ALUPLEX - Redeveloping Facade Design Sphere

At a time when the façade and fenestration industry is evolving for quality, yet swanky and new age performance based products and solutions- Aluplex is recognized by all the players from the building envelope and window industry, not only from the trade but from the Architects and Façade Consults, as a company that is known for Quality par excellence.

Aluplex, a specialist in design, engineering, manufacturing, and installation of curtain walls and other architectural facade systems, has secured a leadership position by guaranteeing quality products, highly skilled workmanship, and uncompromising service. "For each project, the company works in close collaboration with the architects from the preliminary design stage - aiming to provide them with eco-friendly, energy saving and economical solutions and thus aiding them in realizing their concepts with tailor-made bespoke solutions," said Mr. Navin Keswani, the company's Managing Director.

Aluplex has its expertise in designing, fabrication and installation of Unitized Curtain Wall, Sunergy System, Italtech Windows & Doors, Bolted Glazing and Double Skin Façade Unitised Curtain Wall. "In our endeavor to broaden the total perspective, we at, Aluplex, are re-developing the Design Sphere by creating the most innovative curtain wall and Facade Engineering Solutions of the finest quality for our clients and architects, thus bringing their ideas into reality," emphasized Mr Navin.

When it comes to innovative solutions in building façade, Aluplex always stays as the frontrunner. "In our latest project, we have used innovative new materials such as Porcelain Tiles as well as Stone Finish Cladding materials on Building Sun Shades and Wooden Slats with acoustic perforations on the Building Façade in order to realize the Architectural Concepts. Also, we have recently engineered and installed a 50m high Cable Wall Façade with hanging bridges and glass sizes of 8ft x 13ft for which we had to work in close co-ordination with our suppliers to develop newer materials and products," shared Mr Navin.

Aluplex India is quite excited about the Government's increased focus on Infrastructure development that includes the proposal for 100 smart cities. "We have design, engineered, manufactured, and executed the first façade project for GIFT City in Gandhinagar, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first SMART City. The Project is a Smart Project with the use of Smart Materials and Products. The Project incorporates the use of Unitized Glazing Panels wherein each Panel is pre-assembled, glazed, and manufactured in our state-of-the-art manufacturing plant and delivered to site where they are merely bolted in position allowing for very fast and speedy construction at site," elaborated Mr Navin.

Explaining about the company's manufacturing infrastructure, Mr. Karan Keswani, Director-Operations says that at the construction site, an average of 40 panels per day are installed which is 2,500 square feet of façade area installed per day. Thus, a 120m tall building (1,50,000 square feet façade area) can be completed within 60 days from installing the first panel at site, allowing for Smart Speedy Construction while quality is maintained as the manufacturing is carried out in a controlled factory environment.

"We, at Aluplex, have invested in large scale production capacity with 4 conveyor lines at our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The current manufacturing capacity of 20,000 square feet of façade area per day equals to churning out production of a high rise façade project of 1,40,000 square feet every week,"said Mr. Karan insisting that with this robust manufacturing infrastructure and design engineering technology, Aluplex is all set to deliver Smart City Façade Projects in record time.

These days, trends of high-rise buildings are picking up fast across the country. What issues/challenges does the company come across while developing exterior/façade solutions for the high-risers? What specific solutions does the company have in this regard?

According to Mr. Rohan Keswani, Director-Technical, continuous innovation and improvement in design and engineering technology are very critical factors that determine the constructability of a high rise project whilst also ensuring they are completed on time within the budget. "When it comes to delivering technology, Aluplex excels," he emphasized. He is of the strong opinion that skin/façade of a building is one of the most crucial and important parts of the structure. From its inception- the building needs to be conceived from its structure to its external feel, functionality and aesthetic. The extreme understanding of all parts of what makes a building leads to its great achievement.

"Today, we have tested high rise façade systems at wind-loads of up to 6kPa along with seismic movement and building sway with high rise structures capable of withstanding peak wind speeds of up to 100m/s. At the same time, we design our systems to minimize the work needed at site by pre-manufacturing and assembling the façade panels in our factory to ensure the safety of our personnel working at heights, wherein the façade panels are only bolted in place at site allowing for easy constructability," stated Mr Rohan.

According to Mr Rohan, the Aluplex engineering team within the company understands how to manage large projects and the result is that one is able to create better results with a lean organization. "We ourselves add on technologies for façade construction. In the recent past, we have been awarded the Hinduja-Gulf Oil SEZ complex in Bangalore as well as the IIT Research Park in Chennai and the Double Tree Hilton in Ahmedabad. Three large projects spread over three different markets wherein all have reached out to Aluplex and the primary requisite of all the three clients was 'Quality First'. This, by and large, speaks volumes for the engineering team, which is young and dynamic though the organization is old and experienced," he noted.

"We have special abilities that we bring to the façade engineering market place and in the coming years Aluplex will dominate a little over 26% of the high-end façade market, while the rest 74% will be spread amongst 5 to 6 players," informed Mr. Karan.