Walls that carry light. Panels made in Carrara, quoted in Toronto.
Bencore makes composite panels that are mostly air: a honeycomb of polycarbonate, aluminium or recycled cardboard between thin skins, stiff enough to be a door, a wall or a floor, and translucent enough to glow. FIDAR System is the authorized dealer for Canada. Tell us the job and we quote it, freight included.
Backlit blue panel wall lighting an office corridor, from Bencore's 2024 presentation
5 families
Starlight, Lightben, Hexaben, Ecoben, Mirror, plus WasBottle
110 codes
glossy, satin and mirror skins, by Bencore colour code
1000 × 3015
mm standard sheet, cut to size on order
Rw 46 dB
certified double wall; Bs1d0 and Class 1 builds for fire
Where to buy Bencore in Canada: FIDAR System, authorized dealer and distributor, North York, Ontario.
Every product quotedPanels, doors, walls and partitions, from one sheet to a building.
Ships across CanadaToronto and the GTA, Ottawa, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary and beyond; pickup in North York.
In stock todayHexaben 19 mm clear, 1000 × 3015 mm, on the rack with a published price.
Find your panel
Three questions, one Bencore panel
Fourteen builds and 110 colour codes is a lot to read. Answer three questions and we name the panel, the build and the system that fits, with the figure that says why. One more click puts it in your quote.
What are you making?
What a Bencore panel is
Two skins, a honeycomb, and a lot of light
Every Bencore panel is a sandwich. The core holds the skins apart and carries the shear, which is where the stiffness comes from, and because the cells are open, light goes through and is scattered on the way.
- 1
The skins
Acrylic, PETG or polycarbonate, in glossy, satin or mirror finishes and 110 colour codes. Bencore's clear skins are now Green Cast acrylic.
- 2
The core
Polycarbonate honeycomb in Starlight, polycarbonate cylinders in Lightben, aluminium honeycomb in Hexaben, recycled cardboard in Ecoben. Adhesive sits only on the cell walls, so the openings stay clear.
- 3
The light
Rays bounce inside the cells and leave diffused. Satin skins give total diffusion for a backlit wall; transparent skins keep a view and some direct light, more so with a larger cell.
65%
Daylight through
Up to 65 percent daylight transmission. Light bounces inside the cells, so most of it comes out diffused and glare drops.
70–80%
Air by volume
A honeycomb panel uses 70 to 80 percent less raw material than a solid resin sheet of the same thickness. One installer carries a sheet.
215
Combinations
Five cores, three skin materials, glossy, satin and mirror finishes and 110 colour codes, in Bencore's own count.
Rw 46
Decibels, certified
A double wall of Lightben 25 mm with a 100 mm gap. Single panels from Rw 30 to 35 dB, in the same range as glass.
The light table
110 colour codes. Switch the light on.
Pick a family, tap a code and see it at wall scale, lit from behind or in daylight. The code you choose goes into the quote with one click. Swatches are Bencore's own and as true as a screen allows.
Starlight Extra
01Clear glossy
21 of 21. T is the glossy skin, S the satin.
The panels
Five families, one way of letting light through
Each family is a different core. Pick the core for the texture and the stiffness, the skin for the colour and the finish, and the thickness for the job. Every one is quoted by the sheet or cut to size.
