The current trend in architecture is towards transparency, sustainability and energy efficiency, and it is clear that only one material can provide such a perspective and architectural freedom: steel.

Thanks to its lightness and mechanical strength, steel can support large glass panels and create buildings with chic, minimalist lines, light facades and open air, maximizing natural light from outside.

Very flexible, steel also allows for more daring architecture, with complex and extravagant geometries. It is the only material that can be used to create iconic, large-scale entrance doors or windows, with casement sizes of up to 6,000 x 3,000 mm.

Strong, durable and timeless in appearance, steel is exceptionally long-lasting thanks to corrosion-resistant finishing processes: galvanisation, stainless steel, powder coating, it requires no maintenance and can last for decades in all sorts of environments.

For the designer, steel is above all a particularly honest product, without synthetic additives or unexpected properties, which can be summed up by the stainless maxim “what you see is what you get”.

As a noble material, steel fits perfectly into the current quest for authenticity. It is a truly natural product that can not only age well but also complement the organic palette of other noble materials such as wood and stone.

Similarly, with the new habits of co-working, steel is the most common framing material chosen by designers for office partitions as it is transparent and has excellent acoustic dampening properties.

The fact that this material is making a comeback in contemporary interiors has not escaped the South African market. After decades of neglecting this material, the high demand for steel seems to be following new trends in sustainability and energy efficiency, both in heritage renovations and  contemporary construction: steel being 100% recyclable, environmentally friendly and thanks to its high-performance external insulation techniques, it ensures significant energy savings throughout the life of the building.

Finally, steel is the only material capable of combining all together fire resistance, low conductivity (it is three times more thermally insulative than aluminium), safety with design, providing an elegant, thin-glazed appearance with high-strength glass doors that meet all European resistance classes: The ideal material for the South African market.

Due to an increasing demand from builders and architects for steel in SA, the company Jansen by M2G will be organizing a CPD seminar on the use of steel in architecture and design on 18th November 2022. You can register on their website: www.m2gjansen.com