Volume 6 | Issue 2
July-August 2023
ENHANCING AESTHETICS AND PERFORMANCE: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EXTERIOR CLADDING IN BUILDINGS
Experts’ thoughts on current trends & technologies in Exterior Cladding, Future Opportunities, and so on..
INDUSTRY SPEAKS
Interview with Sreenivas
Technical & Compliance DirectorMiddle East & Asia Pacific, Siderise Insulation
In the world of architecture and design, there is a concept that has become a catalyst, for innovation and aesthetic transformation; cladding. This technique, which used to be primarily functional has now become a trend that not enhances the visual appeal of buildings but also offers numerous opportunities for the construction industry and beyond.
In the past exterior cladding was mainly meant to protect structures from the outside elements. However, the landscape of design has undergone a change. Cladding is now viewed as a canvas for creativity. From sleek glass façades that reflect skylines to wooden panels that blend with natural surroundings, there are endless possibilities. With climate change and limited resources being pressing concerns worldwide cladding has also responded by incorporating eco materials and energy designs.
The widespread adoption of cladding brings about opportunities. Firstly, it provides an avenue for innovation in the construction industry. Architects and engineers can collaborate to explore materials and techniques related to cladding. This creates job prospects in a sector for professionals who are knowledgeable about cladding installation and maintenance.
Furthermore, there are benefits associated with innovative cladding solutions. These solutions contribute to energy efficiency by insulating buildings thereby reducing reliance, on artificial heating and cooling systems. This in turn leads to a decrease, in carbon emissions aligning with the goals of development. As consumers become more conscious about living in a way property with eco-friendly cladding could potentially have a higher value in the real estate market.
From a perspective, cladding allows for a combination of tradition and modernity. It enables the reinterpretation of architecture. Revitalizes urban landscapes by blending contemporary design with cultural heritage. In a world that values identity and uniqueness exterior cladding provides an opportunity for individuality to stand out amidst uniformity. However, there are still challenges to overcome. Balancing aesthetics with functionality requires planning and execution. The durability of cladding materials especially considering changing weather patterns raises concerns that require research and development. Ensuring safety and compliance with building codes also demands attention.
In conclusion, the widespread adoption of cladding is not merely a trend; it is a transformative force that reshapes skylines, industries, and attitudes toward construction. As this trend continues to evolve it presents opportunities, for innovation, sustainability, and cultural expression.
This edition’s cover story includes the experts’ views on cladding trends & technologies, challenges, and the future of the industry. Apart from this, read the expert’s written article covering different topics of façade & fenestration, industry stalwarts’ interviews, and case studies.
We would like to invite you to suggest topics that’re important, to you, for magazine articles. Additionally, we highly appreciate any comments or thoughts you have regarding our published works. Write us at editorial@ wfmmedia.com.
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How Metal Buildings Withstand Extreme Weather Conditions
Chris Egg, Business Development & Marketing Manager, Viking Steel StructuresA
Building Safety Remediation Scheme: A Crucial Step Towards Ensuring Safe Homes for All
Deepa Mistry FCCA, Chief Executive Officer, Building Safety Crisis
Why the Façade System is to be Tested for Air Infiltration
Reji Bhami, Director- Eminent International Testing Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates I Hyderabad, India
Green Walls-Cladding by Another Name
Dr. James Glockling, Visiting Professor, University of Central Lancashire
Enhancing Building Safety: The Synergy of Façade Design in Fire and Wind Resistance
Ahmad Ayub, Senior Consultant - Fire & Life Safety, WSP Middle East
Enhancing Aesthetics and Performance: The Significance of Exterior Cladding in Buildings
Experts’ thoughts on current trends & technologies in Exterior Cladding, Future Opportunities, and so on...
Industry Speaks
Interview with Sreenivas Narayanan, Technical & Compliance Director - Middle East & Asia Pacific, Siderise Insulation
Face to Face
Interview with Marwa Abla, Co-Founder & CEO, MAB Design Studio
Front & Back Cover Courtesy: DP Façades PTE LTD
Published by: F and F Middle East FZ-LLC
Founder: Amit Malhotra
Editorial: Renu Rajaram renu@wfmmedia.com
Shefali Bisht editorial@wfmmedia.com
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About the Author
CHRIS EGG
Business Development & Marketing Manager, Viking Steel Structures
Chris Egg is a blogger and marketing specialist at Viking Steel Structures. He has been writing about metal buildings for over 5 years and has a deep understanding of the industry. Chris is passionate about helping people find the right metal building for their needs and loves sharing his knowledge with others. He is also a frequent contributor to the Viking Steel Structures blog, where he writes about a variety of topics related to metal buildings, including design, construction, financing, and maintenance.
You may have heard this over & over again. Metal buildings are resilient to extreme weather. The reason lies in the strength of the raw materials – steel. It is one of the most robust materials used on earth in construction.