Polycarbonate honeycomb panelStarlightThe original Bencore panel: a 19 mm polycarbonate honeycomb between clear or coloured skins.19, 21, 34 or 40 mm21 finishes
Polycarbonate tube core panelLightbenThousands of clear polycarbonate cylinders under acrylic skins. Bencore's most varied family, and the one with the EPD.17, 19 or 21 mm (34 mm in Large)62 finishes
Translucent sound absorbing panelLightben AcousticA translucent acoustic panel: αw 0.40 and NRC 0.45 at 17 mm, with 78 percent light transmission.17 mm (± 0.5); 12 mm build also certified21 finishes
Aluminium honeycomb panelHexabenThe lightest Bencore panel: an aerospace style aluminium honeycomb under clear or coloured skins.Small 19 or 21 mm; Large 17, 19 or 21 mm; Mirror 21 mm25 finishes
Recycled cardboard core panelEcobenA 100 percent recycled cardboard honeycomb under clear skins. The warm, natural Bencore.Wave 19, 21, 32 or 34 mm; Green Cast 21 or 34 mm2 finishes
Mirror skinned honeycomb panelMirrorHexaben and Lightben Kaos 3D cores under a mirror acrylic skin, in bronze, grey, gold and silver.21 mm12 finishes
Post-consumer recycled panelWasBottleMade from flakes of post-consumer HDPE and PETG bottles. Every sheet is one of a kind.Every build Bencore lists, side by side
From Bencore's combinations table, 2024. Thicknesses are overall; the core is the honeycomb inside.
| Panel | Core | Cell | Core thickness | Total thickness | Skins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starlight Extra and Plus | Polycarbonate honeycomb, translucent | 19 mm | 15, 28, 30, 36 mm | 19, 21, 34, 40 mm | PMMA, PETG or PC |
| Lightben and Lightben Plus | Polycarbonate cylinders, translucent | 7 mm | 15 mm | 17, 19, 21 mm | PMMA, PETG or PC |
| Lightben Large | Polycarbonate cylinders, large, translucent | 10 mm | 28 mm | 34 mm | PMMA |
| Lightben Kaos 3D | Polycarbonate, three cell sizes, translucent | 4, 7 and 12 mm | 15 mm | 21 mm | PMMA |
| Lightben Kaos 3D Black | Polycarbonate, three cell sizes, black | 4, 7 and 12 mm | 15 mm | 19, 21 mm | PMMA or PETG |
| Lightben CC, colour core | Polycarbonate cylinders, coloured, 7 colours | 7 mm | 15 mm | 19, 21 mm | PMMA or PETG |
| Hexaben Small | Aluminium honeycomb, natural aluminium grey | 9 mm | 15 mm | 19, 21 mm | PMMA or PETG |
| Hexaben Large | Aluminium honeycomb, large, natural aluminium grey | 25 mm | 15 mm | 17, 19, 21 mm | PMMA or PETG |
| Ecoben Wave | 100% recycled cardboard, natural brown | Wave | 15, 28 mm | 19, 21, 32, 34 mm | PMMA or PETG |
| Ecoben Green Cast | 100% recycled cardboard, natural brown | Wave | 15, 28 mm | 21, 34 mm | Green Cast PMMA |
| Lightben Kaos 3D Mirror | Polycarbonate, three cell sizes, translucent | 4, 7 and 12 mm | 15 mm | 21 mm | Mirror PMMA |
| Lightben Kaos 3D Black Mirror | Polycarbonate, three cell sizes, black | 4, 7 and 12 mm | 15 mm | 21 mm | Mirror PMMA |
| Hexaben Small Mirror | Aluminium honeycomb, natural aluminium grey | 9 mm | 15 mm | 21 mm | Mirror PMMA |
| Hexaben Large Mirror | Aluminium honeycomb, large, natural aluminium grey | 25 mm | 15 mm | 21 mm | Mirror PMMA |
Source: Bencore, “Design and product options”, 2024 presentation. 215 combinations in total. WasBottle, the recycled bottle panel, is not a honeycomb and is listed on its own page.
Directional transparency
Private at an angle, open head on
The degree of transparency changes as you move. Perpendicular to the panel you look through the open cells; step to the side and the cell walls close the view. It is why a Bencore partition can screen a meeting room and still let daylight across the floor.
Light through the panel as you move
Drag to change the viewing angle. The figure is Bencore's measured light transmission for Lightben Acoustic 17 mm.
Bencore Living
Doors, walls and partitions made for the panel
Bencore supplies the aluminium profiles, tracks, feet, cables and clamps designed around its own panels, so a door or a wall arrives as a system rather than a sheet and a problem. Frames for Fos and Koros come from Ponzio Aluminium; the Loop closet structure from Terno Scorrevoli.
