41 results

  • Two Sides to Sustainability & High-performance featured image

    Two Sides to Sustainability & High-performance

    High performance can be defined as “a building that integrates and optimizes all major high-performance building attributes, including energy efficie…

  • The Versatile Envelope Garden featured image

    The Versatile Envelope Garden

    Facades play an integral role in defining the experience of modern life. As rising populations gravitate from rural to urban communities, they bring …

  • Nested Density featured image

    Nested Density

    Projecting imagery onto building facades is not only becoming a marketing necessity for successful urban spectacles but is also altering social urban…

  • Building Scale Mock-up featured image

    Building Scale Mock-up

    Until recently, Google has occupied buildings that were designed for others and modified the interiors to suit its needs. Many of the improvements we…

  • 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…

  • Rethinking Building Skins featured image

    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,…

  • Sustainable Materials featured image

    Sustainable Materials

    Stainless steel has been successfully used in building envelopes since the completion of the Chrysler building in 1928. Today, it is used as both a s…

  • Designing with Photovoltaics

    Photovoltaics (PV) have been utilized in buildings for decades, especially in Europe where legislative support has largely driven the market. With ne…

  • Envelope For Service featured image

    Envelope For Service

    Envelope-for-Service (E4S) is a novel business model developed with the aim of converting the building façade from a traditionally traded good to a c…

  • 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 …

  • Performance of Compact, Closed Cavity, Double-skin Curtain Wall featured image

    Performance of Compact, Closed Cavity, Double-skin Curtain Wall

    A proposed design for a compact, closed cavity, double-skin curtain wall system in the Marine climate of the West Coast raises questions of potential…

  • Insulating Glass Unit Gas Loss

    Concerns over time-dependent argon permeation through the perimeter edge seals of insulating glass units (IGUs) led the authors to utilize two commer…

  • Simplicity is Deceiving featured image

    Simplicity is Deceiving

    The case study presented is a 195 meters tall office tower with a raised podium made of 16 meters full height glass panels (and smaller). The panels …

  • Systems Thinking featured image

    Systems Thinking

    This paper surveys facade design education in accredited Bachelor and Master of Architecture (B.Arch and M.Arch) programs in the United States. A rev…

  • Thinking About Facades featured image

    Thinking About Facades

    There have been three decades of liberating developments in the application of descriptive geometry and freeform design methods, as well as the abili…

  • Modern Heritage and Facade Improvements featured image

    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…

  • Balancing Visual Comfort and Energy Efficiency featured image

    Balancing Visual Comfort and Energy Efficiency

    With increasing interest in wellness and human-centric design in workplaces, the design of building enclosures is predicated on optimizing competing …

  • Glass Spandrels and Shadow Boxes featured image

    Glass Spandrels and Shadow Boxes

    Glass spandrels are a common design strategy utilized to opacify floor levels in building facades. These opaque glass assemblies are integrated into …