Prefa Pinical: a unique, three-dimensional surface for modern architecture

Prefa Aluminium Products offers an entirely new dimension for the implementation of roofs and facades: smooth, tight, and three-dimensionally shaped surfaces can be created absolutely seam-free, without visible unevenness, and edge transitions using Prefa Pinical. As the first manufacturer, Prefa offers high-quality profiles made from extruded aluminum, which create a smooth seamless surface once installed.
In modern architecture, three-dimensionally curved free shapes are increasingly being used as a significant element in building execution. “Architects have previously been constrained by the technical limits imposed by the material, Prefa Pinical opens a new dimension for creative implementations of building envelopes,” says Mike Bucher, managing director of the Prefa Group.
The corresponding curvature of the Prefa Pinical profiles is created right in the production hall. Using a special computer program, individual shaping of the profiles is visualized based on precise plans and subsequently realized on specially developed equipment for this purpose. The hidden fastening on the building is both simple and stable – the aluminum profiles lock into each other with hooks and are screwed onto the frame structure. The realization of architecturally unique surfaces has never been easier and more durable. Thanks to the seam-free installation, the Prefa Pinical surface is waterproof and thus protects the building as an unfavorable weather shell.

Prefa Pinical
The Pinical system is quickly gaining recognition among architects. Parts of the dome of the German Reichstag, the research and development hall of Semperit in Wimpassing, Austria, and among others, the administrative complex “10 Hills Place” on Oxford Street in the very center of London have already been realized using it. The main intention of the London project, initiated by Jan Kaplický before his death and completed by his partner Amanda Levete, was to create a modern, functional administrative building with plenty of daylight. Levete was inspired by the cut-out images of Lucio Fontanase. The facade designed this way was realized using the Prefa Pinical product and resembles a sculptural, smooth canvas with four large cutouts facing the sky, capturing the light.
Aluminum – a material for design with a long lifespan
The roofs and facades of Prefa are made of high-quality aluminum. No other material offers such a multitude of advantages: aluminum is lightweight, unbreakable, easy to shape, and yet extraordinarily stable and absolutely resistant to rust, making it maintenance-free. Additionally, it is 100% recyclable.

Aluminum products from PREFA GmbH have made a name for themselves across Europe over the last 60 years, thanks to their development, production, and sale of aluminum roof and facade systems. PREFA is currently successfully represented in 16 European countries, with its headquarters in Marktl/Lilienfeld (Lower Austria). The PREFA Group employs 320 people. PREFA is part of the industrial group of Dr. Cornelius Grupp, which employs more than 5,000 employees worldwide at over 30 locations.