While beauty has always been the main focus of painters, poets and musicians, architecture is a rare artistic category in which the place of beauty remains undefined. So how do we find a true balance between a sustainable, easy-to-use city and inspiring design? WICONA brand element facades are the answer.
Elemental facades are one of the most modern solutions that allow architectural projects to be completed faster and more efficiently. Prefabricated elements allow for increased control and safety on site and eliminate scaffolding costs. In addition, WICONA offers low-emission element facades made from recycled aluminum raw material. Facilities using WICONA solutions are among the most environmentally friendly buildings in Poland.
Elemental facades in high-rise buildings
Some aluminum facade solutions allow aluminum profiles, glass and insulation to be attached to the building structure directly on the construction site. However, in the case of high-rise buildings, it is necessary to work on scaffolding outside the building, and this makes such solutions more suitable for buildings with a limited number of floors. For taller buildings, it is labor-intensive and involves excessively high rigging and installation costs. A good alternative to make construction easier and faster is a facade made of composite elements.
An element made of aluminum, a material with low density and corrosive properties, is usually one story high and wide enough to match the building grid. They can be used for low-rise buildings, but are best suited for crane installation on high-rise buildings.
Constructed from insulated aluminum profiles, the facade elements are manufactured ready-made with glass, insulation, panels and more, directly under factory conditions. They can then be transported to the construction site and lifted into place on pre-installed mounting brackets.
We started serial production of element facades at a very high level. In doing so, we benefited from our extensive experience in façade construction, our knowledge of the processes and fundamentals of building and material physics, as well as our expertise in implementing project-specific façade solutions. Certainly, speaking the language of architects and recognizing and understanding their ideas and visions was also crucial. But fundamentally, the theme is always the same: developing tailor-made solutions in a highly efficient manner and in the shortest possible time that offer maximum functionality combined with the highest possible quality," says Hubert Wisniewski, country manager of WICONA Poland.
WICONA elemental facade systems
WICONA brand facade solutions are the result of a holistic approach that recognizes that in addition to basic functional properties, facades must also meet aesthetic requirements, as well as requirements for thermal insulation, daylighting, comfort and ecology.
Skyliner, Warsaw
Photo: © Karimpol
Our particular strength, we believe, lies in the fact that we combine all these aspects into an overall concept and are consequently able to advise architects in this area. We are not limited to flat elements and planar surfaces, we also realize three-dimensional facades with complex geometries, as well as elements built from several layers to meet the different requirements for a facade, adds the head of the Polish branch of the WICONA brand.
The company has several solutions to realize even the most daring architectural projects:
WICTEC EL evo is an innovative modular curtain wall system that can be individually designed according to the architects' individual requirements. Thermal insulated aluminum profiles with innovative insulating spacers manufactured to the highest production and quality standards. The WICTEC EL evo system uses a completely new drainage system. Deflections of the building ceiling are compensated using the patented "resilient gasket" technology. This seal is installed in a horizontal line between the modules of the elemental facade. This allows the use of relatively narrow profiles, even in the presence of extreme building ceiling deflections.
WICTEC EL60 is a modular version of the curtain wall system providing an extremely narrow separation between glass panes with a width of only 60 mm. The outer profiles are cut at a 45-degree angle, providing a particularly elegant "picture frame" appearance. Thanks to the optimized positioning of the thermal break, the system features a low Ucw value.
WICTEC 50EL is a modular version of the WICTEC 50 post-and-beam curtain wall system. This series combines the advantages of post-and-beam system construction with the benefits of modular curtain walls. The WICTEC 50EL element façade provides an extremely narrow separation between glass panes with a width of only 50 or 65 mm. The outer profiles are cut at a 45-degree angle, providing a particularly elegant "picture frame" appearance. WICTEC 50 EL is a dedicated system for solutions where high thermal insulation is particularly important.
HYDRO Circal - a raw material for sustainable construction
In order to reduce the carbon footprint of building materials, it is necessary to control the production of building products while promoting the closed-loop economy of the system, i.e. recycling and reusing the materials used. In the case of WICONA brand aluminum systems, we are dealing with systems that, thanks to advanced technologies, are produced in a closed cycle, using recycled aluminum. Hydro CIRCAL 75R is a material certified by DNV-GL, an independent institution that guarantees that 75% of the material comes from post-consumer aluminum, that is, aluminum that has reached the end of its life cycle. This is one of the biggest developments in recent years when it comes to sustainability in the construction market.
LIXA office complex
Photo: © YAREAL Polska
To really understand how much progress this is in reducing emissions, here are two facts: the European average is 8.6 kg ofCO2 per kg of aluminum. Worldwide, the average is 18 kg ofCO2 per kg of aluminum. In the case of the Hydro CIRCAL 75R, this figure drops to about 2.0 kg ofCO2 per kg of aluminum, the lowestCO2 emissions on the market.
LIXA office complex
Photo: © YAREAL Polska
The production process of Hydro CIRCAL 75R begins at Hydro in Dormagen (Germany), where recycled material suitable for the production of this aluminum alloy is selected, and ends at theHydro's plant in Clervaux (Luxembourg), where primary aluminum is added to recycled aluminum until a material that is again suitable for construction is obtained. The process for obtaining this material is 10 times cleaner than conventional systems, itsCO2 emissions are well below the average in the current market, reducing it by almost 40% compared to emissions from a conventional aluminum process, Hubert Wisniewski comments.
For more information, visit the company's HYDRO BUILDING SYSTEMS POLAND Sp. z o.o. WICONA page on the A&B portal.
