs to be aroused, Geeta took this initiative ahead and upgraded the industry by developing new profiles and hardware. We always believe in the saying “Necessity is the mother of Invention” and put this saying into act.

Wadhwa Amar Jivan - Bandra, Mumbai

P

lease tell us about your company Geeta Aluminium, and yourself? How long you have been in this business and in the Indian market?

In 1964 my father Late Shri Girdharilal Bajaj laid the foundation of the Geeta Group of Companies by setting up Geeta Aluminium Co. Pvt. Ltd in Mumbai.

In 1977, when the architectural industry just began, my father was involved in the retail commodity market dealing in profile and hardware. For thirty years, he laid a strong foundation for the growth and development of aluminium fenestration, a concept which is in great demand in the industry till date. Geeta Group has now evolved as one of the ‘more value for money’ and quality system window companies in the country.

Geeta Group has been built on the foundations of a skilled workforce coupled with technological innovation and we deliver a superior customised solution throughout the country through strong supply-chain management, regional warehouses and an efficient after-sales support system.

S Raheja Sapphire in Santacruz (West), Mumbai

I joined my father’s business in 1977, and have 4 decades of experience. At that time, aluminium was 13-15Rs/kg. As I gained experience in the market, I found that there is a lack of knowledge and infrastructure.

During 1977-1987, within a decade, we opened 12 retail outlets in and nearby Mumbai. We immediately started pre-fabricated windows, quotation and BOQ services for conventional windows. Geeta’s

Tell us briefly about your journey with the company over the years, also about your major success stories in India?

During the initial years of my journey, I observed a lot of unhealthy competition was looming in the market and this deteriorated the product quality over time. We studied industry outlook and from my own experience, we found the shortcomings in terms of substitute products in the industry. Then we shifted our focus to understand the basic needs of the window industry including water leakage, rattling,

Combination windows

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Industry Speaks

Sliding and folding windows

whistling and noise problem. In the early years of 2000, we entered in the ‘system window’ market from a commodity business model to counter the problems faced by fenestration industry; where we laid the foundation for developing an entire range of system windows, approx. 15 – 20 of them. Today the entire list of products are well known under Geeta Series and Geeta Series Plus.

Geeta has always believed in the policy of supporting and upgrading the industry fraternity. Our Geeta Support System module extends support to window technicians and fabricators by providing explicit system window installation training.

We took the plunge of makeshift of the industry from a commodity trading to a window business concept. To elaborate further, our company initiated the concept of aluminium window & door showrooms in India under the aegis of “Geeta Gallery”, where an end consumer or a window professional can touch or feel the product before they can purchase it. We have already changed the perception about how Indian consumers think about aluminium

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windows these days by opening around 30+ such showrooms across the country till date. We plan to have 100 such “Window Display Centers” by the end of the year 2022, thus making good quality and affordably priced aluminium system windows that are easily available to developers and window professionals in both private and government sectors alike.

What are the product categories offered by Geeta Aluminium?

Geeta Aluminium product

categories have been designed to suit the needs of affordable housing to modern-day apartments/villas. An entire range of aluminium system windows i.e. sliding, slim sliding, openable, tilt & turn, and sliding folding with the depth of the profiles running from 25mm to 75mm to suit different conditions of opening sizes, wind load, smooth operability and of course affordability.

Under the product range coined as Geeta Series, we have introduced a whole range of economical slim windows.

Geeta Aluminium has recently launched SLIMO range exclusively designed for bungalows and luxury apartments. These windows are equipped with a concealed lock system and large openings providing an uninterrupted view of the world outside. It not only provides a one-touch, smooth operation, but also adds an elegant look to the aesthetics of your surroundings. Alongside aesthetics, slim series have properties that shut out disturbances like noise, dust, water thereby ensuring better functionality and making your house feel comfortable.

We have always believed in designing products which can be successful in saving the customer assembly costs and providing lower operating-life-cycle costs.

New launch: Slimo - Slim Concealed Sliding System

Industry Speaks services. Our logistics are centrally controlled from Mumbai in Saki Naka and Bhiwandi. In addition to this, we have regional warehouses with more than 10,000 Sq ft space.

On 24x7 basis, we have capacity of 200+ tons of ready stock. We have built an inhouse training centre of around 2000 Sq ft to provide training to fabricators/industry professionals alike.

Mumbai fabrication unit

Central Warehouse - Mumbai

Assembly in process - Geeta Satellite Unit

Window assembly in progress

Please tell us about your company's facilities and structure?

We have our in-house manufacturing facility set up at Atgaon near Mumbai, and Bengaluru with a collective

production capacity to convert 25,000 Sq ft window area per month/per shift. Ability to handle 25-35 sites at any given point of time, our well-rounded team includes a back-office which are fully trained to support all front end tasks and

How do you see the window and door industry evolving in India?

