Gibca Furniture Industry Company – a manufacturing licensee of global operable partitions leader Hufcor for the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region – is looking forward to strengthen its reach in the market through serving every conceivable need for flexible space management with acoustical separation.

The relationship between Gibca and Hufcor dates back to the early nineties with full-fledged regional production starting in 1998.
Gibca is an established manufacturer and supplier of premium contract location furniture and finishing products with operations spread out over the entire Mena region. From its ISO certified manufacturing facility in Ajman, the company has grown over the past three decades of its existence to become a name synonymous with quality throughout the region, says a company spokesman.
“Today, Gibca’s focused product range includes acoustic operable partitions, movable glass walls, health club furniture (lockers, cubicles, vanities), special furniture (claddings, worktops, counters, cafeteria furniture, access panels), outdoor furniture (benches, picnic tables, litter bins) and arena and auditorium seating,” he points out.
Currently Gibca offers a comprehensive product portfolio from Hufcor that includes movable wall systems delivering unlimited space division and acoustical flexibility.
“Hufcor products are recognised throughout the world and have been used in the finest of hotels, meeting rooms, ballrooms, schools, religious buildings, convention centres and corporate facilities,” says the spokesman. “Hufcor’s long history of quality, reliability, innovation and service to the industry is the reason architects, contractors and engineers regularly specify Hufcor partitions through Gibca,” he adds.
 From Hufcor’s product range, Gibca offers contractors, specifiers and interior designers a huge variety, which includes:
1) Acoustic operable partitions – for ballrooms and meeting rooms, convention centres, multi-purpose halls;
2) Movable glass walls – deploying the company’s tested overhead track and carrier technology, these glass walls come in three variants:
a. Frameless glass walls: Used for shop-fronts and retail outlets, banks and ATM lobbies, this partition gives architects an option to achieve full flexibility of opening size as opposed to the traditional options such as fixed aluminum glass facade or sliding doors, which provide a maximum of 50 – 60 percent of total opening size.
b. Weather resistant glass walls: Suitable for private luxury villas, restaurants and cafes, or hospitals, it allows users to enjoy the outdoor view from the comfort of climate-controlled interiors. During pleasant weather or in case of parties or other events the entire glass divider can be taken off and stacked for combining the two areas.
c. Acoustic glass walls: These are ideal for corporate meeting rooms or for applications where acoustic separation with visibility is a requirement. “These glass walls let architects add their signature touch to the project through several options available including custom design etching, and sandblasting among others,” he adds.
Gibca’s comprehensive product portfolio coupled with a vastly experienced design, production and installation team has resulted in most of the leading international architects, hotel operators and reputed regional players trusting the company for all their flexible space management needs.
Gibca can boast an unrivalled and long-drawn list containing several landmark projects including the Four Seasons at Kingdom Centre – Riyadh, Holiday Inn – Al Khobar and Jeddah Hilton (all in Saudi Arabia); Marriot Courtyard, Madinat Jumeirah (hotel and conference centre), Royal Mirage, Park Hyatt – Dubai Creek, Rotana – Abu Dhabi, (all in the UAE), Radisson Muscat and Shangri La Barr Al Jissah (in Oman), Sheraton – Kuwait and Four Seasons Doha to name a few.

The Gibca advantage
Operable walls being a custom-made product require in depth site study and proactive consultation with project architects before producing the actual panels. Being the oldest partition manufacturer in the region, Gibca has product behaviour data and experience of typically harsh site conditions in the region which results in their products outperforming rival offerings, says the spokesman.
Commanding a lion’s share in the booming regional market for operable partitions Hufcor enjoys the following advantages, he says:
• Exhaustive product portfolio – Gibca offers the widest range of products for its customers to choose from that can suit almost any site requirement. Moreover, with its vast regional experience the company has actively worked with the parent company to come up with offerings that perform better in the climatic and usage conditions prevalent in this part of globe.
• Patented track and carrier system – Hufcor tracks are made out of special extruded aluminium alloy having a greater yield strength than steel and a life cycle that is tested for about 10 years of use. The track system is maintenance-free, quieter and safer than steel track (no loose panels or carriers coming off because of rusting). Since aluminium tracks can be made more uniform, the movement of panels is smoother resulting in a smoother carrier transition from section to section and longer panel life.
• Full aluminium construction of panels – panels are constructed using high quality extruded aluminium alloy which is maintenance free. The smoother finish of aluminium as compared to steel, results in better tongue and groove joints providing better inter-panel sealing. Variant panels utilise a tubular steel construction covered with aluminium casing for panel interlock which gets dented and damaged with time leading to poorer inter panel sealing.
• Patented seal activation mechanism – Hufcor’s unique spring activated seal activation mechanism results in easier, faster, maintenance free operation and does not require tedious cranking. A simple half-turn of the operating handle activates both the top and bottom mechanical seals. The manual system out-performs motorised seal activating or semi-automatic variants available in the market in terms of faster setup time, better acoustic sealing due to uniform pressure applied by seals and does not cause failed operations because of frequent motor break-downs. Moreover, the customer does not end up paying higher cost (both initial and running – for frequent motor replacements) to compensate for the difficult and unreliable cranking operation using low power DC motors.
• Faster service – With its experienced team of design, installation and maintenance personnel, coupled with vast stocks of spare parts, Gibca has the capability to undertake fast track projects with the best response time in industry when it comes to support, he says.