What does the natural mineral aluminum hydroxide, otherwise known as ATH, have to do with the future of surface treatments in architecture or design? Perhaps everything, as it turns out. At least, that is if you ask manufacturer LG Hausys. For who would guess that the company’s exciting and innovative HI-MACS Solid Surface product is mostly composed of this natural mineral obtained from aluminum ore?

HI-MACS Solid Surface. Manufactured by LG Hausys.

The Applications of HI-MACS Solid Surface are Limited Only by the Imagination

And who would have thought of using ATH, which is produced as a by-product in the production of aluminum, and is thus essentially a recycled or reclaimed product, to fabricate a material that can pass muster in nearly any surface application, not limited to floors, walls, partitions, countertops, vanities, and sinks? As the cliché goes, I guess that’s why the engineers over at LG Hausys get the big bucks.

In addition to ATH, HI-MACS is comprised of one third acrylic resin (polymethyl methacrylate or PMMA) and 5% natural pigments. Produced on a steel conveyor in sheet form, HI-MACS undergoes a double thermal curing process that makes the substance non-porous and virtually indestructible, in addition to ensuring a uniform surface.

Adding resin during the production process deeds HI-MACS tremendous aesthetic versatility. Among the incarnations proferred by LG Hausys, one finds “Quartz,” “Granite,” “Marmo,” “Eden,” “Sand & Pearl,” and “Volcanics.” Each of these subcategories is further divvied up into multiple colors and styles, meaning HI-MACS can pretty much duplicate any variety of actual marble, quartz, granite, or terrazzo.

The capacity of HI-MACS to reproduce the look of these classic materials is impressive, but LG Hausys takes it one step further: “HI-MACS® is superior to conventional products, such as marble, granite, glass, ceramic, laminate or polyester, especially on account of its flexibility and the possibility of seamless joints together with ease of reparability.”

I suppose the accuracy of that statement has yet to be determined, yet countless professionals have already discovered that HI-MACS is superior in many ways to these traditional materials, including designers and architects like Zaha Hadid, Marco Piva, and Federico Churba. See the LG Hausys website for further info. on the innumerable and endlessly exciting projects that are centered around HI-MACS solid surface.

About the Manufacturer: LG Hausys manufactures building products including windows, “high functioning materials” like film-finishing and vacuum insulation panels, and solid surface materials for interior finishing. Among the latter, the company is especially known for HI-MACS. Created using a new technology that synthesizes minerals and acrylic, HI-MACS can be cut, planed, sanded, and joined, yet offers improved heat resistance, better impact strength, enhanced scratch resistance, and increased formability.