Original content written by the EXTECH staff that covers a wide range of topics, including architecture, construction, engineering, trends, tips and advice.
Chicagoland’s DuPage Airport Authority is home to the largest concentration of corporate aircraft in Illinois. It supports more than 400 based aircraft and is the only general aviation airport in Illinois with four active runaways, two instrument landing system approaches and a 24-hour FAA Air Control Tower, U.S. Customs and 24-hour onsite rescue and firefighting capabilities....Continue reading
Sustainability continues to be a big topic in the architecture and construction industries, and we have talked at length about the ecological benefits offered by our LIGHTWALL translucent wall systems. We now realize we haven’t given other EXTECH systems their proper credit, particularly our TECHVENT 5300 windows.The TECHVENT 5300 has delivered a surprising amount of...Continue reading
With the effects of global warming upon us, architects and building owners need to mitigate its impact in the built environment. This is not a new idea, but the necessity for design that protects against volatile weather, rising temperatures, and insect-borne diseases is now more pressing than ever. Last year, the U.S. Army Corps of...Continue reading
It isn’t hard to find beautiful architecture built with polycarbonate. At EXTECH, we follow the latest in polycarbonate design and are consistently impressed by the ideas architects are able to bring to life with polycarbonate glazing. Polycarbonate in architecture is becoming a global phenomenon, so we thought we’d pay homage to all the stellar architecture...Continue reading
The framing on the daylighting system you choose can result in long-lasting value -- or a full-on catastrophe. EXTECH's General Manager Jim Leslie recounts a cautionary tale and outlines what you need to know to ensure the daylighting in your design will deliver lifelong durability, cost-savings, and beauty. It happened again.A contractor recently came to us with...Continue reading
Complex and Weather-Tight Engineering for the Leo Baeck TempleProject: Leo Baeck TempleLocation: Los Angeles, CAArchitect: Architecture 350System: LIGHTWALL 3440Among the Velvet Ash and Lupines of southern California’s San Fernando Valley sits the Leo Baeck Temple, a Jewish community center that offers a campus for prayer services, learning, and gathering to members of L.A.’s Jewish population....Continue reading
We recently had an architect come to us with a bright and bold design for a sports arena. The new facility was to be a 40,000-square-foot indoor sports and cultural performance space that offered a state-of-the-art training center, locker rooms that were tripled in size, and daylighting components that maximized the facility’s natural light with...Continue reading
 A house in Spain recently caught our eye.Newly updated by Buyesc Arquitectes, the Spanish home’s south-facing wall is now clad with polycarbonate. The designer’s intent was to transform the home into a low-energy building - polycarbonate panels improve thermal efficiency by capturing solar energy and gradually transferring it indoors. Polycarbonate also provides excellent insulating value...Continue reading