7th June 2004

New Foreign Contracts for GARTNER

Curtain Walls for High Rise Buildings and Sophisticated Buildings in North America, Asia and Europe

Increasing Demand for High-Class Cladding
Technology Made in Germany


FRANKFURT, 7. JUNE 2004. Innovative high-tech-façades from Germany have grown to the export winner. During the last six months the Josef Gartner GmbH, situated in Gundelfingen, Bavaria, could acquire new foreign contracts for a total amount of approximately 180 million Euro. The company with its approx. 850 employees which belongs to the world-wide leading curtain wall manufacturers, will design and produce curtain walls for high rise buildings and architecturally sophisticated buildings in North America, Asia and Europe, like for example façades for Esso Glen in London, BBC in Glasgow, Le Partitio in Paris, Dexia Bank in Luxembourg, the German Embassy in Tokyo, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

"Approximately two thirds of our sales are gained abroad. This helps us to balance the crisis on the German building market. Our most important market abroad is England, followed by the U.S.A. and China. For the last years we have extended our branches. Amongst the subsidiaries in London, Paris, Hongkong and Shanghai we have established offices in Tokyo, Taipei, Chicago and Dubai", informs Klaus Lother, the Managing Director of GARTNER. "Foreign contracts in particular are increasingly signed at a very late stage. Often the development and manufacture of the façades has far advanced already and first installation works are upcoming, although the complete contract has not been signed yet. Therefore it is necessary but also advantageous for our work abroad to buy locally. Even for high-quality curtain wall projects in Asia we can use today the cost advantage of Chinese suppliers. Furthermore we closely co-operate with experienced local specialists." In Japan, for example, GARTNER will manufacture the 2.000 sqm large façade for the German Embassy in Tokyo, which is partly explosion and bullet proof. For the external sun blinds, working also at strong wind, GARTNER uses a special supplier from Japan. A further business area is the manufacture of façades for luxury trade marks like Hermes, Chanel, Prada or Louis Vuitton.
"GARTNER could obtain very interesting curtain wall contracts for museums, R & D buildings and universities in the U.S.A. Market segments like these ask for very high technical requirements. Both our standards in Europe and the technologies we use, like thermal breaks and the application of various materials, have proved as an advantage in the competition," explained Klaus Lother. Thus in August GARTNER will install a steel façade with skylight for the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. For the Californian Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, also designed by Renzo Piano in Genoa, GARTNER will manufacture
11.500 sqm façades, comprising steel façades, aluminium panel façades and canopies. The design has already been instructed. In the Canadian Toronto GARTNER will manufacture more than 11.000 sqm curtain walling for the futuristic Renaissance ROM / Royal Ontario Museum, designed by the Studio of Daniel Liebeskind in New York. The façade consists of steel windows with closed box profiles and a roof construction.

GARTNER has started only previously with the manufacture of the 38.500 sqm large façade for the biggest building project in London, the office building Esso Glen at Cardinal Place. The installation of this façade for approximately 42 million Euro is scheduled to start in August. It consists of 27 different curtain wall types and storey high unit façades with bent corners, an atrium façade made of steel with an unit length of maximum 12 m and an entrance façade with point fixed glazing. In January 2005 GARTNER will install a façade for the BBC in Glasgow. A further contract should be signed in due course for the Civil Justice Centre in Manchester, with a curtain wall area of approximately 32.000 sqm. Amongst double skin façades and a suspended all-glass façade for the Atrium, five further curtain wall types should be manufactured for this project.

In particular in Europe but also in Asia there is an increasing demand for energy-saving double skin façades. As market-leader, GARTNER sees a good chance in this field. In December GARTNER will start to install a double skin façade, ventilated box windows and an enamelled steel sheet façade at the Dexia-Bil-Building in Luxembourg. Planning and provisions for the approximately 31.000 sqm large curtain wall area are already in process. In Paris, GARTNER manufactures a double skin cladding for the Pole Ivry Port, Le Partitio and a façade for the Citroen Centre de Communication.

Press Releases and Photos from Models:
Press releases and photos from models of the described projects can be obtained from Ms Monika Nicklaser:
Tel.: 09073-84-2378, monika.nicklaser@josef-gartner.de

Detailed Information:
Klaus Lother, Managing Director,
Josef Gartner GmbH, Gartnerstr. 20, 89423 Gundelfingen,
Tel.: 090 73/84-0, Fax: 090 73/84-21 00

Dr. Jochen Mignat, Dr. Mignat PR, Am Hexenpfad 11,
63450 Hanau, Tel. 06181/507 91- 0, Fax: 06181/507 91- 11
pr@mignat.de

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