Rethinking Building Skins
Building skins play a pivotal role in architecture. Other than the aesthetical and architectural aspects, facades are key to the climate performance,…
53 results
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Finally
For over 60 years architects, engineers, and consultants have been specifying stainless steels for use in building skins and in some structural appli…
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Shaping Skin
The conventional modern facade is essentially flat, which creates the tendency toward visual monotony and problems for modulating daylight—both on th…
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Rammed Earth & Wildfire
California is set to be drier and more drought prone with climate change. Wildfire and the subsequent loss of life and housing is a huge challenge. C…
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Passively Actuated Systems
Kinetic or responsive facades have been developed to improve buildings' daylighting conditions while mitigating energy consumption. Still, these faca…
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Detailing For Distance
Quickly exceeding new facade service life expectations for tall buildings imposed by increasing environmental, economic, and social pressures have cr…
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Embodied Carbon Of Timber Unitized Curtain Wall
The building envelope is at the intersection of embodied and operational emissions. Curtain wall specifically could play an important role in reducin…
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Passive House Facade Design and Construction
Buildings account for over 40% of global emissions (GlobalABC, 2018). Growing populations and higher standards of living are increasing pressure on t…
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Facing Density
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs projects a world population growth of over three billion over our current, nearly eight …
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Transfer Topologies
This research looks at the relationship of material and geometric distribution to set a methodology for integrating structural and thermal design. Th…
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The Performative Double-Skin
Double-Skin Facades (DSF) are well-known to boost the thermal performance of a façade: they can provide extra insulation in the wintertime and lower …
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Fire Safety and Code Challenges for Mass Timber in Curtain Wall Systems
With the desire for more sustainable construction and reduced embodied energy, mass timber is being explored for building structures. For medium and …
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Sustainable Façades
Transposing innovation from government funded research to commercially viable solutions becomes ever more important when combined with the urgent nee…
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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 …
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ACT Facade
Due to material and technological advancement during the last century, transparency has become a prominent trend in contemporary architecture. Howeve…
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Breathing Lessons
For a new corporate headquarters in San Francisco’s Mission Bay district, SHoP Architects designed a semi-conditioned atrium space inside the externa…
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Daylighting Post-Occupancy Evaluation Study
Daylighting is a key strategy to energy efficiency and improved occupant comfort, health, and productivity in buildings. However, providing desired a…
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End-of-Life Challenges in Facade Design
In recent decades, there has been increased attention to reduce the operational energy performance of buildings. Stringent legislation on building en…
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Architectural Shape Optimization
This paper explores the architectural shape optimization of typical housing typologies: slab and high-rise residential buildings to reduce primary en…
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Facade Maintenance Access
Facades are an architectural feature and an integral part of the building enclosure. To ensure that the facades continue their function, they must be…