Orama Minimal Frames enters PHL market
By Zsarlene B. Chua
Reporter
GREEK company Orama Minimal Frames has entered the Philippines, as it seeks to address the “huge, untapped market” for minimalist windows and frames.
Orama’s window and frame solutions are distributed by Focus Global Inc. (FGI) in the Philippines.
“[Orama] is really what the market was looking for because if you look at the usual frames [it’s thick] while Orama frames can go as thin as 24 millimeters (mm),” Stephen Sy, FGI president, said in a press conference on Sept. 30 at the showroom in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Another added bonus was Orama frames can go as high as 6.5 meters, something other companies cannot provide.
“[The market] wants minimal frames and want a higher floor-to-ceiling height,” Mr. Sy said.
He said once Orama frames were introduced in their showroom, even without a display, they were able to close five housing projects immediately, which shows market demand.
“And it’s not cheap. It’s a fantastic [product],” he said before explaining that an average house decked out in Orama would cost about P10 million, though the cost will vary depending on customized features including glazing, automation, and the size and number of frames.
“What Orama attempts to do and succeeds reasonably well is to try and eliminate everything that is blocking the view and to create as much light and feeling of space as possible. [That means] minimizing the thickness of these frames,” Thomas Flamant, Orama’s export account manager for Asia, said during the press conference.
Orama, whose name is comes from the Greek word for vision, was introduced in Southeast Asia in 2017. In Europe and North America, Orama has seen more residential applications of their solutions because they are positioned “in a fairly higher market segment with a higher price category.” Mr. Flamant noted that they do have corporate clients as they currently doing a hotel in Dubai.
“Every local market [like] the Philippines, Korea or China has always had specific needs…[but] we generally have solutions. In the Philippines, I would specifically think about very strong winds…these are also requirements we face in all the other markets sometimes,” he said.
Citing the Dubai project, Mr. Flamant said they can build frames that have a wind load of 320 to 360 kilometers per hour. Its frames can also “carry weights of up to 1,000 kg,” according to a release.
Orama’s product features also include “optimal comfort combined with silent sliding” due to the dual stainless steel rails with two double stainless steel rollers and “high performance in thermal insulation,” according to the release.
The Focus Global showroom is located at Twenty-Four Seven McKinley, 24th Street corner 7th Avenue, McKinley Parkway, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
