The recent “Facades in Focus: Ask the Expert” event, jointly hosted by Sotech, Siderise, Technal, and Axalta, brought together industry leaders and professionals to share their market leading insights on façade design and construction.
The day began with breakfast and networking opportunities before expert speakers took to the stage, to share their unique perspectives and expertise.
Armor Gutiérrez Rivas, Senior Lecturer at the University of East London, dove deep into the fusion of technical intricacies and design aesthetics within façade workflows. His presentation highlighted how we might maximise environmental opportunities through geometry and parametric software, as showcased in the Chapter Living case study.
Irene Mantovani, Senior Facade Engineer at FMDC, and John Pritchard, Project Architect at TB Architects, offered a comprehensive analysis of the ongoing Stonecutter Court project. Their insights covered the initiation of the project, the technical requisites of the design and the challenges and lessons of the construction phase.
“I was fascinated by Irene Mantovani’s talk”, said Dean Sherwood, Key Account Manager, Specifications at BRE, “I didn’t realise how far some Façade Consultants / Architects go to ensure the end result meets the specification they require. The quality control inspections TP Bennett carried out on the Stonecutter Court project were very thorough and made you want to get your specs in with them because they won’t get broken.”
Dean added: “The networking at the start (which continued throughout the presentations) was really enjoyable as I was able to meet people from manufacturers, architectural practices, and façade consultants.”
In between the presentations, attendees also had the chance to explore Sotech’s Virtual Reality platform – SO.VR. Stepping into the virtual Sotech showroom, attendees could inspect the Optima range of rainscreen façade systems, create innovative build ups and see how their system, material choice and finish would look on a building in real time.
“Sotech VR caused a lot of interest and conversation. I think people were surprised at how far the technology had developed, and how real it felt to be in the virtual showroom”, said Claire Ryan, Marketing Manager at Sotech.
“The event was a huge success”, commented Simran Thiara – Sotech’s Specification Manager for the South. “The environment felt really collaborative and the speakers were generous in sharing insights on what’s coming down the line, along with lessons learned from challenging projects. I think it’s so important to come together as a sector, to be in the room, and to learn from each other. I personally look forward to the next event!”.
Armor Gutierrez Rivas, Senior Lecturer at the University of East London (and guest speaker on the day) added: “Congratulations on the great event, good audience and very relevant topics presented and discussed. Please keep me in the loop for any future events and opportunities!”
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