Hydro Building Systems appoints team for WICONA Projects

2006-10-16

Hydro Building Systems (HBS), the world's largest building systems company, has made three new appointments following the launch of a dedicated base for Wicona Projects in the UK.

Hydro Building Systems (HBS), the world's largest building systems company, has made three new appointments following the launch of a dedicated base for Wicona Projects in the UK.

Based at HBS’ UK headquarters in West Yorkshire, the team will be responsible for developing the Wicona Projects business and providing a fully integrated service for its unitised curtain walling.  The unitised approach offers an infinite variety of aesthetic options for large and high rise building projects, whilst maximising off-site construction – improving quality and safety and reducing time on site.

Ian Smith has been appointed Business Development Manager.  With 27 years’ experience in the construction industry and a background in quantity surveying and contract management, Ian will lead the Wicona team and manage the recently launched operation. He will be responsible for developing new business and promoting the benefits of the unitised approach to architects, major contractors and developers.

Robert Lyons, Project Engineer, will be working closely with architects and fabricators at the early stages of a project, providing an estimating function, preliminary CAD design proposals, and technical input and advice for fast track and more complex façades.  He has spent 17 years in civil engineering design and construction, with six years working for aluminium and steel fabricators.Wicona’s Technical Advisor is Paul Senior.  His career in the aluminium and glazing sector spans 40 years and includes extensive work internationally in curtain walling.  In his new role, Paul will be helping fabricators with tenders and will oversee other technical aspects of a project including site access, scheduling, and liaison throughout the fabrication and installation phases.

Commenting on the new appointments, Bob Welsh, General Manager of Hydro Building Systems, said, “The Wicona Projects team collectively has more than 80 years’ experience in the construction industry and will be leading façade projects to give architects, contractors and developers unrivalled peace of mind from concept design through to completion and handover.”

“The launch of Wicona Projects and a dedicated team and base in the UK , follows the success of our Technal brand.  We believe there are significant benefits to be gained from giving architects a choice of approach to façade design from one source, with the same renowned quality, commitment to customer focus, short lead times and unrivalled service."

Wicona is the first façade specialist in the UK to offer a complete turnkey approach, and uses a highly engineered unitised façade system.  This allows specifiers to reduce time on site by up to 70 per cent, improve quality, eliminate the need for scaffolding, and facilitate the development of constrained city centre sites where access may be restricted.