Shelter and comfort
  Buildings
are part of our lives – at home, at work, when shopping
or eating out. As prosperity increases, so do the demands
on our buildings. The hierarchy of needs extends from shelter,
warmth and security to more aesthetic needs such as décor
and ambiance.
Aluminium products can fulfil these requirements by providing
efficient solutions from stylish curtain wall systems to ultra
modern furniture and lighting.
Unlike some alternative building materials, aluminium offers
an almost unlimited life expectancy and evidence of this is
all around us. Some striking examples are the aluminium sheets
installed more than a century ago to clad the dome of Rome’s
San Gioacchino church, the aluminium components installed
in New York’s Empire State Building (the first building
to use anodised aluminium) and the statue of Eros (only recently
cleaned and renovated) in London’s Piccadilly Circus.
 Their
excellent condition bears witness to the fact that aluminium
does not age in the way that organic materials do and needs
no protection from ultraviolet light. In addition, the cast
and wrought aluminium alloys used in building combine properties
of durability and high resistance to weathering or atmospheric
attack, both in industrial and marine environments.
To meet the architect’s decorative requirements, aluminium
can be anodised or painted, which can further enhance the
material’s natural durability and corrosion resistance,
and also provide easy-to-clean surfaces.
|
