Archinect
anchor

Most seamless curtain wall system.

Hi peeps,

I need help with some examples of built projects with the most seamless curtain wall system possible.  I need the thinnest mullions possible (if non the better) and good thermal performance.  Manufacturers would be cool too.  You know, maybe Archinect should begin putting a list of manufacturers and references to building systems.

 

Thanks!

 
Oct 25, 11 10:53 pm
Rusty!

Yo spacedawg. Your question makes no sense. The aluminum framing is there for structural purposes. You can push the glass to the exterior of the frame so it appears frameless from exterior (SOM does this all the time in order to cheat square footage calculations). Or you can use a window-wall system (a bastardized curtainwall that sits on edge of slab of each floor) which has wonky aluminum members (these can be seen in cheap-ass condos). Or use an all-glass assembly, but those are usually used for storefronts.

Curtainwall framing is an engineered product with very specific load criteria and shit, not just there to annoy you.

Oct 25, 11 11:56 pm  · 
 · 
chatter of clouds

spider/point connected frameless glass curtain wall does away with the concept of mullions and transoms..but it is quite a specific look and i would not call it seamless. furthermore, you'll have to push the structural supports in or out. i have always found spider walls a bit odd...there is, to my mind, something inherently contradictory in their intention and effect.

rusy's suggestion is  valid. however, i would also suggest that be it so, that might stll not lead to an arresting seamlessness...it could just result in blandness. glass reflects, parts behave differently under exposure to light, dust...etc.  i would therefore suggest that  glazed seamlessness can be achieved not necessarily through a homogeneously glazed facade. people like wiel arets and dominique perrault (first two to come to mind ) do "seamlessness" in very intruiging ways. in any case, say you push the glass out, its how you do it..not that you did it...which determines how successfully seamless it is.

Oct 26, 11 9:21 am  · 
 · 
Spencedawg

Thanks guys, I'm on the right direction.  The structural supports will be going back and the glass to the front.  I'm going to do research on the spider/point.

Oct 26, 11 11:25 am  · 
 · 
jplourde

Spider mullions are so lame.  Is this the nineties?  No, it is not the nineties.  So enough with your candy-eating spider mullions.

It's possible to embed and laminate the mullions into a double glazed unit.  You use a sort of t-shape steel extrusion, slap on a polyvinyl butyral layer, throw up your glass and bake that shit. 

But you gotta have mad skills and mad bank.  

Oct 27, 11 10:40 pm  · 
 · 
chatter of clouds

actually, i think point connected ('spider') glazing systems can be totally revamped. its oddness and duality can be used to its advantage. a dense arrangement of connections, wires and supports can be quite baroque in spirit. i feel that, tweaked, it could go down quite well with our zeitgeist.

whats regressive is to call a structural concept regressive.

Oct 28, 11 6:08 am  · 
 · 

 

I'm surprised no one linked to this yet.

I.M. Pei's JFK terminal.

Oct 28, 11 3:08 pm  · 
 · 

Block this user


Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?

Archinect


This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.

  • ×Search in: