Successful façades combine structure, building services and aesthetic considerations to produce an envelope that looks the part, but is also efficient, weather-resistant, and robust.
Now, more than ever, they also have a key role to play in improving environmental performance and keeping its inhabitants comfortable, healthy and safe. How do we design buildable, affordable facades that make a positive contribution to the streetscape, offer protection from current and predicted weather conditions and improve the environmental performance of the building as a whole?
Sandy Wright of Wright & Wright Architects discusses the practice’s approach at St John’s College, Oxford to reuse and rigorous modeling to reduce solar gain and use of natural ventilation to allow for a generous glazing solution that ensures the building is light-filled without compromising comfort.
Mark Tynan of Make Architects shows how the facades contribute to the sustainability of 80 Charlotte Street, a major mixed-use development in London’s Fitzrovia that combines reuse and retrofit with new build elements that respond to the materials and character of the surrounding architecture.
Carol Patterson of OMA presents the award-winning Brighton College and explains how the complex facade creates overall transparency with excellent ventilation, acoustic and thermal performance.
Watch this AT webinar, in partnership with Schüco, as we explore the future of sustainable, multitasking façades:
Video by Architecture Today