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This FacadesTechnical Review is the first in a series of books from RlBA Publishing which aims to show what is current in the technical aspects of building design. Facade design has become increasingly specialised in recent years as the technology is developed, in part from outside the traditions of building  construction.The need for repetition of components, which has long been one of the main principles of manufacturing and of 20th Century design, is no longer a primary guiding principle, as components can increasingly be developed economically for a single building project.The renewed interest in the craft of facade construction, of making parts of a building envelope as mock-ups and prototypes in workshops and design studios is set to further the interest in bringing the details of facades to new levels of innovation Most faCade design is still based on working wlth a particular material or generic system based on a particular material Working wrth a building material involves understanding its essential nature - Its physical properties that give rise to certain possibillties for use which can lead to a quite unexpected appearance during the design development The character of the material can also be a starting point -the visual qualities of battered road vehicles, transport containers or of plywood signboards for example. While the source material, such as transport containers, are not designed for long term use, they sometimes serve as a starting point for the development of a facade system, where building designs. especially facades and roofs. are being generated from sources outside the traditional vocabulary of architecture. This technical review discusses facade systems in terms of the primary material used:metal, glass, concrete, masonry, plastics and timber, in order of decreasing density from...

Developments in faqade systems In terms of materials used, designers have long been fascinated by representations of architectural ideas in drawn and model form and seeing possibilities for the imagery created to be used directly in buildings -the
built 'model' rather than the re-interpretation of an architectural idea using conventional construction techniques Much of technical development of facade designs is in trying to ensure that as much of the energy of the design process finds its way into finished building as a dynamic process The development of'structural envelopes' in glazed facades has evolved over the past I5 years from concepts based on the fuselages of aircraft to full loadbearing structures for glazed walls This method involves the development of curtain walling from cladding...

Amdrew Watts