Façade panelling is by far the most common choice for cladding architectural and commercial building projects. Facades cater to vast expression, offered in a variety of colours, designs, and textures that give the designer a world of choices for turning their project into something unique. Graphic printed facades are now a popular choice, with pictures and patterns designed by a graphic artist, and the manufacturer digitally prints high quality imagery onto the panels using up to date technology. The PathWest Laboratory building is an excellent example of creativity and design using a printed façade.
can be manufactured using a number of types of building materials including CFC (Compressed Fibre Cement), Aluminium Composite, Glass reinforced concrete, Steel, Fibreglass, and other composite materials, however they all have one common issue; protection from the elements. There are two types of protection required for facilitating the facades maximum lifespan against the elements: –
– Protection from moisture penetrating the substrate, causing corrosion and internal moisture issues
– Protection from UV (or in other words harmful sunrays), causing fading and deterioration of the substrate.
Facades also require protection from graffiti.
Vitreflon
A&I Coatings R&D team have been focusing heavily on the protection of façade substrates and have perfected the fluoropolymer coating “Vitreflon” for use in this field. Vitreflon, the hallmark of colour stable coatings, has been released into the worldwide market and used on millions of square metres of substrate.
The fluoropolymer coating has brilliant colour retention capacity, and far outstrips the performance of market leading alternatives such as Polysiloxane and Polyurethane coatings. Below is a couple of tests completed by A&I Coatings R&D team, showing the performance of Vitreflon against leading Polysiloxane and Polyurethane coatings *. The first test compares gloss and colour change of several different coating systems under the imposed stress of a QUV Weatherometer. As shown in the below image, after 2700 hours (equivalent to 13.5 years) in the QUV Weatherometer, the Vitreflon 700 has minimal colour fading.
The second test compares the corrosion resistance of different coating systems (same products mentioned in the first test) performance that have had an “X” scored right through to the substrate, and endured 917 hours in a “salt spray cabinet”.
Note that there is minimal “rust creep” in the Vitreflon scored sample.
*A&I Coatings cannot specify which Polysiloxane and Polyurethane coatings were used in these tests for legal reasons.
Vitreflons superior durability enables the maximum protection of colour and design, keeping the façade looking great for many years.
A&I Coatings warranties are issued to specific projects for periods up to 25 years, which cover colour retention, gloss retention, adhesion, and corrosion.
Façade Manufacturers
A&I Coatings supply many façade companies Australia-wide, including Vitragroup . Vitragroup, manufactures of the Vitrapanel, supply facades and panelling for projects including tunnels, bridges, multi-storey buildings, service station refits and airports. Vitragroup have two large manufacturing plants situated in Sydney and Brisbane.
Below is a photo of one of their state of the art facilities in Brisbane.
Contact us or Vitragroup directly with any project requirements.
Vitragroup:
Contact: Rudi Hartmann, Lydia Hartmann, or Rebecca Austin
13 Bromley Road
Emu Plains NSW 2750
Australia Phone: +61 2 47354122
+61 2 47354122
Fax: +61 2 47356322
Email: mail@vitragroup.com
Façade Damage and Repairs
Sometimes facades are damaged when being transported to site, like the circled scratch in the below photo.
A&I Coatings supply a host of applicators including Pierce Metal Cladding Repairs, who repair the panelling on-site.
Rokeby Peirce
0499 777 189
http://pmcr.com.au/
enquiries@pmcr.com.au
Pierce Metal Cladding Repairs specialise in industrial respraying and onsite repair of architectural aluminium, curtain walling, facades, cladding and other general metal building products.
Some of Rokeby’s work is pictured below…
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Contact A&I Coatings today, to discuss your options further.