Windows and doors enhance the visual appeal. Your windows and doors are an important element of your home’s security, energy efficiency, and appeal, but also provide safety and security to the homes. Innovation in product offerings is the big priority since customisation is the key to achieve it. Since customers have become more quality conscious, they prefer a good brand of window and doors that will last for at least a decade and therefore use of good quality windows and doors is on the rise.

Better aesthetics, safety, sound and thermal insulation, energy efficiency, and low maintenance are features that are driving acceptance of new age materials in the construction of doors and windows in modern buildings.

Shifting demographic and economic trends coupled with growing population will result in an enormous need for new infrastructure in the coming decade. Increasing government policies and spending for infrastructure development, housing and commercial buildings, will help in the overall Indian aluminium doors & the window market growth. Recently, we have observed that “Window Identification Trend� has started in Government project tenders.

Parameters such as after sales service in addition to the product are being discussed about and taken into the final consideration.

This will definitely boost the way

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Industry Speaks window and door industry will function in the coming years.

Overall, I would say- windows and doors have shown a positive trend, since innovation in window and door materials is on the rise with a lot of scope for new construction as well in the replacement window market.

What has been your or your organisation's contribution to bringing about the current revolution in the fenestration sector?

Aluminium windows & doors industry is highly unorganised with lack of knowledge transfer and R&D. It comprises of over 90% of the market based on the potential of new construction and replacement market that this country possesses.

This unorganised sector comprises people who are dealing or reselling aluminium sections which are extruded by monopolistic principles in this market and it comprises of people who are nonskilled to semi-skilled fabricators who cut this sections on sites to give an end product. These window professionals lack proper education or exposure to provide quality products to end customers.

Price is the sole criteria and not quality while deciding the vendor for new project finalisation. Due to inferior quality, saturation of market, substitute products came into being.

Geeta understood

Sliding window with slim interlock

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the market for 5 decades. We transitioned from commodity to “system window� market. In 2014, we launched our gallery at Charni Road, Mumbai - the first window experience centre in India.

Geeta Support System (GSS) is the only registered system to offer services to the fenestration industry. Under GSS, under this module, we extend support to window technicians and fabricators by providing explicit system window installation training. A small training institution & curriculum is organised for the unorganised sector to uplift their workmanship and give them an

Geeta Gallery at Kolkata and Mumbai

opportunity to serve and service our products in the right way. Till date, we have trained more than 2000 fabricators under Geeta Support System initiative Tell us about your channel expansion strategies in the market.

We are planning to venture on the digital platform by starting an online and virtual reality portal.

This will assist the customers in evaluating the look of window/door in their house with a particular finish and how much approximately the costing would be of the same if finalised. The portal will have an

Industry Speaks

Evershine Crown - Kandivali, Mumbai

online tracking system which will guide the customers to track the status of their order and by when they can expect it to receive. This will eliminate the uncertainty a customer has in purchasing most of the building material after making the upfront advance payment.

As per your view, how important is the role of right fenestration in achieving building’s performance, optimum acoustic and thermal insulation as well as in achieving the desired aesthetics?

Right fenestration plays an important role since windows & doors are one of the core ingredients in modern architecture connecting the exterior to the interior of a home or an office. As most people spend majority of their time indoors, away from the natural environment, optimisation of windows and doors is essential.

Natural light is important for health and wellness of human beings.

Openings such as windows allow natural light into the home and can promote passive solar heating and cooling, as well as providing natural points of ventilation, air circulation and fire exits. Doors are

also vital to a building’s design to provide a point of entry and exit to the building High-performance, energy-efficient windows have become a necessity since they tend to reduce heat transfer, thereby cutting the energy loss through window. We support this initiative with our energy efficient thermal break windows which are environmentally friendly, provide comfort and reduces cost.

What keeps your company ahead of its competitors in terms of services offered?

India has varied cultural differences in terms of housing pattern, lifestyle, purchasing power, price sensitivity to name a few. Keeping these aspects in mind, we have launched Geeta Galleries (Showrooms) which gives the end customer, along with their influencer, an opportunity to touch and feel the product before making their final decision for purchase.

Our primary strength lies in providing customised solutions backed with prompt service to our customers. We have a Pan India presence in more than 35+ cities in association with our authorised

partners & fabricators which gives us the ability to mobilise 1 to 1000+ windows to different corners of the country. We have always taken into consideration the average Indian buyer’s per capita income; thereby ensure quality products are available at affordable costing as well. Our products do take inspiration from international designs, but are priced and designed for the Indian pocket.

Flawless design of the profiles, compatible accessories and hardware, right techniques of fabrication and installation and after sales service is what makes Geeta Aluminium stand apart.

How do you see the façade & fenestration industry evolving over the next 5 years?

