C is for curves

Sweeping curves give grace and elegance to our new and refurbished buildings. Whether it’s an arched canopy, a curved window, a solar shading louvre blade or a feature structure, aluminium is often the material of choice for specifiers given its formability and excellent strength to weight ratio.

There are many forms of bending available such as draw bending, press bending and CNC bending which allow production of complex elliptical and parabolic curves on many sections. With aluminium being a relatively easy material to form in both extrusion and sheet, there is the capability for bending pre-painted, thermally broken and multi cavity sections without damage to the surface finish and without collapse or distortion to the extrusion during the bending process.

Aluminium can be shaped in order to carry, for example, a curved, circular or arched glazed unit offering some very exciting design possibilities. If we start to form sheet material it begins to take on some very interesting structural capabilities which become very evident in roof structures where aluminium offers a long lasting and lightweight material option which in turn offers efficiencies in the required supporting structure.

Aluminium, when specified correctly, offers a low maintenance and long service life solution for today’s modern construction requirements. Even after the product has reached the end of its useful life it is capable of being 100% recycled again and again without any loss of its original qualities.

There has never been a better time to specify aluminium – the Council for Aluminium in Building is here to help specifiers and fabricators utilise the best that aluminium can offer. Contact CAB on 01453 828851 or visit the website at www.c-a-b.org.uk