Alupor GmbH & Co. KG
Richard-Wagner-Straße 6
D-19059 Schwerin
The company alupor GmbH & Co. KG was established in April 2006 by shareholders Roland Spahn, Joachim Woker and Holger Zatloukal. The idea was based on its predecessor, alupor Fassaden + Balkongeländer GmbH, which Mr Woker had created in 1973 out of the original company, Metallbau Joachim Woker, and which had enjoyed over 30 years of success on the market. This new venture enabled the company to surmount the commercial turbulence suffered most recently by its predecessor, to regain a solid footing and to realign its business purpose. The timing of the undertaking was also influenced by the need to pass the reins on to the next generation, a process which founding the new company entailed. Mr Woker had starting working with aluminium at an early stage in his career and, over the years, contributed a number of innovative ideas to his company. During the seventies and eighties, many of these ideas for façade constructions and railing systems were patented by the German Patent Office and subsequently utilised. The alupor prefabricated balcony was invented in the mid-nineties and is still a huge seller today. And the most recent development, a solar prefab balcony developed in cooperation with the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) [German environmental foundation], was patented in 2003, well ahead of its time. What is most fascinating about the 'prefab balcony' is its ability to significantly increase the value and living quality of the rather simple residential properties built in the fifties, sixties and seventies at a reasonable cost. As part of the trend toward façade restoration, also made necessary for energy efficiency reasons, balconies are being built externally on supporting stands, which means they can be added to nearly any building after construction. Using aluminium guarantees that the product is naturally resistant to corrosion. The prefab balcony is increasingly being used for new buildings as well, since it represents its own static unit and only needs to be affixed to the façade. This avoids any problematic thermal bridging.
