The West African Ceramics Limited (WACL) says it considers architects and builders as strategic partners to drive positive development in the building industry and support the local content policy, explaining that the partnership with architects is fundamental to their product design development.
The company, which got high rating of its tiles from the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), Abuja branch, disclosed that, through consumer insights generated from working with practitioners, their flagship VIT Porcelain vitrified tiles produced in variants of Diamond, Marbonite, and Granite, and in different sizes of 30 x 30; 40 x 60; and 60 x 60 and Royal Ceramic tiles were produced to satisfy the trends of office and home interior and exterior designs.
Bhaskar Rao, WACL’s general manager, who stated this when receiving the award from NIA, said that in demonstration of their commitment to the building industry, they were working assiduously to introduce digital printing technology to their tile production before the end of this year.
Earlier, Stanley Kolo, the immediate past chairman of the chapter, had noted that locally produced tiles by WACL had higher quality and was preferable to imported tiles from Asia.
Kolo, who spoke during the chapter’s biennial general meeting and 30th anniversary celebration that took place in Abuja recently, recalled that some members and executives of the NIA, and Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) had visited the management of the company and were taken on a factory tour, saying that the delegation was impressed by what they saw.
“We visited the company’s manufacturing complex at Ajaokuta and were impressed by what we saw. We didn’t know earlier that such facility existed in this country. The company has modern state-of-the art machinery to produce tiles that will adequately serve the needs of architects.
“We asked ourselves, do we really need to bother importing tiles? What they have here is enough to cater for our needs nationwide,” the ex-chairman said.
According to him, there’s no reason to import tiles from China or other countries, pointing out that the risk importation might pose, may as well be taken care of if we patronise WACL as they have all the systems and processes to deliver to our demands no matter the size of the project.
Kolo urged the members of the NIA and all practising architects, builders, and developers to patronise local products which meet international standard, adding, “it is on this note that we in the NIA, Abuja have conferred ‘Special Recognition Award’ on WACL in recognition of its outstanding contribution to architectural practice and commitment to the development of the building industry.”
CHUKA UROKO
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