7 Distinctive Features of Modern Curtain Wall Design

Architects have pushed the development of curtain wall construction with stunning designs and curtain wall buildings have become the distinctive hallmark of the modern cities nowadays.

With the further development of technology and continuous progress in building construction, modern curtain wall design has obtained great success in the modern buildings as follows:

1. More Complex Shapes
With advances in technology, architects are increasingly able to make the building facades with curved or sloped curtain walling, to give undulating facades with wave-like effects and striking angles. Aluminium curtain wall in particular lends itself to curved facades as the aluminium frames can easily be bent into the required shape.
2. Higher Performance
As the world becomes more aware of global warming and the need to conserve energy, there is a growing demand for more energy efficient curtain walling systems, with lower U values, more effective thermal breaks and a greater use of triple glazed units.
3. Variety of Infill Panels
Architects are now able to let their imagination run riot when designing facades, by specifying infill panels made from a variety of materials other than the more usual vision glass or spandrel glass panels. These include metal, terracotta and stone, but it is important to check the maximum weight of the infill for the curtain wall system being used.
4. Solar Shading to Reduce Solar Gain
With the large expanses of glass specified for most of the high-rise building facades, it comes the potential problem of solar gain at the same time. To avoid the need for expensive air conditioning many architects are now adding solar shading such as aluminium louvres, wire mesh or terracotta baguettes.
5. Larger Panels
There is a trend for larger glass panels, made possible by glass processors in future. This can be combined with tempered glass and then laminated to huge insulating glass units. It can give an amazing effect, but of course the larger the glass panels, the higher the cost, the more complex the installation and the greater the consequences if one breaks!
6. Transparent Facades
For glass structural curtain wall, it looks like magic because the building can become more daylighting, wider views and a greater connection with the outside for those working or living inside.
7. More Technology
Smart curtain wall technology is beginning to appear such as photovoltaic cells incorporated into the glass curtain wall. These absorb solar energy in the day and emit light generated from the stored power at night.