Low energy windows and frames NorDan

SUCCESS CUBED

Haga Metallbau is a leading European fabricator of aluminium, glass and steel for the construction industry. Philip Yorke talked to Mario Haepp, one of the company’s CEOs and technical director about its latest projects and re-launch into the UK market.

Haga was founded in 1976 by Christian Haepp and Norbert Rumpel who started to fabricate window frames in aluminium in Germany. This was at a time when the trend to move away from wooden window frames was in its infancy. They quickly captured their local market with the quality and services that they were offering and within just three years had established the company’s first custombuilt fabrication hall in Hofheim, Germany, which remains its headquarters to this day.

By 1990 Haga had expanded dramatically and was now operating four state-of-the-art fabrication plants. Two of them in Bavaria and two in eastern region of Germany. Remarkable, 2002 HAGA established its own primary steel fabrication in Fuchsstadt, Bavaria. Today the company employs more than 400 people and in 2013 recorded sales of more than €50 million.

Individual, innovative solutions

There are many reasons why Haga is so successful in its niche markets. The company offers individual, cost-effective solutions for projects in industrial construction, steel construction, engineering and metalworking. By placing its customers’ requirements at the top of its priority list and meeting tight deadlines, the company has earned an enviable reputation throughout Europe and in particular in Germany. Major contracts for large construction projects have been completed in Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain and the UK in recent years and the company continues to extend its global reach.

Haga’s three key areas of expertise are the manufacture of key elements in aluminium, steel and glass. In aluminium, Haga specialises in facades, curtain walls and unitised system windows, as well as a in a wide range of special doors for fire and burglar resistance and for shop fronts. In steel, Haga produces roof lights, canopies and in particular structural steel, whilst in glass it manufactures photovoltaic solar reduction glass and frameless glass doors. All Haga products are made to the same exacting standards and are given the same degree of expertise and priority whether they are for just one individual window or a major project.

Focus on the UK market

Germany remains the company’s biggest European market but it has also been involved in some of the UK’s most prestigious and innovative projects in the recent past. This has led to the strategic decision to build upon its reputation in the UK and establish a sales office there in the near future. One of the recent high-profile UK projects was its involvement in the building of Birmingham’s most distinctive modern façade, that of the commercial building known as “The Cube”. This 23 storey city centre land-mark building was completed in 2010 at a cost of more than £100 million and was designed by Ken Shuttleworth, the architect renowned for his design of the “Gherkin” in the city of London’s financial district.

Haepp said, “The Birmingham “Cube” project was a major UK contract for us

where we worked in close collaboration with German systems supplier for our extrusions. We specialise in contracts which can range up to €20 million and this one was close to €15 million, although many of our projects range between €500,000 and €5 million. Our company is also unique in that we are happy to produce individual, one-off items too such as special doors, windows and canopies.

“The UK is an attractive market for us and the construction industry is now seeing signs of strong growth in the sectors in which we specialise, which includes residential, industrial and government projects such as municipal buildings, schools and hospitals. We pride ourselves on the breadth of services we offer. These result in our clients getting better engineering standards and the most efficient installation, which can also mean the shortest installation periods.

“Another unique aspect of our work is the fact that because of our diverse steel fabrication facilities and expertise, we have an interface between primary steel and glass. These two elements have very different tolerances and normally a contractor will retain two separate companies to manage each element. We are unique in that we manage both and have all the facilities under one roof. We also have our own highly qualified engineering department and installation teams which are dedicated to each individual project so that we maintain overall control of the schedule and the quality of the work involved. Again, most of our competitors will sub-contract this work to other companies, which can be a risky business if lead times are critical.

“This ‘one-stop-shop’ philosophy also worked very well for us during the building of the “Cube” in Birmingham and also in a major residential project “Milliners Wharf” in Manchester recently. We are not tied to our European markets; in fact we are currently involved in a major project in Kuwait City. Whatever or wherever the contract might be, we attach the same level of importance to personal service, innovation and quality.

Haepp added, “We are currently rationalising our manufacturing processes and investing heavily in fully automated systems. We are also streamlining our production facilities so that our individual fabrication plants will be designed to specialise in one product range only rather than have the capability to manufacture our entire range of products. Savings achieved through this rationalisation process will be passed on to our customers. We see a bright future ahead and we are already recruiting façade specialists sales staff for our new move into the UK market”.

Value added services

Haga sees the UK market as playing a significant role in the company’s growth in the years to come. Furthermore, the valueadded services that are available also help to differentiate the company from its competitors. One important aspect of these services is its comprehensive maintenance contracts, which significantly extend the service life of any systems that the company installs. This in turn can provide major long-term benefits and savings for the owners of the buildings concerned.

Haga also takes its environmental responsibilities seriously with all its waste materials being 100 per cent recycled and energy saving systems installed throughout its five fabricating plants. n

For further information about Haga Metallbau’s innovative products and services visit: www.haga-metallbau.de

LOW ENERGY WINDOWS AND FRAMES

The Norway-based company NorDan is a global leader in the design and manufacture of windows and frames, with a particular focus on low energy solutions. Industry Europe looks at the latest from the company.

NorDan AS was founded in 1926 by Johannes Rassmussen 1st, a master carpenter who began by making staircases, windows and doors. Consistent growth followed his enterprise and as building methods changed Rassmussen made the strategic decision to focus exclusively on the manufacture of windows and frames and set about designing one that would be versatile yet be completely secure against the elements. The result was the world’s first ‘tilt and turn’ window, which became an instant success in the Nordic region.

Today NorDan is one of Europe’s most successful window manufacturers with stateof-the-art factories in Otta, Egersund and Arneberg in Norway and Varnamo, Kvillsfors and Tanumshede in Sweden as well as in Wolsztyn in Poland. The company employs more than 1300 people.

Innovation backed by quality

From the very outset NorDan has been committed to investing heavily in research and product development and this culture remains today. For more than 80 years NorDan has led the field in cutting edge window technology and design. The most recent examples are its ‘N-Tech concept which produced the world’s first ‘Swan’ window and its ground-breaking Passive