There is definitely a huge scope for the façade and the fenestration industry. Increased spending on housing/commercial infrastructure and rising replacement of aging infrastructure will have a direct impact on the façade and fenestration products. Adoption of sustainable processes and materials for creating structures will help reduce the depletion

Ratnaakar Nine Square - commercial project at Ahmedabad

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Industry Speaks of available resources and help build an environment that are liveable and safe. Aluminium, as a material, will be in demand due to its recyclable properties. Even after 10 years, it will offer the same price every year. Even with 5-8% inflation taken into consideration It has now become a preferred material for builders who are looking to implement new technologies in the building and construction sector. Understanding the real functional advantages and limits that an aluminium product brings to the end customer will be essential for future innovation.

Hence we cannot imagine a future and technical advancements in construction and architecture industry without aluminium.

Please tell us about a few of your iconic and innovative projects?

We have undertaken a lot of projects including residential, commercial, hospitality, healthcare and government projects across India. Some of our prestigious projects include: 1. Residential and Commercial Projects - SNN Raj Etternia & SNN Clermont – Bengaluru; Wadhwa Promenade and Club Aquaria, Evershine Crown, Evershine Madhuvan, Chandak Paloma and Romell Aether in Mumbai; NCPL Ratnaakar Commercial Complex in Ahmedabad to name a few.

2. Government Projects - We are currently working on IDOCTelangana Project. In the past, we had undertaken projects for Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Shipping Corporation of India (SCI).

3. Healthcare Projects - Hinduja Hospital, Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation.

4. Industrial and Financial Services – RR Kabel, Reliance Industries and HDFC BankSandoz House in Mumbai.

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Geeta Window Systems on a luxury boat in Kerala

In addition to the above, we have installed Geeta Window Systems on a luxury boat in Kerala and a residential bungalow in Alibaug, Lonavla and many such more.

What do you see as the main challenges faced by the fenestration industry?

Currently the fenestration industry in India is not the most organised, but is in the transition phase and on the verge of getting more organised than ever. Product offerings are getting systematic, but the installation process is still lacking a proper structure and requires thorough pre and post sales training and handhold guidance to be carried out.

Customisation of products is required in 70 - 75% of the cases since there is no standardised planning of new construction forcing for customised solution requirement in most instances.

There is a dire need of government – both state & central regulations for standardising construction vis-à-vis building materials such doors and windows industry in India. Once standardisation and regulations are set for manufacturing & fabrication establishments; high quality product delivery can be made possible with lesser lead time and more efficiency.

How well aware do you think the decision-makers are in general about the availability of the fenestration products, its functionality & categories? And

how do they gauge the effectivity of the same?

I think decision makers (end users) are still not well aware of the fenestration product’s availability and their functionality. Through the architects, interior designers, façade consultants, etc., the awareness in terms of “window” product identification has started.

Preference of good quality material with after sales service is definitely a good sign for our industry.

What is the emphasis laid on R&D, especially for the Indian market?

To Indian market, R&D is essentially an investment in technology and future capabilities which can be transformed into new products, processes, and services.

Customised product design and solutions is the key to innovation.

R&D plays a critical role in the innovation process considering India being a price sensitive market. We do undertake research and survey - zone and region wise - to understand the window/ profile requirement depending on the climatic conditions/ demographic pattern. Basis the survey feedback, our R&D team develops the new profiles as per the requirement. We do a soft launch of the new profile in the market to understand the demand.

R&D is a part of our company’s operations and we are constantly innovating and upgrading with the latest international technology standards in our quest to remain an outstanding brand.

Project Watch

The building form is inspired by the concept of infinity, which ensures a circadian design

the Barriers of Excellence Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence, Bengaluru

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s an athlete is always taught to push barriers, break their own limits and focus on excellence, the

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idea of crafting a facility which would provide, recognise and support all aspects of sports was envisioned. The concept of ‘infinity’ fit apt for this facility which resulted

in the unique form of the hall of fame. The two strong diagonal volumes sprouting upwards, creating a perfect abstract loop both within and through the form.

The idea to commemorate all the legends under various sports verticals was the main notion of this building. Form followed the function in this design, taking into cognisance both the indoor and outdoor setting. A camaraderie relationship between the indoor and outdoor helped us pick the right material to blend the two. A fluid movement and connection were made strong for us to achieve this idea.

Located on the outskirts of Bengaluru en route to the airport, away from the main city lies this project which is completely

Project Watch

The idea of springing from the ground to move higher, a metaphoric representation of rising in sports was captured well in the design

exposed to temperate weather conditions of the city. Surrounded with nothing but open space all around the site, climatic sensitive architecture was a must to ensure mutual shading and articulating

the microclimate conditions.

Oriented along the north-south direction, the form inspired from the concept of infinity ensures a circadian design, shading both the eastern and western side through

the day.

