Vector Foiltec is a business using transparent

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adapta ...

(

ETFE Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) is a fluorine-based plastic. It was designed to have high corrosion resistance and strength over a wide temperature range. ETFE is a polymer and its source-based name is poly(ethene-co-tetrafluoroethene). It is ...

) cushions filled with air as an

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

cladding technology. This solution can be better than glass panels in applications such as roofs over aggressive environments where chemicals would attack a metal window frame, or where the transparent panels have to accommodate deformation due to changing thermal conditions.

History

The Company was founded by Stefan Lehnert in 1982 in

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

in Germany. Its first structure was the roof of a small pavilion at Burgers' Zoo in 1982.

Operations

The Texlon

cladding system developed by the company consists of a number of layers of the UV stable copolymer ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (

) welded into cushions or foils. The cushions are restrained around their perimeter by

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

extrusions, which are in turn fastened to a supporting primary structure. The cushions are inflated with air at low pressure to provide insulation and to resist wear caused by wind.Vector Foiltec: Technology
/ref> A Texlon

cushion typically consists of two layers, although more layers can be added to enhance the cladding's insulation properties. Each layer can be modified with a variety of treatments to alter its aesthetic quality, its apparent transparency, and the level of solar gain. The material's innate toughness, resistance to tearing, and ability to work harden over a 300-400% elongation range allow Texlon to endure significant deformation of its support structure.

Major projects

Major projects include: *

Eden Project The Eden Project ( kw, Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England, UK. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located from the town of St Blazey and from the larger town of St Austell.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS ...

, UK, completed 2001 *

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, completed 2004 *

Southern Cross station Southern Cross railway station (until 2005 known as Spencer Street station) is a major railway station in Docklands, Victoria, Docklands, Melbourne. It is on Spencer Street, Melbourne, Spencer Street, between Collins Street, Melbourne, Collins ...

, Australia, completed 2006 *

Beijing National Aquatics Centre The National Aquatics Centre (), and colloquially known as the Water Cube () and the Ice Cube (), is an aquatics center at the Olympic Green in Beijing, China. The facility was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the ...

, China, completed 2007 *

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount E ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, New Zealand, completed 2010 * Forsyth Barr Stadium,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand, completed 2011 * San Mamés Stadium,

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

, Spain, completed 2014 * Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center,

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, completed 2014 *

Singapore Sports Hub The Singapore Sports Hub ( Chinese: 新加坡体育城; Malay: Hab Sukan Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் விளையாட்டு மையம்) is a sports and recreation district in Kallang, Singapore. The Sport ...

, SG, completed 2014 * U.S. Bank Stadium,

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

, completed 2016 *

The Avenues (Kuwait) The Avenues Mall is the largest shopping mall in Kuwait. The mall is located in the Rai area extending from Fifth Ring Road from the south and Al Ghazali Highway from the east. It opened in April 2007, under the patronage of the Emir of Kuwait Sh ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...

, ongoing since 2012

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site
Construction and civil engineering companies of Germany Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1982 German companies established in 1982