Galvanised steel is coated with zinc to prevent rusting. What’s more, they can be designed to tolerate extreme climate events like hurricanes or tornados. In case there are minor damages, it can be repaired or rebuilt easily & faster.
So, a question that might arise in your head is, what makes metal buildings so strong that they can withstand extreme weather conditions? Let’s see them one by one.
It is one of the properties of metal to stretch and bend without breaking. This feature makes metal structures ideal for seismic prone regions and high wind areas. Ductility ensures that metal can withstand a lot of pressure and force without any damage.
Metal is extremely strong compared to wood or resin. What makes it stronger is its strength to weight ratio. For example, strength to weight ratio for stainless steel is ~63.
Metal is not a flammable substance. The melting point of carbon steel is 2597-2800oF; stainless steel is 2500-
2785oF. Simply put, a metal building will not catch or spread fire quickly. So, it is a safer option to protect your assets from getting damaged.
With options like a vertical roof, the snow will slide off easily due to gravity. Also, metal buildings can be designed to withstand heavy snow loads of up to 40 pounds per square foot.
Depending on your area, your metal roof can be angled to slide off all the snow on its own. You can reinforce metal buildings’ roofs for additional strength if you live in a heavy snowfall area.
Metals do not absorb water. Moreover, if you have a vertical roof, water will slide off quickly without getting logged on the roof. Additionally, you can install a gutter that will redirect the water flow to a drainage area keeping your metal building dry.
Metal structures can be designed to withstand wind ratings of 120 to 170 miles per hour. You can get wind certified building from your dealer. If you live in highly windy states like Alabama, Texas, Florida, or others, ensure that you chat with your metal supplier before buying your steel building.
Usually, the metal structure has to meet the local building codes and guidelines before being installed on the site. It would be best to secure a permit before beginning the construction work. You must attach a blueprint of your building’s design to this permit.
But What about the Building Façades?
Façades are the exterior appearance of the building that gives it an aesthetic look. Of course, façades would suffer damage in case of extreme weather events. But the good thing is they can be repaired or replaced as they do not bear main structural support. Let’s see some examples of building façades.
Natural stone
They are durable, unique, and add aesthetic to your building. You can combine them with others
Brick
You must have seen brick used as a décor to enhance buildings’ external appearance. It adds texture to the wall. You can get it in various colours, blends, and textures.
These are horizontal panels made of paper and lamination. They may look like a wooden panel except for low cost and stability.
Stucco
It is a mixture of sand, cement, lime & water. You can apply various coats to get the desired look. You can add pigment in the raw
mix to lessen the maintenance & repainting.
Steel panels are the best choice if you are looking for a modern chic industrial style home. Long lasting, easy installation, and affordable, what else do you need? It comes in various colour options.
Aluminium Sliding
Moisture problem – check; rusting problem – check; lightweight –check! It comes in various sizes & styles and looks great with other façades.
Artificial Stone
Artificial or faux stone looks like stone, except they are lightweight. These are low density foam and generally waterproof.
Engineered Lap Sliding
Think of it as an advanced version of a hardboard. These are modern and have smooth finishing. The majority of them are moisture proof & rot proof. You can choose the color of your choice as well.
Metal Cladding
From a range of metals like aluminium, copper, zinc, steel, etc.,
you can design a façade of your choice. Aluminum façades are moisture proof, lightweight, low maintenance & best option for coastal homes.
Ceramic Cladding
It is a sustainable material made of clay. It gives fire and heat protection. It blocks external noise.
Concrete Cladding
Concrete is durable, cheap, and can be customised for desired shape and texture.
It is the most popular and visually appealing. As the name suggests, it gives a 3D appearance to the building wall.
Metal building is the best choice for you if you live in a place that experiences heavy rainfall, snowfall, hail, storm, tornado, or hurricane. So, you can boldly go for it. Having to rebuild the entire structure from scratch can be a financial pain. So, why go through it? Get a high-quality steel building from a reputed manufacturer & rest assured that your possessions are safe.
Deepa Mistry FCCA Chief Executive Officer, Building Safety Crisis
Deepa Mistry FCCA is a Senior Financial professional and Board member in the not-for-profit sector, STEM Ambassador, mother of three, and leaseholder affected by dangerous building cladding. As CEO of Building Safety Crisis Ltd, Deepa is heavily involved in the Polluter Pays legislation and is the winner of the Women in Fire Safety Award for Education in 2022, Finalist of the Brunel University Alumni of the Year 2023, Highly Commended Woman in Fire Safety 2023, nominee for the National Federation of Building Top 100 Women in Construction and Women in Construction Influencer. Her aim is to make the residential environment safer for all, regardless of race, gender, and social background.
“Following the tragic fire at Grenfell where 72 innocent people lost their lives, there has been a Pandora’s box discovery of a quagmire of decades of building safety failures. That’s right, in this day and age, in the UK, we are living in potential death traps because of flammable cladding, insulation, poor fire breaks, and so on. This list is scarily, growing by the day.”