The fenestrations of the building were designed in such a way that they were slender and linear horizontally. This was to ensure a frame like the opening to perceive the outdoor onto the sporting facilities flaking it. A strong link to remind people of the might and sanctity of the hall of fame.

The fenestrations were also deliberately placed in such a way that flushed the displays with natural light throughout the day, be it the displays on the wall or when suspended, an indirect light pierces through the entire indoor space, ensuring a huge saving on energy consumption. The indoor mimics the outdoor design intent.

A dynamic approach to depict action on the faรงade, like the idea of running, sprinting or jumping, always in motion and movement was attained though the external skin. The material used were Argemax boards from Wienerberger. The entire external skin was a dry clad system. A framework was created to ensure the boards were mounted on them. Again, slender linear horizontal members of 2400x300mm with two colour pigments placed at a specified location for creating movement

The fenestrations of the building were designed in such a way that they were slender and linear horizontally

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Project Watch

Front faรงade detail

The integration of the passive energy concepts and the tenants of biophilic design has been the key to achieving a sustainable balance within this ecosystem

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Project Watch Project: Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence Location: Bengaluru Client: Vivek Kumar Architect: Urban Frame Pvt. Ltd. Other consultants: Karsan Builders Materials used for faรงade & fenestration: Wienerberger Completion date: December 2017

ANUP NAIK

Director, Space Matrix Group

RAMAKIRAN BHAT trails. The material was flexible, easily craftable and durable, making it ideal for this context.

The ends of the form, however, are extruded from the surface and are culminated with the opening imprints stamped on them. This is to highlight the fenestration and to enhance the profile of these fenestrations on the faรงade. The idea of springing from the ground to move higher, a metaphoric representation of rising in sports was captured well with this treatment. This secondary

skin also provides thermal cooling and reduces heat gain on the indoor display spaces while also helping in concealing service lines such as electrical conduiting and air-conditioning ducting systems.

The integration of the passive energy concepts and the tenants of biophilic design has been the key to achieving a sustainable balance within this ecosystem.

The vision to ensure a symbiotic relationship between the indoor and outdoor spaces was key, and thus achieved through the architecture and the material.

Associate Director, Space Matrix Group

ABOUT THE ARCHITECTS: Urban Frame, a Space Matrix Group company, believes in creating unique, innovative and dynamic design solutions for the benefit of people, projects and the planet. It is a knowledgebased design company.

Anup Naik is a trained architect and urban designer and has been actively involved in the profession for 25 years. Under his leadership, Urban Frame has been involved in various projects and across multiple verticals dealing with master planning, residential, sports facility, hospitality, universities, health care and specialised buildings.

He has been a recipient of various awards. He did his B. Arch from BMS college of Engineering, Bangalore and pursued his M. Arch from School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, specialising in Urban Design.

Ramakiran Bhatt, an Associate Director at Urban Frame, is driving the sports architecture projects at the firm. He has work experience in varying fields ranging from master planning, commercial to residential projects of large scale.

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Featuring

Latest Products & Innovations in Doors, Windows & Façades Zak Expo, New Delhi

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n order to create a stage for industry experts and stalwarts from all over the world to exhibit their smart solutions and innovations that will offset the problems that exist in the realty industry, the expo on glass, doors, windows, façades and aluminium extrusion technologies is organised annually in a grand

manner. The Zak expo has become synonymous with the latest innovations and advancements, and has been serving as a launch platform for manufacturers, traders, experts and suppliers from doors, windows, glass, façades and aluminium extrusion industry over the last one and half decades.

The expo was held from 12-15 December, 2019 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

The 16th edition of Zak Doors and Windows, the 11th edition of Zak Aluminium Extrusion Expo and the 17th edition of Zak Glass Technology Expo - a leading and one of the comprehensive shows of the doors and windows, façade, glass and aluminium extrusion industries - were held from 12-15 December 2019 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

It is one of the most predominant platforms for the who’s who of façade and fenestration industry

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Felicitating L. C. Goyal (IAS), Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of India Trade Promotion Organisation

to showcase their products and technologies across the country.

Being one of the trusted platforms for the national as well as international companies, the show is known for its huge gathering of the people from the façade & fenestration industry. This year, the expo, spread over an area of 30,000 sq m, showcased more than 400 domestic and international brands of the industry dealing in doors, windows, aluminium, glass, etc.

The event marked tremendous success and was appreciated by the exhibitors. The Zak Aluminium Extrusions Expo showcased the aluminium extrusion solutions and its array of allied products. The Zak

Glass Technology Expo focused on glass technologies and products.

The Zak Expo is the most extensive façade and fenestration industry show that showcases a broad range of products and technologies. The show, held every year, helps its exhibitors to market their product and meet their targeted customers under one roof. The show also witnesses a huge gathering of potential visitors.

