As the building material for the modern age, aluminium has an almost unlimited range of applications: from façades, doors and windows, roof and wall systems, bridge and support structures through to interior decoration and the design of living space. Aluminium is fascinatingly versatile and individually adaptable while still maintaining a high user value.

Lightweight Building with the highest Stability

Aluminium is very lightweight coupled with high strength. This saves energy, makes it easier to process the metal and makes it possible to use an open-plan approach to produce a greater sense of space, a greater feeling of being alive and exciting, top architectural feats. The world’s current tallest skyscraper, the 508-metre high Taipei 101, with its aluminium façade is thus capable of withstanding winds of over 200 kilometres an hour as well as seismic shocks measuring up to 5 on the Richter scale.

Aluminium will be used increasingly for very special solutions. Such as bridge building and flood protection.

Building functionally and economically

Heat and sound insulation can be implemented ideally using aluminium. Aluminium façades, windows and doors create pleasant ambient conditions in summer and are reliable when it comes to keeping out the cold in the winter months.

Erection times can also be reduced significantly because the aluminium elements are prefabricated to a large degree at the plant and it is possible to transport larger components because they are lighter. Erection times at the building site are thus reduced considerably.

Just as skin protects the body, so aluminium façades and roofs protect buildings against external environmental influences. Aluminium is characterised by very good corrosion resistance when exposed to the elements and can be used without any additional surface protection. The surfaces can also be treated and decoratively finished using different processes.

Inspirational and Aesthetic – not only for Designers

The world’s most exciting buildings use aluminium. Whether it be the Sony Center at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin with its aluminium–glass façade, the Imperial War Museum in Manchester with its entrance tower, which protrudes skywards from the museum roof like a giant, sharp-edged shard of metal, or the Scandinavian Center in Århus with its fascinating skylight construction. Linear or organic, aluminium is a material that complies with every style. Its appearance is in itself decorative and conveys a sense of value.

Aluminium is excellent when it comes to satisfying aesthetic requirements. Even with consumer durables or furniture, aluminium is used for aesthetically valuable and mostly filigree products because of its lightness und stability. Moreover, various lacquers and surface treatments can be used for special emphasis.

Ecologically expedient and sustainable

Aluminium can contribute significantly to improved energy efficiency. Such as with an additional layer of glazing positioned in front of an inner, thermally insulated façade. This enables the energy requirement to be reduced substantially compared with conventional buildings.

Aluminium is increasingly being used for the frames and support structures of solar cells and panels because of its low specific weight. Numerous suppliers of solar systems now use the light metal exclusively. Aluminium façade elements are also in demand when solar units have to be integrated into buildings.

Aluminium lasts for several generations. And even when aluminium parts are dismantled, the material can be recycled without loss in a resource-conserving manner and used in a new application. Aluminium thus contributes to more sustainability in building and modernisation.

Aluminium – to be sure!

One is on the safe side with aluminium. This is because a benefit of aluminium is that it does not burn and does not form toxic gases or vapours. It has a melting point of 660 degrees Celsius, a temperature that is considerably higher than that of many other building materials, and thus offers optimal fire protection. In addition, aluminium windows and doors offer optimal burglary protection because of the stable profiles used.