Curtain Walling
Curtain walling provides the opportunity for stylish solutions to complex designs or engineering challenges. Aluminium framing is largely the material of choice due to its excellent strength to weight ratio, flexibility and unique capability of being extruded into complex shapes. Aluminium is around 66% lighter than steel at 2.7 g/cm2 and significantly less vulnerable to brittle fissures.
Due to rising awareness of environmental issues, the external glass box is disappearing while curtain walling is witnessing an era of unprecedented development.
Essentially, curtain walling is a building enclosure that is utilised for weatherproofing. It is not utilised for structural support and is not intended to bear any loads other than its own weight and the environmental forces that may act upon it. Thus, the transfer of dead loads and live loads over the curtain wall is not considered.
Ventilated façades
Ventilated façades are an alternative solution for building enclosures. They utilise mechanical anchoring elements, allowing for connections between the cladding material and the mechanical assembly. This results in the effective transfer of design loads back onto the structural wall, thus ensuring the creation of a stable, secure façade.