The Zak Expo is organised by Zak Trade Fair and Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd., one of the leading tradeshow and exhibition organisers in Asia. The visitors get the chance to fulfil their requirements for façade & fenestration solutions for their houses, commercial buildings or offices by meeting the company representatives and choosing the suitable products from many available options under one roof.

The expo was inaugurated by L. C. Goyal, IAS, who is presently the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of India Trade Promotion Organisation. In his opening speech, Syed Zakir Ahmed, Chairman & Managing Director, Zak Group, welcomed all the chief guests and thanked the exhibitors and sponsors for the consistent

The show witnessed a huge gathering of dignitaries and potential visitors

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support they have shown in Zak over their journey.

This year’s edition displayed state-of-the-art innovations which will drive the construction industry to expand itself to new dimensions and new markets and experiment with different types of audiences to promote and evaluate new ideas, notions and designs. The expo exhibited over 3,000 products including windows and façade systems in aluminium and uPVC, doors, railings, hardware, glass and other allied services and equipments from more than 400 brands, from 31 countries. This expo is the only event in India that is exclusively organised for doors, windows and façade technologies and has proven itself to be the ideal forum to learn about the latest technologies and developments in the construction industry. The event was a great space to network with leading manufacturers, contractors, distributors and the trade community and provided business opportunities in the field of façade and fenestration.

SPONSORS & PARTNERS

The show was supported by Schueco (Principal Partner), Alupure, Caldwell, Dow, FomIndia, Lesso, Fundermax, GSC Group, Kinlong, Kommerling, LG Hausys, LGF Sysmac, McCoy Soudal, Okotech, Salamander, Schlegel Giesse, Sudhakar uPVC Windows & Doors, VEKA, and many more Indian and international brands.

Window & Façade Magazine was the official media partner for the expo.

Zak Doors & Windows Expo cooperates with ministries & official organisation & is supported by allimportant industry associations.

This year, the show was supported by the Confederation of Construction Products & Services (CCPS), the Glazing Society of India and uPVC Windows & Door Manufacturers Association (UWDMA).

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Exhibitors at the 16th edition of Zak Doors and Windows expo

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The expo serves as a perfect platform for the players across the glass and fenestration sector to network and develop their business relationship

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Exhibitors at the Zak Glass Technology Expo

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Felicitating the exhibitors - The expo received huge appreciation from the industry

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Post Event Report EXHIBITORS

With more than 500 exhibitors from pan India and abroad, this show has marked one more successful edition this year. The participants from countries include Germany, Italy, China, Turkey, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, etc. showcased their products and technologies for the Indian market.

In over 16 years, the show has made goodwill amongst the industry leaders by providing the most trusted platform to market their products and services and get a boost in their business.

The exhibitor profiles included aluminium windows & doors, uPVC windows, wooden windows, composite windows, steel window, and a variety of profiles & systems.

The exhibitors also showcased and hardware solutions, cladding solutions and types of machinery for aluminium processing, uPVC processing, steel processing, aluminium punching, etc.

The Indian and international brands, including Schüco, Kinlong, NCL Veka, Alupure, Caldwell, LG Hausys, Aluplast, Lesso, SchlegelGiesse, Nexion, Fundermax, Salamander, Tata Pravesh, McCoy Soudal, Renson, Osaka, Virgo, CMC, GSC, Odyssey, Ado, Siegenia, Dow, Prominance, Orgadata, and many more participated in the expo.

SHOWSTOPPERS

The show is not only the marketing medium for the companies, but it also has been emerged as a knowledge-sharing platform by offering a special class called “Kaanch ki Paathshala” for the students and members of the glass, façade and fenestration industry to explore their knowledge on the glass.

Apart from this Kaanch ki Paathshala, one more learning opportunity was there for the hardware segment at McCoy Soudal stall. The special training session/

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Hardware ki Paathshala - The special training session/class to share the technical insights of the hardware solutions for the doors and windows

class was organised by McCoy Soudal at their stall to share the technical insights of the hardware solutions for the doors and windows.

The audience comprised glass dealers, installers, contractors, architects, craftsmen, traders, fabricators, business owners, consultants, marketing and technical personnel, etc.

The training aimed to enhance the skills of the attendees, teach them new methodologies and improve their earning potential.

Experienced faculties in respective sectors guided the audience through various processes and new technologies.

VISITORS

In this 4 day exhibition, 19705 visitors marked their presence to experience the best available technological and material solutions in the market. The visitor profile included architects and interior designers, builders and developers, dealers and distributors, door, façade and window contractors, glass and metal contractors, door/ gate and window manufacturers, fabricators, etc. Facility managers, façade consultants, investors, and wholesalers also were in the visitors' list of this show.

Being one of the most exhaustive and crucial tradeshows, it is also

Window & Façade Magazine was the official media partner for the expo

known as the one-stop-shop amongst the visitors.

