New EQUITONE façade material [lunara].

Visionaries have gazed at the rough texture of Earth's satellite for centuries. It has been an inspiration and a dream to reach for the new and unknown. She also became the inspiration for the designers of the new facade panels. The day of the material's launch was no coincidence either - it fell on the last summer full moon, September 21, 2021.

EQUITONE has for decades drawn inspiration for its materials from the appearance of Earth's natural resources. The Moon's rugged surface has inspired dreamers and innovators - astronomers constructing ever more perfect telescope glass to look at it up close, or physicists and engineers who realized mankind's wildest dream of setting foot on the silver globe. Now, reflecting a fascination with what lies beyond our atmosphere, the new EQUITONE [lunar] facade panels appear at once unearthly and yet natural. Their unique surface, covered with fine, irregular elevations and depressions, is reminiscent of the crater landscape of the Moon and invites architects to design visionary facades.

© Equitone

The EQUITONE [lunara] panel collection, inspired by the lunar surface, was created with the cooperation of architects and responds to their demand to create modern spaces. The concept of the new façade material was presented and thoroughly discussed at two international workshops with groups of design architects in Venice and Berlin. An innovative and unique facade material was introduced there - lightweight panels with uneven texture, colored in the mass, which allows freedom and creativity in design.

Innovative texture

EQUITONE [lunara] façade panels are produced at a plant in Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Belgium, where a specially constructed line has been introduced to achieve such an unusual surface finish for the panels.

Hydra parking lot

© Equitone

EQUITONE [lunara] is a material of exceptional character. The slightly undulating surface of the slabs brings to mind a lunar landscape, full of hills and craters, and is unique. The slabs do not have a uniform, repeatable pattern. The structure of the depressions and protuberances varies on the plane of a single panel, as well as between individual panels. Thanks to this, finishing a facade with [lunara] panels makes it possible to achieve an original and at the same time very natural effect. It can be achieved using panels only from this collection, as well as in combination with other materials from the manufacturer.

Maintaining stylistic consistency, slabs from the "lunar" collection are available in two colors - a cool gray (LA20), which we know from the time of the new moon, and a warmer beige (LA60) associated with the reddish glow of spring and summer full moons. The panels are produced in two sizes: 2500×1220 mm and 3050×1220 mm and are 10 mm thick.

EQUITONE [lunara] facade panels in colors LA20 and LA60

© Equitone

Proven material

EQUITONE [lunara] facade panels are molded in a Hatschek machine, prior to mechanical texture formation, and then steam-cured under pressure (autoclaved). The boards are water repellent, and thus do not require additional impregnation. According to EN 13501-1:2018, the panels are also non-combustible, guaranteed frost and rot resistance.

Fiber-cement boards are a lightweight material - those from the EQUITONE [lunara] series weigh 17.4 kg/m². Thanks to their properties, they are suitable for installation in a ventilated facade system on buildings of any height and are easy to install on wooden and metal substructures using proven fastening systems.

Hofheim City Hall

© Equitone

Testing and certification

Testing also plays an important and rigorous part of the development process. Tests and verifications are required for all materials in the EQUITONE range, and any new product must match the aesthetics and safety of existing materials in order to begin marketing it. Testing includes accelerated external erosion, Euroclass fire standards, material density, and meticulous factory testing with more than 20 production tests in just one year. EQUITONE also values transparency and is seeking EPD certification for all materials.

For more information, visit the website or request a free sample here