This year the Technal stand at the international construction exhibition was designed by the leading French architect, Nicolas Michelin and had a number of key themes:
Accessibility in response to the EU’s commitment to supporting the ageing population
Refurbishment and renovation, particularly to achieve energy efficiency improvements to existing buildings
The ordinary versus the extraordinary – demonstrating how a building can successfully blend into its environment whilst also providing drama and an exceptional quality environment inside.
The stand had the appearance of a continental villa with a tree-filled patio and façades that had a series of opaque aluminium louvres and contrasting translucent bands of glazing, with a dark, midnight blue exterior.
A number of new Technal façade products were launched at Batimat this year, which will be available in the UK and Ireland in 2012. These include:
The Soleal casement window range – available in tilt/turn, pivot, bottom and projecting top hung window options, and horizontal sliding and tilt/slide balcony door configurations. The range will set new standards in energy efficiency and aesthetics.
An innovative motorised side hung open-in window will provide automated locking and unlocking using a touch screen control to replace the traditional handle for users with disabilities.
The Soleal door range – a high performance thermally broken commercial door in pivot and hinged configurations, and a single door with a disabled access threshold.
A concealed parallel opening vent option for Technal’s MX curtain walling, giving specifiers the opportunity to radically increase natural ventilation as an alternative to tilt/turn and top hung vents.
As part of Technal’s commitment to research and development, the stand also featured three innovative façade design concepts:
A dual skin façade developed by Technal with Jacques Ferrier Architectures which ‘folds’ to help accommodate a building in its environment. The skin is ‘pleated’ vertically for east or west orientations and horizontally for southern aspects. The façade panels can be modular and units with photovoltaic cells can also act as a sunshade.
An alternative façade concept blends the façade with the roof, forming a single envelope that can be added to an existing house to improve energy efficiency.
A design for brise soleil sunshading which supports planting, adding vertical landscaping to an urban environment, and providing occupier comfort whilst maximising natural light.
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