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FG Trading partners with Zak Group for SA's first World of Facades conference
FG Trading is extremely proud to have been the principal partner for South Africa’s first edition of Zak World of Facades and to have played an instrumental role in bringing the conference to the country.
Zak World of Facades is an international one-day conference series on the subject of facade design and engineering. The conference has been met with great success worldwide and is currently in its 40th edition, having taken place across 6 continents and in 13 countries thus far. It was introduced to the African continent last year with Zak World of Facades Kenya, for which FG Trading was also an associate partner.
The first edition of Zak World of Facades South Africa took place at the Sandton Convention Centre on Thursday the 12th of April, 2018. The exclusive event was exceptionally well attended by over 250 construction industry professionals and the local speakers and panellists included senior members of leading South African architectural firms and engineering consultancies as well as the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA).
Insight from industry professionals
The thought-provoking presentations and discussions of the day centred on the social, economic and environmental challenges in the South African and African construction industries pertaining to the building envelope and the latest innovations and technological solutions. Speakers shared valuable insight on the power of building information modelling (BIM), software packages and their role in the design process and practical solutions for ‘bridging the gap' between the professional team and the contractors.
A recurring topic throughout the day was green building. Speakers and panellists shared their expert opinions on the effect of new regulations on facade design and the specification of materials, the relationship between the building envelope, the occupants and the environment as well as solutions for sustainable facades and the possibility of reusing or recycling the components of facades in the future.
Owing to the fact that they have worked on a number of iconic South African projects at the forefront of technology and design, the local speakers were able to draw on their own knowledge and experience and illustrate their solutions via case studies. Among the projects featured were the Zeitz MOCAA (Museum of Contemporary Art Africa), Sasol Corporate Office, Discovery Global Headquarters, 129 Rivonia Road (“The Jewel”) and the PwC Head Office Waterfall Tower.
Expert advice from Tremco illbruck
High-performance Tremco illbruck sealants and membranes, supplied by FG Trading, were used for sealing and bonding the facade components in the projects mentioned above. Mr. Stuart Wakeham, a representative of Tremco illbruck and Business Development Director (Glazing) for Asia and Africa, was also a speaker at the conference and weighed in on the discussion on our behalf.
His pragmatic presentation regarding compatibility considerations for structural silicone glazing (SSG) discussed approved substrates, the importance of extensive compatibility testing and the selection of a supplier who offers a complete solutions package. He emphasized that sealants may form a small percentage of the overall cost of the facade but should not be overlooked as they can easily determine its success or failure.
A Word of Thanks
We trust that everyone who participated in the conference thoroughly enjoyed the day of idea and knowledge sharing and that it will inspire further collaboration between industry professionals in the future. We would like to extend our gratitude to the team at Zak Group, the associate, strategic and supporting partners, our staff, the speakers and panellists, the professionals who attended and everyone else who contributed toward the event’s success.
Source: FG Trading, April 2018
