EQUITONE launches Lunara, a new textured façade material, developed in collaboration with architects
EQUITONE, the fibre cement façade manufacturer, unveils a new material, Lunara, after more than a decade of development, review and testing. Like each of EQUITONE’S material innovations, the new fibre cement panel was tailor-made and created in collaboration with an international team of architects, from ideation to creation, with architects taking part in research, workshops and visits to the factories.
Gráinne Cook, Brand and Customer Journey Manager, EQUITONE, says, “It is all-important to EQUITONE to involve the specifiers and artisans who will be creating with the materials, in all stages of the product development process. The insights gained are used to validate concepts and prototypes for their potential in the real world from both design and practical perspectives.”
Lunara shares the features of other EQUITONE products: through-coloured, with a natural appearance, extremely tactile, flexible and high performing, but has a distinctive look and feel inspired by the moon. The surface, reminiscent of the craters on the surface of the moon, was named Lunara by architects invited to preview the materials. The wells in the surface enable the material to react to light and shadow. Lunara looks like something from another world with irregular elevations and depressions which evoke the moon’s cratered landscape.
EQUITONE has produced façade panels since the 1950s and every panel is unique, showing the raw, untreated texture of the fibre cement base material. The unique character of EQUITONE is underlined by a random-looking, non-repeating surface structure. The Lunara panels are formed using a Hatschek process, before mechanically creating the texture and then steamed using an autoclave. The panel receives a hydrophobation that makes the panel water repellent.
EQUITONE panels are available in pebble (LA20) and hessian (LA60). The two colour shades accentuate the authenticity of the material. EQUITONE is manufactured in 2 sizes, 3050mm x 1220mm and 2500mm x 1220mm and is 10mm thick. The panel can be cut down to suit the specifiers’ design and offers a unique aesthetic that can be used with both visible and invisible fixings systems.
EQUITONE has already made its mark in three projects in Europe. Architect and artist, Kristine Roepstorff, specified EQUITONE (lunara) in pebble (LA20) for the Hydra Parking House in Fredericia Harbour, Denmark. The Lunara complements the water, light and plants for this multi-storey car park and provides a backdrop to planned concrete murals. When the town hall in Hofheim am Taunus in Germany was renovated, architects Kulla Architekten, choose EQUITONE in hessian to brighten up and to provide a new look for the originally dark-looking façade.
Urban Nation Architects & Associates chose EQUITONE for the ground level facade on a residential apartment building in Wemmel, Belgium.
About EQUITONE
EQUITONE panels are available in large format sizes. They can be cut to any size or shape necessary either in a shop or on the job site. The design possibilities are limitless. When used as part of a ventilated rainscreen cladding system or rear-ventilated curtain wall facade, EQUITONE panels allow air to circulate behind the cladding, keeping moisture, mold, heat, and frost away from the building. EQUITONE materials can be attached with visible or concealed fasteners. All EQUITONE fibre-cement materials conform to A2-s1, d0 Euroclass Fire Standards and do not contribute to fire.