Viwinco Windows Hires AFC to Streamline Florida Product Approvals

Known for manufacturing custom-made, high-performance windows and doors for more than 30 years in Pennsylvania, Viwinco Windows has hired Al-Farooq Corporation to overhaul the Florida approvals for its product line by adding improvements and streamlining the approvals.

Thus far, Al-Farooq Corporation completed the product approval for Viwinco’s impact and non-impact version of the 650 Patio Door. We are assisting in adding a variety of improvements to their complete line of products and getting those products approved by the State of Florida this year as well.

In 2019, Viwinco will offer additional features to their single-hung, double-hung, slider, fixed, awning, casement windows and more. Viwinco’s products are all available under their current certification, and the improvements will roll out throughout the rest of the year.

Al-Farooq Corporation Returns from IBS Las Vegas

Showcasing the newest products and hottest trends, the annual NAHB International Builders Show did not disappoint. Al-Farooq Corporation flew to Las Vegas for the three-day exhibition which took place Tuesday, February 19 through Thursday, February 21.

The building industry’s premier event brought together more than 1,500 top manufacturers and suppliers from around the world in 600,000 square feet of exhibit space. We were thrilled to experience first-hand some of the most in-demand, cutting-edge designs, technologies, products and services in the industry.

Did you attend IBS? If we didn’t get a chance to connect during the conference, and you want to know more about what we do, be sure to give us a call or send us a note so that we can schedule a time to chat!

 

 

AFC Joins Facade Tectonics Forum in Miami

The Façade Tectonics Institute is bringing its annual Façade Tectonics Forum to Miami for the first time this spring! Al-Farooq Corporation is thrilled to be assisting in the coordination of the event which will focus on façade trends and technologies unique to South Florida’s tropical climate.

Titled ‘Material Matters’, the conference will cover emerging strategies and design practices for façade systems, buildings, and urban habitats.

The full-day forum is designed to expand recognition and understanding of the integral role the façade system plays in resilience, sustainability, energy efficiency, durability, health and productivity in buildings and urban environments. The multi-city conference is known for building a collaborative, façade-based action-oriented dialogue bridging industry silos and filling key knowledge gaps.

Jalal Farooq will be taking part in two separate panel sessions, Bouncing Back: Building Resilience Attributes in Essential Facilities, and Resilience Thinking: The Building Threat of Climate Change and Sea Level Rise. A third panel discussion will cover carbon-neutral high-rise envelope designs and engineering for extreme tropical climate impacts.  The final panel will go over facade systems considerations for hot and humid climates.

Tickets for the event are available here. It will take place on March 22nd at the University of Miami. For more information, visit facadetectonics.org.

 

Florida Architecture School Wins U.S. Building of the Year

Named for the late father of Tom Murphy, Jr., President, and CEO of Coastal Construction Group, which served as contractor on the building, the Thomas P. Murphy Design Studio was inaugurated in November 2018. It was designed by Arquitectonica partners Bernardo Fort Brescia and Laurinda Spear with their son, Raymond Fort, all of whom have served on the faculty of the University of Miami School of Architecture. Under Dean Rodolphe el-Khoury, Arquitectonica designed a 20,000-square-foot building that serves up to 130 students with open studio spaces, fabrication labs, “crit” spaces, and faculty offices.

The rectilinear building is defined by 18-foot tall, hurricane-proof glass walls that provide plenty of natural light for the studio spaces ― enough that very little artificial lighting is needed when using the building. Direct sunlight is reduced by the overhanging roof, which droops in the southwest corner as if it were warped by the Florida heat; in actuality, the low point shades a small outdoor space near the entrance. Like many architecture schools this century, the design of the Thomas P. Murphy Design Studio is meant to educate students about design: “illustrating some of the basic tenets of modern architecture, construction, and sustainability,” in the architects’ words.

Al-Farooq Corporation worked closely with ESWindows and Ready Windows from the inception of the project to test the building’s curtainwall design & provided one-time approvals.