Horizontally sliding façade with built-in ultra-slim profiles

Design in minimalism

Our contemporary architecture is characterized by many and large windows. After all, we want to let in as much daylight as possible and look out on the garden and surroundings unobstructed at any time. Sliding windows are an ideal solution. The slimmer the profiles of the sliding system, the greater the incidence of light and the less the view to the outside is restricted. Aliplast Aluminium Systems already has several aluminum sliding windows in its range. Today, the company is introducing an innovative horizontal sliding system in which the frames disappear completely into the floor, wall and ceiling, leaving only an ultra-slim center post of only 20 mm visible: MINILINE.

Aluminum (lift) sliding windows

In addition to window, door and curtain wall systems, Aliplast's offering with the VG500 and Ultraglide also includes (lifting) sliding systems. "When the demand for slim profiles continued to increase, we developed our Max Light technology over five years ago. This was also applied to the VG500 and Ultraglide (lifting) sliding tube systems," says sales manager for the Netherlands Marc Mulders.

"These sliding windows are equipped with a center post only 45 mm wide, allowing for a practically uninterrupted view and greater light penetration. An optional flat sill ensures a perfect transition between interior and exterior, with no visible aluminum sill."

MINILINE - minimalist horizontal sliding system

Today Aliplast goes one step further and introduces a system for horizontally sliding windows with ultra-slim aluminum frame profiles, which are also built into the floor, wall and ceiling. With this MINILINE, only the vertical center posts with a width of 20 mm are visible. An open corner solution is also possible here. This system is completely barrier-free and regulates drainage with a sloping plinth profile that can be connected to a drainage channel on the outside of the façade. 

During development, however, the challenge for Aliplast's R&D department lay on more than just the minimalist design and ultra-slim profiles. After all, the sliding systems also had to meet the technical specifications that apply to new construction and renovation today. However, with a Uw value of 1.2 W/m²K, an air tightness class 4, a water tightness class 8A and an acoustic value Rw (C;Ctr) of 38.1 dB (-1,-5), this solution fits perfectly into applications with the most stringent requirements in all areas. 

"With this system, very large sliding doors are possible with 500 kg per sash in a manual version and even 1000 kg for electrically operated sashes. The wheels are not integrated into the sash, but rather into the frame, which makes everything run more smoothly, even with larger weights. Glass sections of 5500 mm long by 3500 mm high are no exception," Marc Mulders continues. 

"As with our other window, door, sliding and curtain wall systems, MINILINE profiles are also powder coated in our own production facility. We first give the aluminum profiles a special pretreatment (always Qualicoat Seaside) and then powder-coat them with Class 2 powders, which have a very high resistance to UV rays. On the entire TC, MT and T color range we give a 25-year Seaside warranty, on all other paint colors a 15-year Seaside warranty."