27 Jun 2023

Reconciling 6 Contradictory Lifestyle Needs and Giving Your Home a New Look with SHINKOLITE’s LINK Acrylic Façade

Product

Why are façades the answer to conflicting lifestyle needs of everyone in the family?
“I want a modern yet timeless look.”
“I want natural light, but I’m not keen on the heat.”
“I’d like the house to be airy and spacious without compromising the sense of privacy.”

Polar opposite needs of the family members can pose an enormous challenge for architects, who have to find a way to reconcile them. However, this conundrum can now be solved with LINK acrylic façades under the brand SHINKOLITE by SCG Chemicals (SCGC), designed by Jun Sekino, architect and founder of Architect and Design, who shared with us his experience designing the innovative acrylic sheet.

Façades are like clothing that changes the character of a building.

The façade can be likened to clothing for a building or a home, and this is true not only for new structures as a façade can be used to change the character of an older building, too. Just as we do not want to be wearing suits all the time and would like to switch to something casual and comfortable that is true to our identity at times, changing a façade can totally transform and breathe a new life into our home.

The beginning of the collaboration with Shinkolite

I have been working with the Shinkolite team for a few years now. It began with me using ready-made Shinkolite products. Then, I began applying Shinkolite acrylic sheets to other components and found out how versatile they were. The Shinkolite team was also very open to new ideas and supportive.

The concept of LINK acrylic sheets and façade design

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you have bought a shophouse and would like to change the appearance of its front. Does that mean you have to overhaul the interior? Maybe we just want to alter the look, and not the structure. In this case, the LINK acrylic façade offers a flexible solution as it can easily change the look of the building without any structural change and helps to connect the structure with the environment, linking the building with the external context and equipping it for all weather conditions.

6 contradicting lifestyle needs that can be reconciled with acrylic façades

1) A modern yet timeless design

A design considered modern in the days of our parents can age as time goes by. To revamp the character of the house, instead of demolishing and rebuilding, we can use LINK acrylic façades to breathe a new life into it. An advantage of LINK is that it is a fit-in product that can be quickly assembled at the site, allowing you to control the production and installation as planned. In addition, you can select the color and pattern, enabling you to highlight the identity of the house or the building.

2) Natural light without the heat

Some homeowners may want to have sufficient natural light, but this can mean heat in areas with hot weather and strong sunlight. As the LINK acrylic façade can filter out sunlight and heat, it can be a particularly helpful solution, especially for south-facing structures, which face direct sunlight and can experience more heat than other areas.

3) Airiness and spaciousness without losing the sense of privacy

The LINK acrylic façade can impart airiness and keep the space feeling spacious while also providing privacy by shielding those in the building from the eye of outsiders.

4) A balance of functionality and the aesthetic quality

The façade offers a perfect combination of aesthetic and functionality. I think a functional aesthetic is the goal. A function of a façade is to create a balance between the interior and exterior spaces. We can use walls to divide up the interior space or as the exterior surface. However, by installing a LINK acrylic façade, you can create an aesthetic with a character, both during the day, when it can help filter out sunlight and heat, and at night, when it can be adapted into a beautiful light box.

5) Well-ventilated yet equipped for all weather conditions

As LINK acrylic façade panels are modular, homeowners have complete control over how much ventilation they want, which depends on the configuration of the façade panels. These panels can also protect the building against sunlight, rain, wind, and noise.

6) Revamp the look of your home without structural change

For me, Shinkolite’s LINK façade is very humble in that such small acrylic sheets can create such an impact when put together. If you would like to achieve a certain look without any structural change, I think LINK is only a minor adjustment, not a major one. Can you think of any material that you can change every year that keeps the structure safe, can be installed quickly using a dry system, and offers a fairly open-ended modularity? The LINK acrylic façade is not only translucent and lightweight but can also be combined with other materials and coated more easily compared to metal, stone, or wood.

While homeowners may have conflicting lifestyle needs, they can still achieve an ideal home and building by choosing the LINK acrylic façade, which can reconcile and address all their needs as well as revamp their structures to imbue it with the character that truly reflects their unique identity.