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Check out the awesome Kinect Tower in Seattle with powder coated curtain and window wall, understand metallic powder coatings, and brass is back - the latest in designers' favorite color trend!

Have questions on using high performance powder coatings in architecture and design?

Ask away - use us as your resource. 
Powder and Starline 'Kinect' to create inverted pyramid building

*41 floors 
*An inverted pyramid.
*Every floor a different size
*LEED accreditation.
*And a rooftop pool thrown in for good measure
 
Seattle's Kinects Tower certainly boasts some impressive stats, and it delivered some "firsts" for the city while winning several awards in the process (NAIOP High Rise Residential of the Year Award, Excellence in Concrete Construction and more).

A big part of the tower - certainly the most obvious from the outside, is the powder coated window wall & curtain wall. The project "kinected" engineering and construction challenges with window wall solutions giving this award-winning tower a unique personality.

Kinects Tower proudly displays its LEED silver accreditation so it's no surprise that sustainability was at the heart of this project. Starline's window wall system, painted in house with IFS high performance powder coating, was the obvious choice to really enforce the project's environmental footprint, not to mention being delivered from their factory less than 120 miles away from the site!
Putting the Sparkle in your powder coating (yes, including high performance powder)

Sparkle, shimmer, glitter...the trend for coatings with that extra something isn't going anywhere.
So what do you know about Metallic/Mica effect powders? Joey Roush, IFS bonding manager, explains all...

To make the powder sparkle either mica, aluminum flake, or a combination of both is used. What's the difference?

Mica vs Aluminum
There are two main types of effect pigments used to make metallic or 'sparkle' type coatings: aluminum and mica. Mica is a type of mineral that is very thin and flaky. This mineral is then coated with various types of pigments to achieve colors ranging from pearlescent whites to rich coppers, bronzes and golds. Most of the mica pigments are transparent, which allows the base color to show through - this has a great influence on the overall color. Aluminum flakes on the other hand are fully opaque. The higher the loading of aluminum; the greater the silver appearance and the less visible the base color.

So do you only use mica or aluminum in powder coatings?
Liquid vs Powder
These effect pigments can be added to both liquid or powder coatings, and they look fantastic in both. We use the pigments to create everything from a fine shimmer to a heavier sparkle in a high performance coating. However, there are some differences in what can be achieved.

All our cards on the table - there are some limitations to what can be achieved in powder. The most significant difference between liquid and powder lies in the lower viscosity of the liquid. The lower viscosity allows for a much higher loading of effect pigment to be used while still maintaining favorable application properties. A liquid coating can have up to 25% metallic pigment loading, while most powders can only have around 5-6% loading. 

The left photo below shows a liquid coating under 20X magnification, while the right is of a similar shade powder. The loading and depth of the liquid is much greater than that which can be achieved in powder. Read article...
Do you have access to hundreds of FREE powder panels to help you choose the shade you want?

Powder coated sample panels are the best way to ensure the color is what you're looking
for. We have created this awesome  new binder, full of RAL and architectural colors.

Would you like one? They're free...

Check out this short video that shows how it works - and explains how to reorder panels if you need more or have to replace one.

To order, please email us  with your name, company and mailing address, and we will ship one out to you!
Brass is back!
Some say trends are circular (remember the 1980's brass hardware in your bedroom and bathroom?), and Brass is definitely back.

Polychem, our sister brand for interiors,  has a great range of brass powders from the dark and mysterious, through the warm Antique Brass and the fabulous Translucent Starbrite Brass which allows a hint of the metal beneath to show through.

It's so difficult to really see how gorgeous these powders are from the screen - ask for a sample chip to really see how they really shine.
Deko Antique Brass
Translucent Starburst B rass
Dark Brass
Antique Brass
These brass powders are easy to apply and will deliver the latest trend right to your customer!

Deko Antique Brass - PRMS 91448PB
Translucent Starburst Brass - PRSF 93128PB
Antique Brass - PRMS 90675PB
Dark Brass - PRML 91027PB
 
As well as brass we have gorgeous bronze, gold, platinum and champagne tones to name but a few. Ask for detail
Does your practice have one of these?

High performance architectural powders from IFS Coatings contain no or extremely low solvents, and therefore no VOCs. 

VOCs are on the list of bad things - whether it's a LEED project or not, anyone looking to build sustainable design into their project surely has to ask, or demand, that their fabricators and coaters can offer a more environmentally friendly, no VOC coating option.

Find out about the many environmental advantages of high performance powders here
IFS Coatings | Fiona Levin-Smith | T: 520.345.7513 | Flevin @ifscoatings.com | www.ifscoatings.com
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