Details make the difference – form liners in comparison

Form liners are used to structure the surface of architectural concrete. Form liners from NOE-Schaltechnik have been characterized by particularly positive properties for a long time. Until now, the company has focused on forming techniques – but that is now about to change.

Concrete is a wonderful construction material with properties that only few other materials exhibit. It is, for example, very stable and can be visually adjusted in many ways to suit users’ concepts. One possibility of achieving this is to design the surface with form liners. These are cast forms of polyurethane that can be provided with virtually any desired structure. By filling them with concrete, a corresponding relief is imparted to the concrete surface. Form liners, as a rule, are suitable for use in precast plants as well as on construction sites. The only prerequisite: they must be securely fixed to the substrate. In Germany there are some manufacturers who offer systems of this kind. NOE-Schaltechnik is one of them.

Greater focus on form liners

The company markets its form liners under the name NOEplast and looks back on decades of experience gained in this sector. These form liners possess numerous superior properties, some of which positively distinguish them from the competition, according to the supplier. NOE, however, is best known for its formwork and attracts with these products the greatest interest. But this is now to change. While the manufacturer continues to market its formwork systems very successfully, it now also pays closer attention to the topic of form liners. For this purpose, NOE has founded its own company – NOE-Betongestaltung GmbH – and has now hired several new staff. An indication of the great potential of NOEplast.

Concrete design international

And NOE is also active outside Germany. One example is the subsidiary that NOE-Betongestaltung has established in France: NOE Matrices & Créations SAS. For this new company, two former employees of a competitor were won over for the new team in France. In addition, NOE is the exclusive partner of Graphic Concrete in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland. Its products enable visualization of entire pictures and high-quality motifs on concrete by exposing the uppermost concrete layer. The advantage for planners here is that they have only one contact partner with whom to discuss the various options for concrete designing.

The advantages of NOEplast

Because NOE manufactures both form liners and formwork, it is able to install polyurethane mesh on formwork elements or supporting boards. This is a service of special interest for in-situ construction sites, since contractors would otherwise have to do their work mostly outdoors and on uneven ground. The manufacturer accordingly saves its clients much work and time. Another advantage that distinguishes NOEplast form liners is that they are reinforced with a glass-fiber fabric on the reverse side. This reduces changes in lengths due to temperature fluctuations, and the desired concrete textures can be manufactured easier and more reliably. NOE form liners, furthermore, can be used up to 100 times. This benefits not only the environment but saves money as well.

Since NOE has offered form liners for many years, the company has been able to develop over the course of this time a comprehensive range of standard textures. This ranges from images emulating natural stone, wood and rendering all the way to freely designed reliefs. But the manufacturer also realizes individual designs in its in-house model workshop. In this way, suitable surface structures can be used for nearly every project. Examples for which NOEplast has been used can be found on the manufacturer’s homepage.

Text: Dipl.-Ing. Claudia El-Ahwany