HIGHLIGHT OF THE MONTH

Adapta’s Granite Vivendi Collection: Super-Durable Powder Coatings for Architectural Aluminium Imitating Natural Stone. The Sustainable Alternative for the Architecture of the Future

Alessia Venturi ipcm®

Granite is one of the most abundant types of rock on the earth’s surface. A natural stone, its name describes its particular structure made of medium to large grains. Mostly consisting of feldspar, quartz, and mica, its colour is highly variable: white, yellow, pink, red, brown, and green. Because of its beauty, scratch resistance, and intrinsic hardness, granite has always found wide application in architecture and design: from washbasin tops and kitchen countertops to windowsills, door and gate thresholds, fireplaces, and even street furniture and monuments. For some time now, however, all these sectors have been gradually moving towards the adoption of more sustainable materials, which are lightweight, antiseismic, and recyclable and whose life cycle has a lower environmental impact. These materials, of which aluminium is the best known, can be ennobled with finishes that imitate natural materials, so as to combine an already well-known and appreciated aesthetic effect with the modernity offered by alternative materials. Wood-effect finishes are © Adapta certainly the best known among those offered by the powder coating industry to produce aluminium profiles – also widely preferred by the modern construction sector to less sustainable and more laboriously and frequently maintained wooden profiles – recalling the warm effect of the natural texture of real wood. However, over the last ten years, companies have created many new finishes with nature-inspired effects. One of the most active and capable of developing truly evocative colour ranges is Adapta Color (Peñiscola, Castellón, Spain). After the Patina® Ceramic Collection, which was presented on the September1 issue of ipcm®, a second series developed by Adapta Color in 2020 and launched in January 2021 stands out in the range of aluminium finishes imitating natural stone: it is the Granite Vivendi Collection, made up of 36 finishes that evoke the effects of granite stone in all its shades of colour and grain size.

The world’s most famous peaks to evoke the finishes of the Granite Collection

From beiges, creams, and greiges with a fine grain and rough feel to solid greys and warm browns with a dense texture, from metallic shades where the granite effect is barely noticeable as it blends with the metallic particles and the effect is velvety to the touch to colours with a smooth finish, all the shades included in the Granite Collection are inspired by the world’s most famous mountain peaks. This creates a journey that crosses the American continent

1 A. Venturi, Patina® Ceramic Collection: Adapta’s Dreamlike Journey Along the Colours of the Silk Road”, ipcm®_International Paint&Coating Magazine no. 71, Vol. XII, September-October 2021.

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from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru to Georgia, Canada, and Alaska; the Asian continent between China and Nepal, Pakistan and India; Africa, with the peaks of Kenya, Tanzania, and Congo; and the European continent between Russia and Turkey. The world’s 8000-meter peaks well represent the shades of beige, cream, warm white, and greige through to brown and taupe. The Latin American peaks inspire the whole range of reddish browns and burnt earths through to light and metallic greys. Cool blues, blacks, greys, and browns recall the colours of the North American peaks, while darker shades of brown, grey, and black are typical of African and European mountains. A source of inspiration for architects and designers, the Granite Collection complements the Patina® Ceramic Collection and completes Adapta Color’s range of colours and finishes to imitate natural stone.

Technical characteristics of the Granite Vivendi Collection powders

Much like the Patina® Ceramic Collection, the Granite Vivendi Collection consists of powder coatings based on TGIC-free saturated polyester resins and it has been developed as a sustainable alternative to natural granite stone. The powders in this range are available in various gloss levels, finishes, and colours, with the possibility to create customcolour formulations. They have been formulated with the Vivendi SDS technology, which guarantees excellent outdoor durability together with high gloss retention and colour stability. Every paint, from all Adapta collections, formulated with the Vivendi SDS technology meets or exceeds the requirements of international specifications for architectural aluminium, such as Qualicoat Class 2, GSB Master, and AAMA 2604. In terms of corrosion resistance, these coatings exceed 1000 hours in salt spray and humidistat chambers, as well as 30 cycles without blistering in Kesternich tests with SO2. The use of the Adapta Rustproof primer is recommended to further increase the corrosion resistance of both aluminium and hot dip galvanised steel. The use of Adapta’s CR-0000 cleaning, removal, and maintenance solution is also highly recommended as part of an effective façade maintenance programme, in line with the cleaning protocol or procedures outlined by Qualicoat and the American Architectural Manufacturers Association. Simple Principle

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