CONSTRUCTION

TECHNOLOGY III
Group Assignment Presentation
Group Members:
Tan Jit Kim
Tan Vin Nie
Yeong Poh Ling
Ng Zhen Huan
WHAT IS CURTAIN WALL?
A curtain wall system is an outer covering of a building in which the
outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep the weather out and the
occupant in.
 Introduction

Non-structural, made of lightweight material

Thin
use of variety strong, lightweight and beautiful building materials to
replace traditional masonry or window wall
transfers horizontal wind loads to the main building structure
resist penetration of air and water, sway created by wind, seismic forces
and its own dead load weight forces
Curtain wall is surrounded on the main structure of peripheral
 Material Used
Aluminum Framing Glass

Lightweight aluminium alloys are used generally. Glass may be used which is
Its weight is 3 times less than steel. transparent, translucent or
Aluminum offers the unique advantage of being opaque.
able to be easily extruded into nearly any shape Transparent glass usually refers to
required for design and aesthetic purposes.
vision glass in a curtain wall.
Spandrel or vision glass may also
Steel Framing contain translucent glass, which
could be for security or aesthetic
Long term resistance to denting, scratching and purposes.
deterioration
3x greater than aluminum to support larger glass Opaque glass is used in areas to
lites
Steel offers the advantages of greater modulus
hide a column or spandrel beam or
of elasticity to support larger glass lites, less shear wall behind the curtain wall.
reinforcement required and high durability
Glass manufacturing process
Structural Elements
 Infill Panels
Vision glass (which may be double or triple
glazed, may include low-e coatings, reflective
coatings and so on).
Spandrel (non-vision) glass.
Aluminium or other metals.
Stone veneer.
Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP).
Louvres or vents.
Most common type
installation method
 Assembled in the field to installed and connected
together piece by piece using various components,
including anchors, mullions, rails, vision glass,
spandrel glass, insulation and metal back pans.
Various hardware components, including
connectors, setting blocks, corner blocks, pressure
plates, caps, gaskets and sealants.
Airtight and resistant to water penetration
Cheap and quick and easy to install
One of the most commonly used types of curtain
walls.
 Composed of large units that fabricated and
glazed in factory, then shipped to the site and
installed as a panel system
Contains same component as a stick-built curtain
wall system, but most of the system components
are assembled in factory in a favourable
environment with tight production control instead
of in the field.
Vertical and horizontal mullions of the modules
mate together with the adjoining modules. Typical
units are five to six feet wide.
higher quality
allows for fabrication lead-time and rapid closure
of the building.
 ADVANTAGES

Cost saving

Provides natural lighting

Provides a panoramic view

Providing waterproof installation

The ability of air tight fit

Act as a fire stop

 DISADVANTAGES

The wall is the non-load bearing type

Light Pollution

The quality guarantee period of the curtain wall is

limited

Frequent maintenance
CASE STUDY
Hallidie Building, California.
The Lever House, New York.
Hallidie Building, California.

Designed by Willis Polk

Owned by the University of California at Berkeley

The date 1917 is cited by National Trust Guide: San

Francisco

The date 1918 is cited by Here Today: San

Francisco's Architectural Heritage
 Devised a seven-story glass faade for the concrete-
and-steel office building.

Most of the windows pivot horizontally to facilitate

natural ventilation in concert with conventional
windows in the wall behind.

Basic structural metal shapes used in the original

construction a kit of parts composed of steel
angles, T-sections and plates that were no longer
commercially available.

Ornamental pieces including a roof cornice, striated

sheet metal pendants and stamped zinc frieze
panels were in poor condition
 Problem and Solution

Building Team undertook repairs aiming to retain as much of the historic fabric as possible
To repair the curtain wall, replaced vertical support plates, added thermal expansion joints via
splice work at the window cover plates, integrated proper flashing and fixed corroded parts.
The deteriorated structural framework supporting the balconies was replaced with steel
outriggers and C-channels.
Fiberglass was spray applied to the back side of the pieces allowing more than 90% of the
original zinc panels to be stabilized and saved.
Many window sashes were saved and repaired by using a zinc-rich primer and a high-
performance coating system.
Benefits of Hallidie Building using
Curtain Wall Facades
Natural Lighting

Control of Air Leakage

Control of Rain and Moisture Intrusion

Control Heat Loss or Gain

 The Lever House, New York.
The Lever House by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was
one of the first glass International style office
buildings in the United States
Itis located at 390 Park Avenue in Midtown
Manhattan, New York City
The Lever House was built between 1951 to 1952
designed by Gordon Bunshaft, a American architect
The Lever House becomes a New York City landmark
that has mesmerized people through the years with its
modern style that has yet to fade into the past
 The exterior of Lever House is constructed with
24 stories of blue-green heat-resistant glass
and stainless steel.

The delicate blue-green glass enveloping the

building as a thin skin is held in place by a grid
of stainless steel tubular mullions which in
turn are hung from the building's main
structure.

It reduces both the air conditioning load

and sun or sky glare

heat-resistant
It reduces the cooling cost
glass

It provides heat absorption qualities

The curtain wall is also completely sealed without operable windows to prevent
the passage of dirt from the city into the building.
 There is a fire block walls sit about 3"
behind the spandrel panels.

It is to dissappate the heat in order to

prevent heat build-up in the glass.
 Maintenance

To clean and maintain the building, a system was

created with a rooftop window-washing
gondola that was able to move on tracks to
clean the glass.
 Problem and Solution

Over the years, the curtain wall had deteriorated due to material and fabrication
limitations and weather conditions.
Due to leakage and condensation in the spandrels, the steel bars started to rust, expand
and pop out some of the windows of the building.
To preserve the modern landmark without changing its appearance, old materials and
systems were successfully replaced with state-of-the-art solutions in modern wall
technology.
Thank You