Like the previous years, the visitors’ quality was excellent this year too. The event attracted a high percentage of top-management executives. More than half the visitors had decision-making authority and a large percentage of the attendees had concrete intentions to invest.

A WAY FORWARD

This year’s expo has set the benchmarks. Zak Expos have consistently shown tremendous growth over the years and has achieved new milestones. Zak’s commitment towards quality makes every show of it a successful event in the industry.

The tremendous response the Zak Door & Window Expo, Aluminium Extrusion Expo and the Glass Technology Expo has gained from its exhibitors, partners and visitors this year indicates towards the further growth of the event in the coming years. Making the show a big success in 2019, the organisers have already announced the dates for the next edition. The next edition of this India’s largest international exhibition on glass, doors & windows, and aluminium extrusions will be held from December 3 to 6, 2020 at Mumbai. For more information, visit: https://zakgroup.com/

www.osakarubber.com

Regd. Off: 6/103, Mittal Industrial Estate, Andheri-Kurla Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai - 400 059, Maharashtra, India.

Ph.: 91-22-4204-4204 | E-mail: sales@osakarubber.com

Post Event Report

CCPS

Organises Training Programmes for Architecture & Engineering Students

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onfederation of Construction Products and Services (CCPS), a not-forprofit organisation dedicated to the sustainable growth of the construction products sector, has organised a successful training program on ‘Glass as a Building Material’ and ‘Modern Trends in Building Industry (usage of PU foam and sealants)’ at Amity University, Noida on 16th January, 2020. The trainers included Shakti Singh and Sagar Chauhan from AIS Glass Solutions, Gopal Kumar and Sanjeet Kumar from McCoy Soudal.

The training was attended by Head of Department, Civil Engineering., professors and students from B.Tech. (6th & 8th semesters).

Two more training sessions were organized at the School of Architecture and Planning, and School of Engineering & Technology - both at Sharda University, Greater Noida on 17th January. The theme of the training sessions were ‘Glass as a Building Materials’ and ‘Emerging Trends & Technologies for Building Façade’. The training sessions were conducted by S Ravishankar, Dow International and Pragati Tripathi, Saint Gobain India - Glass Business.

Around 78 architectural students along with faculty members attended the session in the first half of the day and approximately

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Training sessions organized at Amity Univesity

40 civil engineering students attended the training session in the afternoon session. The events were organised under the guidance of Amit Malhotra, Managing Director, McCoy Soudal.

Since its commencement, CCPS has trained more than 2000 professionals/ workers from the building industry and has represented in various committees of the Bureau of Indian Standards, Indian Buildings Congress, Confederation of Indian Industry, Reserve Bank of India, Institution

of Engineers, etc.

CCPS represents diverse segments of industry, and the members include Asahi India Glass Limited, Bosch Limited, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited, Gold Plus Group, Gujarat Guardian Limited, DOW Chemical, Solutia Chemical, Kuraray India, Saint Gobain Glass, McCoy Soudal, Sisecam, Ozone Overseas Limited, Somany Ceramics Limited, Tata Steel, Hettich India, Dorma, Facade India Testing Inc, Forestry Innovation, and many more.

Training sessions organized at at the School of Architecture and Planning, and School of Engineering & Technology, Sharda University

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SE Controls: Trusted Global Experts in Façade Smoke Ventilation & Control

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E Controls is a trusted global specialists providing end to end solutions for façade smoke ventilation and environmental ventilation systems, and smoke control using façade automation as an integral part of the building envelope.

For the Indian and SAARC region, we opened operations in early 2012 as a Joint Venture with SE Controls UK under the Joint Leadership of Will Perkins, Group Managing Director, SE Controls UK and our Managing Director, ParasuRaman R, also, Founding Chairman, CII Indian Green Building Council, Ex Chairman and Managing Director, Honeywell ED&S Ltd (MK Electric India) and Past Vice Chairman, World Green Building Council.

With 40 years of trust and expertise within the façade industry and manufacturing in the UK, we offer bespoke solutions from the specification stage of projects, design, installation, commissioning and maintenance for commercial spaces, office parks, infrastructure projects, mixed use developments, Remote Services

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As contributing members of key industry associations, we stay up-to-date with the changing requirements of the fire and life safety and façade industry.

Form shouldn’t suffer at the hands of function and our team of experts work with key stakeholders from the inception of a project to help them realise their creative ambitions without compromising the safety aspect. One of our key differentiators is that we take on challenging projects.

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Our products are designed and tested to International Standards, ensuring our solutions are at the forefront of technology, regulation and compliance.

For the Indian and SAARC region, we operate from Chennai with a dedicated design and technical support team led by Nikhil ParasuRaman, who has been with SE Controls since our early days in the market.

Our local in-house technical support team not only serve India but also our global offices offering solutions in a speedy, effective and efficient manner which is appreciated by many of our customers.

