Metadecor International participated in the AIA Conference and Expo in Washington (5-8 June 2024) and was very well received by the (mostly American) audience of architects. In booth #337 we premiered our new MD Formatura FO337 pattern and showcased a tower with MD Formatura panels. We engaged in many discussions about architecture and building engineering with an international audience and traveled back home with lots of new contacts and ideas.

Echoes of Elegance, Façades for the Future: we chose this slogan to encourage architects to design their own pattern for the façade of their project, whilst incorporating a lot of functionalities that a (double) metal façade can add to a (n existing) building. ‘Where can I see your full range of patterns?’, many an architect asked. Our answer: ‘Your pattern won’t be there: it is in your head’. Every façade we make is unique. We love to work with architects on their patterns and designs.

No catalogue

‘No, we don’t have a catalogue’, was another sentence we had to utter more than once. ‘Everything we make is bespoke’. Budget was inevitably the next topic. Yes, we can make an exclusive façade for the Louboutin Shop on Madison Avenue and if we have to hand-stitch it (or weld it piece by piece, in this case), that is costly. But you can make a one-of-a-kind façade without blowing the budget. The ‘trick’ is to simplify the design and automate the production (which our engineers are accustomed to and very skilled in). We have plenty of examples (buildings) that are gems in their kind and are made within a very reasonable budget.

Let in or keep out?

Our facades shade: sun, wind, rain. They keep out the glare. Filter daylight. They create privacy. They contribute to the energy efficiency of a building (reducing the heat load, using tempered daylight), they have acoustic capacities.
‘Are they bullet proof?’. That was a new one, a question we did not get before attending a show in the US. No, we have not tested that. We could. We presume they could be bullet proof.
Seeing the pointy figures in some of the MD Formatura patterns, a few architects asked if those patterns are allowed in public areas. Our engineers will give their opinion, but we believe that the design teams have to make these decisions. Sometimes the spiky figures are deliberate: to keep people away. But never in an area with young children, of course.

Successful collaborations

Having spoken to so many enthusiastic visitors to our booth, we hope that in the (near) future we will be able to write about successful collaborations in the US. Of course we have the shopfront for Christian Louboutin on Madison Avenue in NY – developed in collaboration with 212box architects – as an ultimate showcase. Other projects and patterns that attracted more attention at AIA24 than others: Het Plantsoen in Leiden (NL, architect VVKH) and the date-pattern that we used for Raqtan Headquarters in Dammam, Saudi Arabia (architecture by Rempt van der Donk). Just stroll/scroll through the projects on our website and be inspired. We are sure we can work with you to realize your bespoke façade.