Glass UK, the UK“s leading glass lamination specialist, has teamed up with Spanish furnace manufacturer and EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) specialist Pujol to design and manufacture the largest EVA fur…
Glass UK, the UK“s leading glass lamination specialist, has teamed up with Spanish furnace manufacturer and EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) specialist Pujol to design and manufacture the largest EVA furnace in the world. The 8m x 5m furnace, which has cost GBP 150,000 to build, will be installed in Glass UK“s Buckinghamshire headquarters and will be commissioned for operation from 1 October 2009. This will enable Glass UK to laminate the largest EVA stock sheets in the UK – jumbo sized sections of up to 6000mm x 3200mm. EVA resin technology is revolutionizing glass lamination for external laminated facades, windows and doors because it is plastic-based, rather than polymer-based, which makes it impervious to water ingress. The previously dominant PVB (Poly Vinyl Butyl) resin technology is hydroscopic, which means that it is susceptible to water ingress and unreliable for use in external applications. The net result is that EVA lamination is far more durable than PVB technology, and is also more easily stored – PVB needs to be maintained in a temperature controlled, humidity regulated environment. From an aesthetic perspective, EVA resin lamination presents the opportunity to laminate a PET layer between two sheets of EVA. This can be digitally printed to a very high resolution. The colour options are essentially limitless with 11 basic colours providing approximately 200 mixed hues. If an architect is looking for something beyond colour or digital printing, the EVA technique allows for the lamination of practically anything – cloth, marble, stainless steel or even organic materials. Through Pujol, Glass UK also has access to more than 2500 different types of fabric and other materials that have been tested to prove compatibility with Pujol“s EVA laminating system. Glass UK has also negotiated sole UK rights to Spanish company Pujol“s Evalam technology. This includes Evalam polyvision, which is a switchable glass technology, Evalam polymagic, which allows LED film light sources to be laminated into the glass, and Evalam polyflush, which is a holographic laminate that changes colour according to the angle of the user“s vision and the sun“s position. Glass UK is also developing a laminated heated glass system to take full advantage of the Pujol process. EVA resin technology is absolutely the future of glass lamination, says Glass UK director Warren Evans. Aside from its innate high tensile strength it provides excellent UV protection and acoustic properties, high wind resistance and is completely waterproof. This durability and the creative opportunities it provides make it absolutely ideal for external facades, doors and windows, as well as aggressive internal environments such as swimming pool enclosures, wetrooms and steamrooms. We met Glass UK at Glasstec and were very impressed with their knowledge of the technology, so we had no qualms about agreeing to give them exclusive rights to our products in the UK, says Pujol director Joaquim Pujol. This is a significant investment for us and will allow us to make single jumbo over-sized sections of EVA resin laminated glass, which will be perfect for commercial and retail facades and for stunning interior design applications, says Warren Evans.