Considering the recent fire accidents and incidences in India, we are working closely with the legislators and decision makers to ensure the optimum solutions are proposed, keeping in mind the aesthetics, functions and budgets of projects.

For further details, contact: Nikhil ParasuRaman, Director, India & SAARC Region.

Phone: +91-99406-64360; +91-44-48502034.

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Global TPE Sealing Solutions from Conta

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onta Elastic Products started extrusion of Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) based products in 2004 and since 2020, the company will serve its customers in their recent plant which is 40,000 Sq m. Our R&D, mold and design departments continue to provide good quality and trouble-free service to our customers in many industries.

Additionally, through our production facilities in the US and China, we offer service comfort to our customers worldwide.

Since the establishment of Conta Elastic Products, the construction sector has been our major market, followed by the white goods sector which is growing continuously every year. Our top priority is to provide high-quality products and innovative solutions for all our sectors. We have a dedicated R&D centre ensures development in new as well as existing sectors.

We have always given importance to development within our company and have tried to create a competitive environment by employing Blue Ocean strategies within the organisation.

We have developed a new product after collecting feedback from the market through on-field research and customer surveys.

This novel technology, which is first of its kind in window sector, addresses the common problems associated with window gaskets, for instance, gasket folding inwards during glass assembly, shortening of the gasket after installation and collection of dirt on the outer

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surface. All these issues lead to aesthetically unpleasing window.

In order to tackle these problems, our R&D department took motivation from the automotive industry and developed slip coat technology for window gaskets.

We have received a patent for this technology by the Turkish Patent Institute. The slip coat gasket has three main parts: 1. Soft part for sealing: It is exposed to dynamic motions and environment and therefore a TPE material with good compression set and high resistance to UV and ozone is selected. This ensures excellent sealing and long life.

2. Hard structural part: Made from hard TPE for a perfect fit inside the profile channel so that gasket does

Our offering • Automatic insertion during profile extrusion • Corner welding is possible • Available in various colours • It does not come out of the profile channel • Dirt and water repellent slippery coating • No inward folding or shortening of the gasket

not come out of the channel and there is no shortening or sliding.

3. Slip coat: Smooth and slippery TPE coating for easy cleaning and aesthetic appearance plus additional abrasion and weather resistance.

Conta TPE gaskets are compatible with all window systems and profile cross-sections.

The most preferred colours in our sector are RAL 7040, RAL 7035 and black.

Currently, we export to more than 30 countries and with the establishment of Conta North America and Ningbo Conta Sealing Products in 2014, we achieved our dream of being a truly global TPE gasket.

For more details on the products: Conta Web: www.conta.com.tr

Advertorial

KaenatCorp: Machining Our Way to Success

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he history of KaenatCorp is the glorious story of four generations. Set up in the year 1890, KaenatCorp played a crucial role in shaping the glass industry in India.

Over the years, KaenatCorp has evolved from a mere glass trader to a major glass manufacturer and extended its arms to aluminium and uPVC fabrication of doors and windows, structural glazing, façades, railings, and basically all exterior and interior solutions of a commercial/residential project and of course, a home.

Our customers can select from a vast variety from the products and services we offer and provide expertise in. KaenatCorp has been the standard of reference for the design and production of all façade solutions and systems for more than 20 years now.

The immense hardwork and dedication of our Chairman, Anwer Kamil and our Managing Director, Moiz Kamil, KaenatCorp, and the successful partnership with AluK (Italy) and Aluplast (Germany, has been instrumental in changing the shape of glazing industry by shifting the culture to the premium system.

We provide doors and windows all the way from Italy by AluK, and superior quality and luxury uPVC doors and windows all the way from Germany by Aluplast.

The quality of the products yielded from our modern and integrated plant is par excellence and conforming to various international standards. Regular testing of our products coming under all verticals makes us even more confident about our values and more than a century old legacy of satisfying our clients with the best of quality and services.

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Keeping in mind the environmental impacts, we make sure that our processes and products are eco-friendly and conform to the same standards, being durable, weatherproof and low-maintenance at the same time.

Our products ensure brilliant heat and sound insulation while keeping in mind the modern and architectural aesthetic of the building.

All our processes take place under the supervision of experts in their field, considering production, installation, project management, design, technical R&D, and quality management.

With the help of our partners (AluK and Aluplast) and high-tech

Anwer Kamil Chairman, KaenatCorp

machinery from Murat (Turkey) and Fom Industrie (Italy), we have been able to keep innovation, design and progress constant and rising.

As per our expansion plans, we have already acquired a brand new CNC Machining Centre all the way from Turkey by Kaban in order to increase our production by many folds and provide excellent precision.

