Extraordinary facades thanks to unique transparent coatings

Natural beauty of aluminum

Making aluminum facades truly something special is what Euramax has been doing for over 50 years. As a premium supplier of prepainted aluminum, Euramax inspires with color and assists architects, facade manufacturers, panel producers and clients with aesthetic and technical advice. Today in the spotlight AluNatur, now more than 15 years on the market and leading when it comes to transparent coil coatings on aluminum.

AluNatur: cost-effective facades in pure aluminum 

"Why don't we have that?" were the words of German automotive engineers when they saw the Citroën DS at the 1955 Car Saloon in Paris. DS; pronounced dé-esse, is the French word for goddess. With its aerodynamic, futuristic design and innovative technology, the car was ahead of its time and indeed became known as the "goddess of the road. 

Jorrit Scheepers: "The Euramax AluNatur 'Transparent Elegance' range can be compared to the iconic Citroën DS. In 2005, after a multi-year R&D project, Euramax was the first coilcoater in the world to launch a range of transparent clearcoats on special aluminum substrates. The basic collection, which consisted of four colors and two substrates, was enthusiastically received by the market. The paints emphasize the natural beauty of aluminum and, with their exceptional light reflection, allow architects to create very lively facades at - very importantly - feasible costs. The efficiency of the coil coating process; where in one hour 4000 to 5000 m2 can be painted, is therefore a factor in the success story of the AluNatur range that cannot be underestimated."

He continues: "One of the first major projects in AluNatur was the 2005 Budapest Sports Arena. Renowned Hungarian architect György Skardelli found in AluNatur Titanium BRUSHED the perfect finish to make his building look like a pebble, an idea he got while throwing stones into a river. After 15 years of being exposed to the elements - and still in very good condition - the Budapest Sports Arena recently got a bigger sister in the form of the nearby Puskás Stadium where the EURO 2020 soccer championship was held. This stadium, too, was designed by György Skardelli. The complex has an impressive 95,000m2 roof in Titanium BRUSHED." 

Icon among transparent coatings

What began as a limited range of clearcoats soon took off. Many larger and smaller projects followed and the color requests associated with them led to new sub ranges that helped make our AluNatur what it is today; an icon among clear coatings. "Becoming a specialist in this field was not easy," says Scheepers. "Transparent coil coatings are among the most difficult finishes on the market. As such, we have faced many challenges that we have had to learn to overcome. With a track record of millions of square meters over the past decade and a half, we can now safely say that we offer a best-in-class transparent finish."

New Spring

"We are convinced that a 'new spring' is coming for our natural finishes. There is a clear trend in the market toward natural-looking metal facades, and Euramax is very well equipped to serve it. It's not just the range of finishes we offer and the wide bandwidth of aluminum panel types on which they are available, there is also our team of architectural advisors ready to help 'connect' façade panel and coating. Ultimately, every building design is an icon in itself and we like to think with you when it comes to the metal building envelope."

More inspiration can be found in The Outsider magazine, an in-house publication of Euramax Architectural Products. You can request the magazine at jscheepers@euramax.eu.