Rowad National Plastic Company says its polycarbonate (PC) sheet is an excellent substitute for glass as it weighs only half as much as glass, is transparent, economical and offers flexibility in design.

"Modern Gulf buildings often feature large glazed areas aimed at capturing as much natural light as possible to create a sense of spaciousness," says Ashraf Shah, a spokesman for the Riyadh-based firm. "Rowad's PC sheet is an ideal substitute for glass being as transparent but with half the weight.

The material is tough, yet flexible and cold formable and its versatile features allow architects the freedom to design imaginative glazed structures with long-term economy and safety in mind, it adds. "The advantages of Rowad PC sheets are apparent particularly in roof glazing or skylights. Its light weight facilitates the design of wide spans and enables considerably lighter supporting structures to be used," he says. "The sheets - installed as space glazing, continuous roof-lights or individual roof domes - contribute to the safety and security of roofing.

Even skylights made up of expensive laminated glass are not safe and can easily break. The cost of such damage would not be limited to the price of the glass and its replacement; it could include damage to property and a real risk of personal injury." He continues: "Widely regarded as one of the toughest of the glazing materials, Rowad's PC sheet has 250 times the impact strength of glass and so gives protection against vandalism and its consequences. The sheet, even at a thickness of 4 mm, meets the requirement for anti-banded glazing as defined and tested in BS 5544. Thus, it is being used in banks as a substitute for conventional glazing."

"The sheets display good heat resistance and high heat-deflection temperature, which is required for thermoforming of domes and pyramids. Another key property is its high transparency and the clear view it provides, even for coloured skylights. For applications that require privacy, Rowad offers PC textured sheets, which provide excellent light diffusion without transparency.

This makes it ideal for interior and exterior privacy glazing applications such as shower screens, balustrades, doors and main gates. It can effectively hide any scratches or scuffing, which might result from heavy contact.

In this textured line, Rowad recently launched a new design called Crystal to offer a greater choice for clients.

Rowad claims its sheets are highly suitable for the high temperatures prevalent in the region and even surpass the standards of sheets imported from Europe. Shah elaborates: "Similar sheets imported from Europe conform to the standards set for temperate climates, offering 30 micron UV (ultraviolet) protection.

"Our sheets comprise of three layers which are co-extruded with the top and bottom layers offering 50-70 micron UV protection."

The sheet incorporates an excellent UV absorber coating which protects it from the debilitating effects of sunlight, says Shah. "This ensures durability in the most demanding situations such as in Saudi Arabia," he says. "The sheets carry a 10-year limited warranty against breakage, excessive yellowing and loss of light transmission on its sheets for all kinds of public and private buildings including shopping centres, villas, mosques, schools, warehouses, offices and leisure centres. For technical details, consultants may visit our website www.alrowad.com.sa"

About safety aspects, he says: "Flammability of building materials is a major consideration today. Standard PC sheets from Rowad can be defined as a Class 'O' material as designated in the UK building regulations. Rowad's sheets have been used imaginatively in many types of buildings in the Kingdom and in other Gulf states.

They make a unique contribution to safety and security with new and striking designs, while providing better thermal and sound insulation and achieving lower maintenance costs."

The PC sheets are gaining wider recognition throughout the Kingdom. Among the most recent projects to utilise them in glazing applications are the prestigious Al Faisaliah Centre in Riyadh, the Al Watan newspaper's headquarters in Abha, the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) headquarters in Riyadh and the Al Nimra Mosque in Arafat near Makkah.

Elaborating on these projects, Shah says: "More than 380 PC sheets of 9 mm thickness were supplied to the aluminium and glazing subcontractor Alumaco for use on the Al Watan newspaper complex in Abha, for double glazing in clear and brown colour. "Textured brown PC sheets were thermoformed to produce 280 domes - each of which has a diameter of 1.2 m - at the RSAF headquarters.

These domes are supported by spaceframes and are designed to let in natural daylight into the building. "We also supplied 223 plain clear PC sheets used as 4 mm glazing at the Al Nimra mosque in Arafat.

"Rowad plastic sheets were used in a number of other projects even in the Al Faisaliah Tower." Rowad National Plastic Factory is ISO 9002-certified and is presently exporting to 14 different countries.