History
Kalwall has set the industry standard for diffuse natural lighting systems since it was invented by our founder Robert R. Keller in 1955. Our technologies have changed since the invention of Kalwall and the translucent sandwich panel, but the beauty, efficiency and ruggedness of Kalwall composite daylighting systems has not. Neither has our passion and commitment to fine craftsmanship, custom work and continuing advances in materials science.
From the beginning, Kalwall has been the focus of award-winning buildings and consistently recognized by both the building industry and the architectural community. Sixty years later, the world’s most talented and renowned architects continue to expand the horizons of design with their imaginative use of Kalwall. Today, our best in industry thermal and solar heat gain performance, coupled with glare-free balanced daylighting, means that Kalwall daylighting is featured as a mainstay in hundreds of LEED® buildings, and as a major design element in Net Zero Energy projects.
Kalwall’s many “firsts” in the composites industry:
1st to manufacture an aluminum & FRP sandwich panel
1st to develop super-effective UV resistant coating systems
1st to perfect a full-thickness, colorfast resin system
1st to develop the only true thermally broken composite grid core
1st to invent a curved panel
1st to incorporate a glass erosion barrier
1st to produce low-flame and smoke panels that weather well
1st to develop a Class A skyroof system
1st to develop an FM Class 1 panel
1st to incorporate super-insulating thermal break systems
1st to incorporate aerogel insulation
1st to offer complimentary Daylight Modeling services
Landmark Historical Projects:
To celebrate our 60th anniversary, we will be showcasing a selection of historical projects over the last six decades that represented milestones for our company.
1964 World’s Fair
Following Kalwall’s debut 4 years earlier at the ’58 World’s Fair in Brussels, architect Phillip Johnson provided a technicolor encore in the form of a cable-suspended, inverted elliptical dome at the iconic open air New York State Pavilion dubbed the ‘Tent of Tomorrow’. Intended as a temporary structure, what remains of the pavilion 50 years later was added to the register of national treasures by the Nation Trust for Historic Preservation in the Spring of 2014.
