Facades of glass
SUSPENDED GLASS FACADES
We offer to your attention the so-called suspended glass facades. Different types are known. The installation principles are the same for all. Glass panes are hung on a special aluminium or steel structure . The supporting structure consists of vertical and horizontal profiles that are mounted with special heels to the reinforced concrete elements of the buildings. The drainage of this type of facade is specific. They are practically exported in front of the reinforced concrete silhouette of the building. The horizontal elements play the role of gutters and the vertical ones of downspouts. This way, if water gets behind the glazing, it reaches the horizontal elements, from there it is drained to the vertical elements and then down to the front of the building.
The most common division of the types of glass facades is according to how the joint between the individual panes is solved:
Cap facade
In this type of curtain walling, the weight of the glazing is taken up by the horizontals and transmitted to the verticals. Fixing of the glazing units is done with the help ofaluminium strips, with pre-installed on them rubber gaskets 50-60 mm wide.These strips are fastened with screws to the supporting structure and are usually covered with special geometry decorative caps. These are the most common suspended glass facades. This is because of their relatively low cost and high degree of security.
Cap facade
In this type of curtain walling the glazing units are mounted to aluminium frames and the resulting cassettes are mounted to the supporting structure. There are rubber seals around the perimeter of the aluminium profiles of the cassettes, which are a barrier against water penetration. There are two ways of mounting the glazing units to the aluminium frames. One is by the special geometry of the profiles themselves, which cover the glazing units, leaving part of the profiles visible around the perimeter of each glazing unit. The other way is by gluing the glazing to the frames. This is done with a special two-part silicone.This system is the least secure because it relies solely on the silicone to hold the glazing. Of course silicone manufacturers give a long term warranty, but unfortunately they don’t say what happens after it expires. Another disadvantage of this curtain walling is that the rubber seals are inwards from the plane of the outer glass and dust and dirt collects there, and cleaning is quite difficult.
Facades of silicone joint
When the façade is on a silicone joint, the glazing units are generally manufactured either with a special spacer / as in the case of Schuco / or a special aluminium profile is installed during their manufacture , which covers the inner glass. This is the case with “Etem” and “Alumil”. In this way, a kind of cavity is formed in the silicone filler area. In this cavity, special elements are inserted, which are mounted with screws to the supporting horizontal and vertical elements. glazing to the structure, and the outer glass hangs from the front only thanks to a special two-part silicone. The joint between the individual panes is also filled with silicone.
Ventilated facades
SUSPENDED VENTILATED FACADES
This type of curtain walling consists of steel, aluminium or timber construction, and different types of cladding. Technologically it is executed in the following sequence:
- installation of heels to hold the structure
- installation of thermal insulation – mineral or stone wool
- installation of waterproofing membrane
- installation of the supporting structure
- suspension of the lining
The cladding can be of various types: etalbond, stone, ceramic, etherite, wood, etc. The interesting thing about these facades is that there is a distance of 3-4 cm between the cladding and the insulation. In winter the air is at least a few degrees warmer there than outside. This air therefore moves upwards and takes with it the water vapour coming out of the building. Due to this air movement, the thermal insulation is always dry. The most important quality of this type of curtain walling is that they are breathable and do not allow moisture to remain inside the building.