101 results

  • Modern Heritage and Facade Improvements

    Approximately 80% of our total building stock is from the 20th century. During the last decades, along with an increasing appreciation of modern arch…

  • PowerSKIN Conference

    The next PowerSKIN Conference will be held virtually in Munich on April 9th. The focus of the 2021 conference deals with the question of whether simplicity and robustness are in contradiction to good performance or whether they even complement each other: Simplicity vs. Performance?

  • Towards Net Zero Enclosures

    As architects and designers we understand the urgency of addressing the building sector’s role in the ongoing environmental crisis. Architecture2030 …

  • U-Factor Matters in Hot Climates

    It is commonly thought that fenestration U-factor is not a key determinant in the performance of facades in hot climates, and generally the focus of …

  • Specifying Commercial Aluminum Finishes

    Many factors will influence coating selection, but to achieve the desired performance level for a given situation, coatings must be specified based u…

  • Specifying Electrochromic Glass

    Electrochromic (EC) glass is a seemingly magical solution to a building’s sun shading problems. A technology that was originally developed about sixt…

  • Environmentally Responsible Wood Cladding

    This case study focuses on the solutions provided for the Bell Museum at the University of Minnesota. Our design team worked with the client to creat…

  • Historical Evolution of Responsive Facades

    Responsive facade system is considered a major component of high-performance building envelope that is capable of responding to environmental stimuli…

  • Innovations with Glass featured image

    Innovations with Glass

    Glass has become a popular building material that is used not only for windows but also as a load-bearing material. New dimensions of glass panes in …

  • Optimized Adaptive Re-Use

    Contemporary building practice represents a disconnect between traditional manufacturing techniques, that favor straight runs and orthogonal geometri…

  • Hardened Facades Effects on Structural Systems featured image

    Hardened Facades Effects on Structural Systems

    To ensure the safety of U.S diplomatic personnel overseas, the U.S Department of State (DoS) has developed facade retrofits capable of resisting high…

  • Mixed Reality in Facade Education

    Developments in performative computational analysis, mass customization, and complex form manipulation revolutionized building envelope design proces…

  • City Development and Cladding Design featured image

    City Development and Cladding Design

    High-rise buildings in growing cities could become more vulnerable to variations in wind flow due to the continuous changes in urban topology. The ae…

  • Growing Myceliated Facades

    Today's sustainability in architecture takes into consideration the complete life cycle of buildings and their components, from resource harvesting a…

  • Autonomous or Appropriate

    This paper examines two profoundly different design approaches: one, herein called ‘autonomous’, where the building’s design is governed by internal …

  • Air Spaces Changed Everything

    This abstract proposes that architectural facade design over the last 60 years has convulsed in light of two disruptions: air spaces which create ven…

  • Impact Of Thermal Bridges On The Energy Response Of A Building featured image

    Impact Of Thermal Bridges On The Energy Response Of A Building

    The European building stock is mainly constituted by highly energy demanding buildings. The only way to a more sustainable and decarbonized building …

  • Retroreflective Coating for Window Blinds

    Solar shading devices are required to find a trade-off between conflicting requirements: Protection from excessive solar gains and glare, daylight pr…

  • Facade Resilience Evaluation Framework featured image

    Facade Resilience Evaluation Framework

    Resiliency is the capacity of a building (or building component in the case of the facade) to support building functionalities during extreme events …