Have you ever heard the term "curtain wall" during a discussion of architectural design? This particular type of building facade has been gaining more notoriety recently due to the increased attention being paid to energy savings in modern building design. Here's a little bit of information about the curtain wall.
A building's facade is arguably the most important architectural feature of an edifice. The external look of a company's headquarters says a lot about the image the business is trying to portray, the nature and tone of the work that is done within its walls, and the overall professionalism of the people who work there.
For this reason, architects and engineers pay a lot of attention to this feature during their design stage: in fact, they will often bring in outside experts who specialize only in facades and curtain walls to help them get it just right.
A curtain wall is a type of facade which does not carry any of the dead load from the rest of the building other than supporting its own weight. In simpler terms, it is not helping to support the rest of the building at all, rather, it adds design and other benefits to the appearance of the edifice without being crucial to its staying up!
The load from the curtain wall itself is usually engineered to be transferred back to the main structure by connecting to the floors of the building or to supporting columns. They are sturdy walls, and are specifically designed to resist high winds, earthquake, as well as rain and snow. The skeleton of the curtain is most often made of lightweight aluminum, though in some instances other materials are used as well.
These facades offer remarkable versatility in design and can be made to look classic, ultra modern, or culturally specific to a particular country. Beyond the variability in shape exhibited in the skeleton of the curtain, a building can achieve its own individual look based on the infills used.
For example, many curtain walls will use glass infills to add natural daylight to offices and save energy. Others may use stone veneer or metal panels: the choices are virtually limitless. The type of infill material chosen can also provide more cost-efficient cooling and heating for an entire building. Some curtain walls are strictly decorative in nature, with no infills whatsoever.
The bottom line is: architects and builders are taking advantage of advances in engineering to create beautiful facades and curtain walls that are turning structures into showpieces of the communities in which they are built. Image is everything in business, and curtain walls add a touch of class and style.
Author Resource:-
If you are interested in finding out more about what facades can do for your new or existing structure, contact the world-renowned curtain wall design specialists: Axis Group Limited (http://www.facades.com). Art Gib is a freelance writer.
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