Doors and walls
Aluminium framed doors, partition walls, a glazed wall and a walk-in closet built on the panels.
Smart office partitions
Freestanding, cable hung, desk mounted and round: dividers that need no building work.
Furniture
Tetris, the modular bookcase in Starlight.
Bencore also lists the Roi door in its portfolio. It is not in the documents we hold, so ask us for its data sheet rather than a description.
Performance
Sound, fire and weight, with the certificates named
Bencore publishes its test results by build. These are the figures, as printed, so a specifier can see which panel and thickness earned which number before asking for the certificate.
Weighted sound reduction, Rw
Single panels and certified double walls, against Bencore's own glass comparison.
Source: Bencore, “Acoustic performances”, 2024 presentation. Lightben Acoustic 17 mm adds absorption rather than reduction: αw 0.40, NRC 0.45.
Fire reaction certificates held
By country, as Bencore lists them. Glass protection can be added where a project needs a higher class.
Italy
- Starlight Plus 34 mm, Class 1
- Starlight Floor 40 mm, Class 1
- Lightben Plus 19 mm, Class 1
- Lightben Acoustic 17 mm, Class 1
Germany
- Starlight Plus 34 mm, Class B1
- Lightben Plus 19 mm, Class B1
- Lightben Acoustic 17 mm, Class B1
United Kingdom
- Double glazing 35 mm, Class 1
Europe
- Hexaben Large Plus 17 mm, Bs1d0
- Lightben Acoustic 12 mm, Bs2d0
- Crystal door and wall system, Bs1d0
USA
- Hexaben Large 21 mm, C2 / CC2 (ASTM D-2843, D-635, D-1929)
- Hexaben Small 21 mm, C2 / CC2 (ASTM D-2843, D-635, D-1929)
- Lightben Plus 19 mm, C1 / CC1 (ASTM D-2843, D-635, D-1929)
- Lightben 21 mm, C1 / CC1 (ASTM D-2843, D-635, D-1929)
- Hexaben 19 mm Plus, Class B (ASTM E 84-15b)
- Lightben 21 mm with glass, Class B (ASTM E 84-15b)
- Starlight Plus 19 mm, C1 / CC1 (ASTM D-2843, D-635, D-1929)
- Starlight Extra 21 mm, C1 / CC1 (ASTM D-2843, D-635, D-1929)
None of these is a Canadian classification. For a rated wall, ceiling or exit route, ask us for the certificate for the exact build and have the project's code consultant map it to the National Building Code before it is specified.
Weight and strength, where Bencore publishes a figure
| Build | Figure | What it means on site |
|---|---|---|
| Any honeycomb panel | 70 to 80% air | 70 to 80% less raw material than a solid resin sheet of the same thickness; one installer carries a sheet; little or no framing. |
| Lightben Acoustic 17 mm | 3.9 kg/m² | Hangs on cables and desk clamps. Flexural modulus 430 MPa, flexural strength 4.15 MPa. |
| Starlight Floor 40 mm | 12 kg/m², 350 kg/m² load | A raised floor you can light from below, used for the Champions League Final stage in Cardiff. |
| Any panel | Up to 65% daylight | Satin skins diffuse all of it; transparent skins pass some direct light. |
Source: Bencore 2024 presentation and project presentation. Ask for the data sheet for any build not listed here; we do not estimate.
Fabrication
Cut, joined, mitred and curved
Bencore panels are fabricated like a cabinet material rather than a glass: CNC router or fine tooth saw, the panel fully supported, every cut edge capped. Bencore's own workshop offers five fabrications beyond the sheet.
Finished edges
Cut edges capped so the cells stay sealed and the panel reads as a solid object.
Joining system
Panel to panel joints for walls and counters, kerf, biscuit and bevel in the Fos wall.
