
Originally Posted by
brackets
Hello again,
This time I am writting about façades. Tell me what you think. Thanks:
The façade protects the interior of the building from weather and external noise. Façades consist of both an inner and an outter outer wythe with an airspace in between. The outter outer wythe can be a load bearing or a non-load bearing wall. Inside the load bearing walls range we find are brick, concrete block or stone masonries, which are composed of modular building blocks bonded together with mortar and often reinforced with steel bars. There are also precast concrete walls which are cast off site and set in place as rigid components. Non-loadbearing walls are masonry or stone, veneers, metal cladding, wood siding and glass, metal, fiber glass or concrete panels curtain walls. These walls carry no loads and are wholly supported by the steel or concrete structure of the building. Different metal devices may be used to secure the outer wythe to the structure. An uneven finished finish of the slab edge may be avoided by using a metal secondary structure, slightly separated from the structure and transfering the weight of the façade to it. This sub-structure is an essential component of a curtain wall. It consist of a metal frame where panels are fixed. A wide variety of isolating materials is are currently marketed (polyurethane foam, fiber glass, rock wool, poliestyrene foam,...) Depending on the façade section detail, isolation must be placed on the outter outer or on the inner wythe. If the isolating mat is stuck to the inner wythe, the airspace between both sheets needs a ventilation and drainage system to evacuate eventual condensation moisture that might occur, being a "non-sheltered" space {?}. If the isolating mat is attached to the outter outer wythe of the façade it would enclose a sheltered airspace, so no ventilation is required.