Car Showroom To Feature Largest Glass in South Florida

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Warren Henry Auto Group will soon have a new showroom in North Miami, just south of Aventura located on Biscayne Boulevard and 151st Street. The new headquarters will be home to Land Rover, Jaguar, and INFINITI.

Al-Farooq Corporation was brought onto the project by longtime client, All American & Doors to provide shop drawings and calculations including architectural plans and elevations. In addition, Al-Farooq Corporation prepared the testing program and product approval for the new system. Originally planned with mullions, Al-Farooq Corporation played a pivotal role in the conceptual design and value engineering for the frameless hurricane-resistant storefront glass system.

The development will include the largest single glass panel approved and tested for the South Florida market. Each span of glass measures 15 ½ feet tall x nearly 8 feet wide. The ES-FX3050 by ES Windows is a frameless/mullion-less two-sided support system with an interior frame. With no vertical aluminum profiles, the glass system provides unobstructed views. The unique product is also 1 1/16” laminated, large missile impact rated glass.

It is the first time a glass system of this size has been used in South Florida.  A total of 1,115 square feet of glass will be used for the project’s storefront.

 

Jalal Farooq Selected as South Florida Business & Wealth Award Honoree

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The 2019 South Florida Business and Wealth Up & Comer Awards is a unique awards program created by SFBW magazine to honor young professionals under 40 who have achieved excellence in their careers, shown a commitment to their community, and demonstrated leadership. Our very own Jalal Farooq was selected as an honoree for the Real Estate & Construction category.

Nominations for the awards are sought from the public and judging is led by Editor in Chief Kevin Gale. The criteria are based on seniority in the organization and the size and scope of the organization, professional accomplishments and specific achievements, giving back through professional, charitable, civic organizations, educational achievements.

All honorees will be celebrated on Wednesday, June 12th at Gulfstream Park.

 

 

Al-Farooq Corporation Saves Client $1M+

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Mizner Grand is one of Boca Raton’s most significant luxury condominium developments consisting of two 12-story lakefront towers.

Built in 1997, the original glass incorporated into the first floor of the towers became delaminated and discolored due to sun damage and weathering. The original windows in the property’s many lobbies featured a film intended to serve as a heat protector. However, when the film began to fade in color, it no longer served its purpose and did not meet the standards of the luxury condo. For this reason, the Mizner Grand Condo Association hired Al-Farooq Corporation to find a solution.

We worked closely with the City of Boca Raton to agree on a proposal that would involve updating the glass without removing the old storefront system. The result was an increased energy performance glass with a low-E coating that cost the client a fourth of what replacing all windows and storefront system would have required.

Once city officials, including the Boca Community Appearance Board, approved our proposal, all windows and doors were successfully installed in the residential development’s private lobbies.

Al-Farooq Corporation Provides Glazing, Steel Design for New Whole Foods & 501 Seventeen

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Fort Lauderdale’s busiest intersection is the future home of Whole Foods and residential development. Al-Farooq Corporation is providing the steel design for the windows and doors, along with all glazing for both projects.

The entrance of Whole Foods and part of the residences features multiple levels of curved glass. 9/16” laminated glass manufactured by ES Windows is being used throughout the project.

Located on the corner of North Federal Highway and SE 17th Street, the mixed-use development spans across 3.2 acres with Whole Foods taking up 49,000 square feet. 501 Seventeen, designed by Roger Fry & Associates Architects, will be an 8-story residential building made up of 243 apartments.

KAST Construction is providing all of the general construction of both projects which are set to be completed winter 2020.

 

Facade Tectonics Forum Miami

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Recently our CFO Jalal Farooq, took part in Façade Tectonics Forum Miami at the University of Miami. Jalal, who helped coordinate the event with Mic Patterson of the Façade Tectonics Institute, was a part of two panels that discussed emerging strategies and design practices for façade systems, buildings, and urban habitat.

The first of five forums kicked off with panelists and industry professionals including Ray Crawford of Crawford-Tracey Corporation, Alan Shulman of Shulman + Associates, Wesley Kean of KoDA, Marilys Nepomechie of Florida International University, and Zach Nord of Vidaris, among others.

During the event, the panel of experts explored the amplified threats of climate change and sea level rise in South Florida’s urban context, and how they feel the area is being resilient in the face of these well-documented threats. Overall, they agreed that South Florida is headed in the right direction when it comes to resiliency, but also believe there is always room for improvement.

An audience member from New Jersey who experienced Hurricane Sandy, the most intense storm of the 2012 hurricane season, asked about the level of protection Florida’s buildings undergo. Jalal explained how every window and door system is subject to strict testing before it becomes available to the market. He also mentioned that as a whole, South Florida has an advantage over other parts of the country when it comes to the quality of its buildings because of building code standards which are updated every three years and are considered the strongest building code in the country.  

The day-long event was sponsored in part by Schüco, Kuraray, and Sika. The next Façade Tectoncis Forum is set to take place in Minneapolis, Minnesota followed by events in Toronto, Seattle, and Houston. For more information, visit facadetectonics.org.

 

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood

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The $1.5-billion expansion of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood has been one of South Florida’s most anticipated developments. The 36-story guitar-shaped hotel tower is sure to be iconic and Al-Farooq Corporation is thrilled to be a part of its creation.

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood expansion features a 450-foot-tall, 596,044-square-foot tower that is part of a larger 3.2-million-square-foot master plan for the development. The construction of the project is led by a joint venture between Suffolk Construction and Yates Construction. Nevada-based Klai Juba Wald Architects is responsible for the hotel’s guitar design.

Tampa-based Faour Glass Technologies hired AFC to provide glazing drawings & calculations, and additional engineering to qualify larger spans for SLIMPACT XL and SLIMPACT Pivot doors. The SLIMPACT product line offers the combination of beauty, elegance, and performance in a frameless impact glazing system while still meeting Florida’s large missile impact requirements.

 

Viwinco Windows Hires AFC to Streamline Florida Product Approvals

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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

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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

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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

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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.