45 degree mitred corners
Boxes, columns and counters with the honeycomb running round the corner.
Curved panels
Eight internal radii from 1260 to 6578 mm.
Custom solutions
Cut outs, inlays, lit furniture and one off structures drawn with Bencore's technical office.
Curved panel radii, internal:
In Toronto, FIDAR cuts sheet goods on its own CNC router and saw. For a Bencore job we cut, cap and deliver the panels, or supply the sheet for your own shop. Read how a honeycomb panel is detailed and machined without delaminating it.
Sustainability
Facts Bencore puts in writing
Bencore has been a member of Green Building Council Italia since 2010 and can support LEED credits. The Lightben family holds a Life Cycle Assessment and an Environmental Product Declaration. Clear skins are made in Green Cast acrylic. The adhesives emit zero volatile organic compounds. Ecoben Wave and WasBottle are made with 100 percent recycled material.
Because the panels are demountable, they get a second life: when Mario Cucinella Architects reconfigured their Bologna office, the same panels were taken down and reused in the new walls and doors.
Recollect
Bencore takes panels back at the end of their life cycle.
Recycle
Cardboard, aluminium and PMMA are recyclable; pre- and post-consumer material goes back in.
Reuse
Durable raw materials and a demountable system mean a panel outlives its first installation.
Reference projects
Where the panels have gone
From Bencore's own project record. Where the document names the panel, the card does too; where it does not, we do not guess.
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Louvre
Paris, France · Normal Studio
Magic Leap headquarters
Miami, USA · Glavovic Studio
Deutsche Bank towers restaurant
Frankfurt, Germany · Mario Bellini Architects
Westfield offices
Los Angeles, USA · Woods Bagot
Hexaben Small
Fascitelli Center, University of Rhode Island
Rhode Island, USA · Ballinger
Philipp Plein boutique
Monte Carlo, Monaco · Studio Pironi
Lifetime Networks headquarters
New York, USA · HOK
Lightben, satin skins
Mario Cucinella Architects office
Bologna, Italy · Mario Cucinella Architects
United States and Canada
Magic Leap, Audi, Amazon, Google
Europe
Deutsche Bank, Musée du Louvre, Siemens, Primark
Italy
Prada, Enel, Palazzo Bernini, Monte dei Paschi, Diesel
Russia
Caffè Karavaevi Brothers, Heineken
Asia
Samsung Korea, KFC
New Zealand
Red Current store
Practices Bencore has worked with: OMA, Rem Koolhaas, Renzo Piano, Diller Scofidio, Rafael Viñoly, Marco Piva, Mario Bellini, Toyo Ito.
In Toronto, see the MARUN reception counters FIDAR built in Hexaben.
How it works
From a finish code to a crate in North York
STEP 1
Tell us the job
Panel, thickness, finish code, sizes and quantity, or just the brief and a drawing. The form takes all of it.
STEP 2
We price it with Bencore
A written quote, freight from Italy included, usually within two business days.
STEP 3
Made in Carrara
Cut, finished and crated by Bencore. Lead time is confirmed on the quote for the build you chose.
STEP 4
Delivered or collected
To site anywhere in Canada, or collected from our North York warehouse, where the stock Hexaben already sits.
Who is asking
Architects and interior designers specifying a panel. Contractors and millworkers pricing a wall, a counter or a set of doors. Sign and display shops building a backlit wall. Retail and hospitality owners with a photograph of something they saw. All of them get the same answer: a quote for the exact build.
Backlit feature walls. Reception walls, bar fronts and corridors lit from behind, where the honeycomb turns LEDs into an even glow with no hot spots.
Office partitions. Full height, cable hung, freestanding or on the desk, with the directional privacy that keeps a floor plate bright.
Doors. Swing, flush, pocket and sliding doors up to 3 m tall, in aluminium frames made for the panel.
Retail and hospitality. Boutique shelving, counters, ceilings and lanterns in colour, mirror or natural cardboard.
