Innovative coating offers a fully-fledged alternative to natural facade materials

Architects enjoy working with real materials such as wood, steel, concrete, and stone because they contribute to a building’s appearance, texture, and overall experience. However, these materials aren’t always practical in every situation, as architect and SAB-profiel visitor Amir Feizinezhad explains. “The shape of the facade, the building’s location, and/or technical limitations can make the use of natural materials difficult or even impossible. In such cases, our Digital Prints offer a good alternative.”

“Thanks to the innovative coating technology that combines steel with digital printing, we can achieve the same warm and/or robust appearance and color experience, but without the drawbacks of the original material,” says Feizinezhad. “Our SAB products with Digital Prints are highly scratch- and wear-resistant, easy to maintain, lightweight, and very versatile in application. This allows the architect’s design vision to be preserved while simultaneously meeting all aesthetic, technical, and practical project requirements.”

Let your imagination run wild

SAB-profiel’s Digital Prints lineup now consists of five wood finishes, three stone finishes, and one Corten steel finish, all of which can be combined perfectly. This allows architects to give free rein to their design imagination. “The Digital Prints can be applied to our sandwich panels, profiled sheets, design profiles, interior boxes, and metalwork,” explains Feizinezhad. “At the factory, an innovative coating process is used to apply a 30–35 μm coating with a smooth texture and excellent scratch and wear resistance to the steel base profile. A galvanized substrate ensures excellent corrosion resistance. Thanks to the color coating, the steel is effectively protected against moisture and other environmental influences, which significantly extends its service life and reduces maintenance. It’s no coincidence that clients can benefit from a 15-year SAB performance guarantee.”

Other unique features include the high fire rating (A1), competitive cost, and low carbon footprint. “Just like any steel product, steel sandwich panels and profiled sheets with Digital Prints are highly reusable and recyclable. Thanks to the ability to print at extremely high resolution, unique continuous designs can also be created. A print length of four meters ensures minimal repetition. For large projects, it’s possible to choose from even more print variations (See the SAB Digital Prints Overview brochure) or even to create a custom print.”

SAB-profiel's Digital Prints collection was introduced in 2025 with four wood-look finishes and one Corten-look finish:

• Ivory White: a timeless and sleek look for a minimalist and light appearance;

• Harvest Beige: a subtle, natural beige shade that blends effortlessly with a variety of materials;

• Autumn Brown: a warm, autumnal color that creates a natural atmosphere;

• Mystic Dark Brown: a deep, mysterious shade of brown that exudes warmth and elegance;

• Corten-look: featuring the popular rust-colored appearance of Corten steel, but without the drawbacks of natural corrosion.

Beautiful piece in Harvest Beige

Soon after, the first project was carried out for Stigterstaal in Canada. “The new facility of this steel supplier for shipbuilders features no less than 940 m² of sandwich panels in the wood-look color Harvest Beige,” says Usen Koppes, Marketing Manager at SAB-profiel. “What makes this project even more special is that it was completed using panels that are ULC-certified. This certification from Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC) confirms that our products meet Canada’s strict safety standards, including those for fire safety. Thanks to the combination of high-quality performance and the warm appearance of wood, the building has been given a natural and modern look. A wonderful start for our new wood-look line!” SAB-profiel is now also involved in a school project using Digital Prints in Harvest Beige, as well as in various other projects.

Expansion of the color range

Earlier this year, the Digital Prints collection was expanded to include three contemporary stone-look designs and a stylish wood-look design that perfectly reflect the latest trends:

• Stonelook Concrete: a rugged, light-gray concrete-look finish that exudes strength and modern minimalism; 

• Stonelook Slate: a gray-mottled slate texture with a rugged, natural look that fits perfectly into robust and timeless designs;

• Stonelook Dark Basalt Grey: an elegant, dark gray stone-look tile with subtle color nuances that adds depth and sophistication to any design;

• Wood-Look Teak Lamella: a sophisticated wood-look finish with a warm teak hue and sleek black accents, for those who want to combine natural warmth with a modern style.

Architects who would like to receive samples of these, can contact SAB-profiel. Amir Feizinezhad would be happy to discuss the possibilities with Digital Prints in a one-on-one conversation.