History
1974 Herbert Koch, together with Dr. Herbert Fitz, introduced the fluoropolymer materials, especially transparent ETFE foils, to the European market. The oil crisis led to the first solar application prototypes.
1972 The Koch company started a division for architectural membranes (the nucleus of today´s Hightex Group) and was involved in most of the temporary and permanent structures for the Munich Olympics.
1967 The tent-shaped German Pavilion for the EXPO in Montreal, designed by Frei Otto became the first milestone in the new history of lightweight membrane structures.
1959 Polymer membrane waterproofing by the Koch company became state-of-the-art for industrial and residential buildings with flat roofs.
1952 The chemist Herbert Koch pioneered the development of polymer membranes for waterproofing to replace the traditional bitumen based materials.
1949 Herbert Koch, son of Carl Koch re-started the Koit business in West Germany.
1899 The engineer Carl Koch began his career as an entrepreneur in East Germany. His Koco Company manufactured cars until 1927, following which he stepped into his relative’s business producing bitumen based waterproofing sealants under the name Koit. AG, Switzerland, was founded to create a strong business platform for further international expansion of the Hightex business.
2002 The Abuja stadium roof in Nigeria for the All African Games 2003, the first large PTFE/glass structure on this continent, was successfully completed.
2001 Within 9 months of signing a contract for the supply and installation of the roof over the new Pusan Stadium in South Korea, the Hightex team handed over the membrane roof. South Korea hosted the World Cup and the Asian Games in 2002.
2000 Hightex restarted from scratch. Many of the most capable members from the previous team joined again.
1998 Only eight months after signing the Saudi contract, the first phase was handed over complete and in time for the pilgrimage. Before the second phase started and immediately after the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August, the Saudi Ministry withdrew the contract management from the Joint Venture, pulled the bonds and stopped huge outstanding payments. This led overnight to insolvency. After years of court actions in Saudi Arabia by the German financial institutions against the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the Saudi courts issued a title in favour of the German financial institutions and confirmed thereby that this staged action against the joint venture was incorrect.
1997 After a disastrous fire near Mecca, the Saudi Ministry of Public Works and Housing tendered the largest turnkey membrane project ever in the world: 40,000 fireproof tents using over 5 million square metres of PTFE/glass membrane material for 2.5 million pilgrims. Koch Hightex won the 600 million Euro contract and formed a joint venture with the support of the Saudi Binladen Group, probably the largest and most successful construction company in Saudi Arabia.
1989 The architectural division of the Koch Company became Koch Hightex GmbH.
1983 First substantial export contract for the roof of the Saudi Air Defence Forces Sport Center.
2006 On September 6th, Hightex Group plc acquired Hightex International AG, and raised in aggregate €5.2m before expenses) and its issued share capital was admitted to the Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”) ofthe London Stock Exchange.
2006 In March, Hightex International AG raised €2.5m to finance further expansion through investors introduced by Ludgate Investments Limited.
2006 On June 28th, Hightex Group plc was formed in London, to act as the new holding company for all activities of the Hightex companies in different countries, as well as their sister company, SolarNext AG based in Germany.
2006 The new membrane covered grand stand at the Royal Ascot racecourse was inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Olympic equestrian competitions in 2012 will take place at Ascot.
2006 At Clarke Quay in Singapore, a 10,000 square metre covered shopping street with a transparent pneumatic roof system was handed over. It is the first of its kind in Asia. Only the healthy spectrum of UV light can pass through this transparent material.
2006 Hightex was awarded the contract to build a special membrane system for the new retractable roof over the Wimbledon Centre Court.
2005 The membrane roof with its revolutionary three layer system for a new energy and environmental concept for the largest airport in Asia, the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. The airport will start full operations on September 28th, 2006.
2004 A double-layer roof and acoustic ceiling, using 55,000 sq.m. of membrane material, was supplied and installed in the newly built Olympic Stadium in Berlin, well on time for the Final of the World Cup 2006.
2003 A 155 metre-long membrane sculpture sponsored by Unilever and designed by Anish Kapoor was made and installed by Hightex in the Tate Modern, London.