Wicona's comprehensive new product range

In the process, the Ulm-based aluminium systems company is focusing on its stated motto, "Building the city of the future together", for the exhibition and for the new year.

As Managing Director Henri Gomez states: "WICONA has a tradition of innovation and we are continuing this for BAU 2017. The new products and systems meet the requirements of the growing number of people who will not only in the future work in cities, but who will also live in them."

Concealed sash in the façade

The WICTEC 50 EVO SEMI HIDDEN SASH, the new mullion-and-transom integrated opening casement with no externally visible frame sections, offers new possibilities for façade design. The inward opening casement can operate as a turn- or tilt-and-turn casement and uses the WICSTAR hardware technology. With no externally visible frames, this means slimmer sight lines, flat surfaces and maximum glazing, allowing maximum light transmission. From the outside, the opening casement gives the effect of fixed glazing, enabling it to be seamlessly integrated with the façade.

Sound insulation and sun protection

With the constant issue of noise in the city, the legislature and the authorities are increasing their noise-protection requirements for façades. With the WICLINE 115 AFS, WICONA has developed a new composite window which, with its low construction depth (115 mm) achieves a high sound insulation level of 50 dB. This value is equivalent to that of a 200 mm thick concrete wall. Sun protection can be integrated in such a way that the upper housing and the lateral guides of the Venetian blind visually disappear in the profile contour. This window's energy efficiency is also a highlight: its U-value is less than 0.80 W/(m²K).

More glass – less frame

High energy efficiency of a building and a pleasant living environment for its inhabitants are two aspects without which a city of the future cannot function. WICONA fully meets these criteria at BAU 2017 with a completely new window concept: With its total frame/casement combination sight line of just 74 mm, the Maximal series offers a reduction in the frame ratio of up to 30%, thus increasing the transparent surface and maximising daylight and solar gain from outside.

12-Metre Folding/sliding Elements

The folding/sliding WICSLIDE 75FD door is also new in this context; with just a few different components, it enables solutions of up to 10 elements, with a total width of 12 m and a maximum height of 3,000 mm. The casements can be individually locked to significantly increase security; in terms of noise protection, the WICSLIDE 75FD achieves a sound insulation value of up to 40 dB.

A new fitting with comfort control is used in the WICONA sliding systems. These ranges are characterised by their high levels of impermeability, thanks to their full-circumferential seals, and the actively controllable locking points. The elements can be very easily manoeuvred, since the seals do not cause any resistance to the frames when they are being slid. High infill weights of up to 200 kg are possible with this hardware, with casement widths from 600 mm to 1,500 mm and casement heights from 700 mm to 2,500 mm.

Release of coating range

At BAU WICONA will, for the first time, be introducing its own colour collection for aluminium profiles. These include coatings with antibacterial and antiviral properties – for use, for example, in homes for the elderly and in care homes – and with solar-reflecting properties, in order to significantly reduce the surface temperature of surfaces exposed to the sun.

Innovations on the WICSTYLE Door Range

The WICSTYLE 75 evo range will be expanded at BAU 2017 with a panelled door version. This allows doors with leaf-concealing infills to be constructed in the same sizes as doors with conventional glass infills, without restricting the performance characteristics due to deformation because of the "bi-metal effect". This is a complete system for one- or two-sided leaf-concealing infills, with single- or double-leaf doors, opening internally or externally, with flush or overlapping leaf profiles.

As well as the WICSTYLE 77FP fire protection door, WICONA will also be presenting in Munich an all-glass fire protection corner for internal applications. It was successfully tested with the WICSTYLE 77FP corner (thermally broken with a construction depth of 77 mm) for the fire protection class EI 60, with a height of 2,993 mm.

Closed Cavity Façade 2.0

WICONA is focusing on the expansion of its Closed Cavity Façade technology (CCF), to increase comfort and cosiness with regard to light, including thermal protection in summer and air quality in interior spaces. This system combines maximum transparency (element formats up to 2.5 x 5.5 m), the highest levels of sound protection (sound insulation values of the façade > 50 dB) and perfect impermeability against external contamination by using active dry-air flushing, which is equivalent to medical quality. The first applications of CCF could be seen at the previous BAU, and in the meantime WICONA can refer to three projects implemented in Switzerland. The system principle and its possibilities for multifunctional façades in the city of the future will also be a focus of the WICONA stand in Munich