IKU & The Construction Sector

The (glass) façade industry is dominated by a handful of major players that offer fully engineered and tested façade solutions.

For any project, leading façade systems providers complete a series of steps:

➢ Advisory and project-specific enhancements

➢ System engineering to meet client requirements

➢ Planning and assessment of final plans

➢ Testing and preventive planning

➢ Tendering through a specialist team

➢ Outsourcing of fabrication

➢ Outsourcing of installation

➢ Ensuring sustainability

Source: Schuco, corporate materials

In fact, the systems provider and engineer are dedicated to the façade solution and supervises the execution through licensed and tested partners (manufacturing, installation etc.).

To this effect, the systems provider mandates material suppliers or supplies to the manufacturer key material and parts. This ensures both a certain pricing discipline by the manufacturer but also provides the supplier of the system with scale benefits. Systems suppliers thus generate both engineering fees (royalties) and margins on the materials for the façade systems they developed and control.

Any new or enhancing façade technology thus has two potential avenues for entry for new projects: becoming part of the systems of large suppliers or becoming a bespoke systems supplier in their own name. For existing projects, new technologies can be retrofitted and only require the cooperation of existing façade providers.

The IKU® business covers all aspects of the industry: additions to existing façade systems, retrofitting fully integrated façade systems including the integrated fire suppression system, shading and other glass surfaces requiring cleaning and maintenance.