THE BIG 5 2018 – a new era for plasterboard

BIG 5 – a new era for plasterboard

The Gyproc® stand at THE BIG 5 2018 heralded a new era for plasterboard linings with three major displays showing how ground-breaking new lining technology is already changing the way that buildings are planned and constructed throughout the Middle East.

To demonstrate how the latest generation high strength plasterboards are simplifying the design of internal partition walls and making internal spaces more flexible, the famous Habito® climbing wall was back, but re-engineered with a new fresh look for 2018.

On the new climbing face, a team of professional climbers demonstrated the unique strength and fixing characteristics of Habito® – the world’s strongest plasterboard, by climbing using standard holds and grips simply screw-fixed directly to the board with ordinary wood screws.  If this wasn’t enough, visitors were then invited to prove the strength for themselves by fixing weights of up to 60 kilos from a single fixing, and sitting on a floating chair, again fixed directly to the Habito® face without any additional supporting framework.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a third face, displays of Gyptone and Rigitone high performance perforated acoustic plasterboards showed how modern, eye-catching ceilings could be created, alongside acoustic linings from sister company Ecophon, to control sound in auditoria and busy communal areas.

The star of the show however, was Gyproc’s new sheathing board, Glasroc® X – an advanced, fibre-reinforced paperless gypsum board with strong water-resistant glass-mat liners and special moisture and mold-resistant additives.  It is ideal for internal use in wet areas for tile-backing with a maximum weight of 60kg/m2 (adhesively fixed), supporting marble or simply for direct decoration. Glasroc® X is also designed as an external sheathing board that can withstand up to 12 months’ full exposure to rain, wind and sun without any finishing system.

In addition, a key benefit of using Glasroc® X for wet areas is that the board is fixed and finished in exactly the same way as our standard plasterboards requiring no special tools and no increased labour.

The first of two displays featuring the new Glasroc® X technology showed the new sheathing board as the key element of Saint-Gobain’s new façade system. This lightweight fast-build external façade system comes with Glasroc® X sheathing on a high-strength Gypframe® X metal framework and Kimmco-ISOVER® insulation, finished with a Weber External Thermal Insulating Composite System (ETICS). Visitors were able to see for themselves the benefits of this fast build system, which is both quick and easy to fix. It enables steel frame buildings to provide temporary weather protection and allow internal fit-out to proceed ahead of full weatherproofing, hugely speeding-up the build process.

Reinforcing the versatility of the Glasroc® X board for a range of demanding external and internal lining applications, a second display showed the new board used as a tile-backer in a typical shower or wet-room application.

Gyproc’s Sales and Marketing Director, Jeet Khanna, said after the show. “We had hundreds of visitors coming to our stand to witness the latest innovations in lining technology. They were convinced that all their requirements, be it structural, acoustics, fire protection, moisture & mould protection, impact resistance or water resistance, Gyproc® has advanced and fully tested solutions that meet all local and international standards, allowing projects to proceed quicker and safer in a cost-effective manner when compared to the traditional heavy masonry alternatives.”