Glass from Steyr for the rest of the world

11/24/2023 | Print view

Representative of the founding family Christian Eckelt and vandaglas Eckelt Managing Director Christian Lechner cut the birthday cake together. - © vandaglas Eckelt — © vandaglas Eckelt

Representative of the founding family Christian Eckelt and vandaglas Eckelt Managing Director Christian Lechner cut the birthday cake together.

Since it was founded by August Eckelt on 21 November 1923, the Austrian glass refiner Eckelt based in Steyr has always been a trendsetter with its innovative strength. Under new management and new ownership, vandaglas Eckelt is now in its 101st year of existence and is once again transforming and positioning itself for the future.

Since its foundation in 1923, Eckelt has played a decisive role in shaping architecture worldwide with its glass products. After the end of the Second World War, the glassworks is expanded by its successors into a glass processing company. In 1956, Josef Eckelt laid the foundation for the industrial production of insulating glass with the revolutionary patent "Stainless steel spacer bars with vapour-tight corners".

From left: Christian Lechner (CEO vandaglas south) with Florian Temper (Operations Manager vandaglas Eckelt), Markus Vogl (Mayor of Steyr), Christian Eckelt (grandson of the company founder).

Further innovations followed; in 1986, for example, Austria's first plant for laminated safety glass (LSG) was put into operation. At the end of 1989, the Saint Gobain Group takes over the Austrian manufacturer. The following years are characterised by investments in new plants and technologies, as well as continuous new developments, which lead to facade system solutions such as Lite-Wall, Lite-Point and Vario.

London has always been an important market for the glass specialists from Steyr. "The Gurkin" by architect Sir Norman Foster is one of the most famous buildings of our time. The glass for the facade comes from Steyr.

Christian Eckelt, who shaped the company for many years with his technical expertise, emphasises: "Our customers were always the driving force behind these innovations. We have realised their ideas with courage and know-how. I am delighted to see today that this path is now being continued."

Active worldwide today as vandaglas Eckelt

100 years after the company was founded, one thing above all is produced at Resthofstraße in Steyr: High-tech architectural glass for the whole world. However, this is not a matter of course. Since the economic crisis of 2008, times have not been easy for the glass specialists from Steyr.

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Restructuring programmes were only moderately successful until the Aequita Group took over the Steyr-based glass refiner in 2022. It had already successfully acquired glass processing companies in Holland, Germany and the UK and repositioned them on the market under the "vandaglas" brand.

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Under the motto "Forward with change", Eckelt is now breaking new ground. "Since 2022, we have invested three million euros in machinery and equipment at the Steyr site. We are already planning to modernise our machinery, expand our buildings and optimise our IT infrastructure in the coming years," says Christian Lechner, Managing Director and CEO of vandaglas south. And Lechner continues: "We are planning to invest a further 10 million euros in machinery and buildings."

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