Lit floors and stages. Starlight Floor at 40 mm carries 350 kg/m² and lights from below.
Exhibition and events. Light, demountable and re-usable panels for stands, launches and stage sets.
- Call (416) 857-7555, Monday to Friday 9:30 to 5:00, Saturday 9:00 to 1:00
- Email info@fidarsystem.com
- Visit Unit 29, 601 Magnetic Drive, North York, ON M3J 3J2
Questions
Bencore questions we get asked
Where can I buy Bencore panels in Canada?
From FIDAR System, Bencore's authorized Canadian dealer and distributor, at Unit 29, 601 Magnetic Drive, North York, Ontario, phone (416) 857-7555, email info@fidarsystem.com. We quote the whole Bencore range, panels and the Living door, wall and partition systems, and ship across Canada: Toronto and the GTA, Ottawa, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax and everywhere in between. The 19 mm clear Hexaben panel is held in stock in North York.
Is Bencore available in the USA through FIDAR?
Our dealership covers Canada. For a project in the United States, contact Bencore directly at bencore.it for its US representation. For a Canadian project of any size, from one door to a building, FIDAR is the route.
What are Bencore panels?
Composite panels with a honeycomb core and thin outer skins, made in Carrara, Italy. The core is polycarbonate in Starlight and Lightben, aluminium in Hexaben and recycled cardboard in Ecoben, and the skins are acrylic, PETG or polycarbonate in glossy, satin or mirror finishes. The sandwich is 70 to 80 percent air, so the panels are light and stiff, and the open cells let light through and diffuse it.
Is FIDAR System an authorized Bencore dealer in Canada?
Yes. FIDAR System in North York, Ontario is Bencore's authorized Canadian dealer and distributor. We quote the full Bencore range, from loose panels to the Fos, Koros, Meli and Crystal door and wall systems, and we stock the 19 mm clear Hexaben panel.
Why are there no prices on the Bencore pages?
Because almost every Bencore order is built to the project: a panel family, a thickness, a skin, a finish code, a cut size and often a door or wall system around it. We price each enquiry with Bencore and come back with a written quote, usually within two business days. The one exception is the 19 mm clear Hexaben we keep in stock, which has a published price on our shop.
How much light do Bencore panels let through?
Up to 65 percent daylight transmission, in Bencore's figures. The honeycomb amplifies diffuse light because rays bounce inside the cells, so some light passes straight through and most is scattered. Satin skins give total diffusion, which is what a backlit wall wants; transparent skins allow views and some direct light, and a larger cell increases both.
Can I see through a Bencore panel?
Head on, through the open cells, yes. Move to an angle and the cell walls block the line of sight. Bencore calls this directional transparency, and it is why a Bencore partition can give a meeting room privacy while letting daylight into the floor plate. The further the viewer stands from the panel, and the larger the cell, the wider the cone of vision.
How are Bencore panels cut and joined?
On a CNC router or a fine tooth saw, with the panel fully supported. Bencore offers finished edges, a joining system between panels, special cuts, 45 degree mitred corners, curved panels in eight internal radii from 1260 to 6578 mm, and custom fabrication. Cut edges are capped so the cells stay sealed.
Are Bencore panels fire rated?
Several builds hold fire reaction certificates in Italy, Germany, the UK, Europe and the USA, listed on this page. These are not Canadian classifications. For a rated wall or ceiling, ask us for the certificate for the exact build and have the project's code consultant review it against the National Building Code before specifying.
What is the lead time from Italy?
It depends on the build and the quantity, and we confirm it on every quote rather than guess. Stock Hexaben ships from North York immediately. Panels and systems ordered from Carrara travel by sea or air freight, and we include that in the quote.
Have a drawing, a photo or a finish code?
Send it over and we will come back with a quote or the one question we need answered first. If the job needs something Bencore does not make, we will say so.
Unit 29, 601 Magnetic Drive
North York, ON, M3J 3J2
Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5:00pm
Saturday, 9:00am to 1:00pm