For more details on our products, contact: Kaenat Glass, 2nd Floor, Plot No. 189, Sector-7, IMT Manesar, Gurugram, Haryana – 122050 visit: www.kaenatcorp.com

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Buzz

180 high-rises to be built in Sabarmati Riverfront phase-II

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fter the successful completion of the first phase of the Sabarmati Riverfront development, Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation has decided to build 180 high rise structures in the second phase of the project.

Keshav Verma, Chairman of the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation has informed that the state government has already made a provision of Rs 850 crore. In this phase of the project, the riverfront’s length will be extended by 5 km on each side. The corporation is aiming to create a compact city

with walk-to-work being a key issue and has proposed creating a hub of art, culture and recreation by this project. The project will offer a sprawling commercial complex,

Zurich International to build India's biggest airport at Jewar

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urich Airport International AG, the owner of Switzerland’s biggest airport, has won the bid to design, build and develop a Jewar airport along the 165-kilometer Yamuna expressway.

This airport will become the second international airport in the National Capital Region. The airport will be spread over 5,000 hectares that will make it the biggest airport in India. It will have eight runways and will cater to 70 million passengers a year by 204050. The first phase of the project will be completed by 2023.

The project is to be built on publicprivate partnership model. Zurich Airport will design, build, finance, operate and transfer the project to the government after 40 years.

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a social infrastructure ecosystem including water sports facilities, a convention centre, a museum of life, a Sabarmati Birders Club, and water taxis.

Gandhi Automations wins WASME warehouse & logistic innovation award

A

shwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, has presented World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME) award of warehouse & logistic innovation to Gandhi Automation. WASME is a global non-profit organisation. It has been spearheading the cause and development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) world over.

Gandhi Automations Pvt Ltd has bagged this award for the advanced tech innovation it offers in the entrance automation and loading bay range of products, for logistics and manufacturing sectors.

Gandhi Automations has successfully evolved into an innovative company catering to all kinds of needs. The company has made significant improvisations and innovations to the high-speed doors.

Its new forklift roll-off barrier lip dock leveler, prime cold reset, highspeed doors-prime reset, high-speed doors- prime internal doors, industrial sectional overhead doors, dock levelers, and isotherm rolling shutters are some of the most fast-moving innovations and products that have changed the landscape of logistics and warehousing automation.

Buzz

AIS announces Olympiad for aspiring architects and interior designers

Guardian Glass opens headquarter for Asia-Pacific in Bangkok

A

G

sahi India Glass Limited (AIS), India’s one of the leading automotive and building glass companies, is organising AIS Glass Design Olympiad for aspiring architects and interior designers that will help young architects to reimagine architectural innovation and bolster creativity in their minds.

The aim of this competition is to give wings to the vision of young architectural minds. AIS Glass Design Olympiad is a design contest for architectural and design students.

The competition will be held in architectural and art institutions in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The participants will also be rewarded for their unique talents with cash awards and inspiring ideas on planning and designing modern architectural marvels.

They will get the opportunity to work on an actual project as an intern with a renowned architectural firm in the country.

AIS Glass will also promote their work through online and offline media. The firm will also give students their credit if their design is selected to be used on a project.

uardian Glass has opened a new state-of-the-art headquarter and customer service hub for the Asia-Pacific region in Bangkok, Thailand.

This new facility is a collaborative space that forms the base for the global manufacturer’s Asia-Pacific business. In this headquarter, around 50 Guardian employees will work including general management and administration, marketing, supply chain, sales, finance and HR roles.

With this new office, the customers in the region will have a more seamless experience, dealing directly with a single customer service team rather than communicating directly with individual Guardian Glass plants.

Alexis Underwood, General Manager for Guardian’s Asia Pacific region, says, “Physically we are now closer to our customers in the region, as well as the heart of the industry. “Our customers, architects, interior designers, and developers will benefit from an integrated system, managed by a skilled team with shared knowledge and expertise centralised in one location.”

LWK + PARTNERS bags Gold MIPIM Asia award for Best Futura Project

L

WK + PARTNERS, a global architectural practice, has won Gold Winner for Best Futura Project in the MIPIM Asia Awards 2019 for its Gallium Valley Science Park project in Hangzhou. The project showcases innovative design for the future of sustainable and integrated workplaces.

Hangzhou Gallium Valley Science Park promotes the development of e-commerce and the artificial intelligence sector.

The project advocates a new officepark typology that blends greenery

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and communal spaces in the work environment, encouraging work-life balance in a professional industry.

Speaking on the occasion, Ferdinand Cheun, Director of LWK + PARTNERS, said, “It is our great honour to receive the award and know that our design values are widely shared by stakeholders across the region. We thank all who recognised our work and look forward to collaborating with those who share our belief for a sustainable future.”

MIPIM Asia Awards recognises the real estate projects which demonstrate exceptional design and vision in Asia.

YILMAZ MAKİNE SAN. ve TİC. A.Ş.

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