I wrote these words two and a half years ago under the expectation that I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today.
Where I am today, is exactly no further from unburdening myself of the property I purchased in 2010 under a governmental shared ownership scheme that after Grenfell in 2017 was discovered to be enveloped in a similarly and equally dangerous form of cladding. Failed attempts at selling the property highlighted how serious an issue and how widespread this problem was, and led to my devoting an incredible amount of personal time to solving the “Building Safety Crisis”. What I hadn’t fully understood was that even though my building had been remediated by 2018, there was an inherent lack of trust running through the industry, with the resident incorrectly shouldering the responsibility.
What is known is that the aluminium cladding on many post-2000 buildings is dangerous, they are proven to be flammable, as is the insulation, and along with missing firebreaks would spread a fire quicker than was safe to evacuate all residents or get under control. As a result of deregulation to speed up the homebuilding process and attract more homeownership in the UK,
decades of cost-cutting led to the bottom line being more important than residential safety.
The cladding needs to come off. The firebreaks need to be built in. The fire alarm systems should be in place. Effective fire management systems should have been fitted at the time of building such as sprinklers. They are in the offices we work in, so why has this been neglected in the homes we live in? I spent months watching contractors put up scaffolding to remove cladding, insulation, and membrane; then leave my building naked for 5 months in the cold winter season. I watched the Waking Watch security patrol my building and sit in the top stairwell with headphones in, unaware of any risks. I watched with joy the scaffolding come down until I attempted to start the sales process.
This crisis is all about trust, homeowners do not trust constructors and so won’t buy again, lenders do not trust the constructors and so won’t mortgage a property, and insurers do not trust the constructors so increase premiums. This all led to the development of a certification called the EWS1 form (External Wall System) in an attempt to restore that trust. The trouble was, however, trying to find enough suitably qualified engineers with the appropriate level of personal indemnity to assess and sign off an EWS1. This small pool was less than 300 in number, and with a potential 4.5m leaseholders affected, this meant surveying blocks with approximately 1.9-2.2m dwellings (source Fire Safety Bill, IA HO0365, March 2020). The possibility of being assessed turned into an estimated wait of 10 years, even though we were already remediated. I couldn’t wait 10 years to know if my building
was safe, with my daughter and sons growing up teenagers still sharing a bedroom. Something had to be done.
Speaking to other residents I realised there were hundreds of stories similar to mine; of lives on hold - weddings and families delayed, job and career moves affected, home moves halted. I could not sit back and watch us live this stress day in and day out, and co-founded a community at Building Safety Crisis Ltd where we could share information and have a voice. This entirely voluntarily run organisation was the platform to launch the people’s solution to the crisis and was informally known as “Polluter Pays”. Through many iterations, it was an answer to the question of “who pays”, “who is responsible” and “how soon”. In 2022 it was debated by MPs and Lords in the House of Commons and House of Lords. Government removed through this work, the ruinous proposed Leaseholder Loans. In 2023, the formal amendment known as the Building Safety Remediation Scheme will be tabled as an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. There are groups of leaseholders excluded in current legislation whom this amendment will protect: those
in buildings under 11m, blocks where the developer does not exist, and leaseholders with more than three properties. It also offers full protection for waking watch, cladding, and non-cladding costs.
The key here is to ensure all buildings are checked, liability correctly assigned and to stop dangerous quality building as we have seen so far. By using individual building determinations, liability is assigned outside of the courts. This speed up the availability of money and implementation of remediation schemes. Cladding manufacturers will be held accountable for their part in the crisis through the expanded levy. This will restore the trust within the industry that has been lacking over the last few years.
We have been waiting for over six years, and face an urgent situation as people are living in dangerous buildings and during this time there have been over 25 fire safety-related full building evacuations.
Without the protections, blocks will continue to be un-remediated, cause untold stress, a mental health crisis, and delay lives further. Please support the Earl of Lytton’s Building Safety Remediation Scheme and allow residents to live safely.
Reji Bhami
Director- Eminent International Testing Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates I Hyderabad, India
Reji Bhami has over 19 years of experience in façade testing in the Middle East, India, and other Asian Countries. He has handled several iconic projects such as Dubai International Airport [UAE], Hamad International Airport-Doha (Qatar), Riyad Metro Stations (KSA), Nirlon Knowledge ParkMumbai [India], St. Regis Hotel- Amman (Jordan), French Avenue Project (Lebanon), Cairo Festival City (Egypt), Crescent Tower - Baku (Azerbaijan), Future Museum Dubai (UAE), etc. He has obtained training from BSRIA (UK) as well as ATTMA for air tightness testing. Reji has completed several air tightness tests in the Middle as part of the LEED certification programme as well as Dubai Green Building Regulations and ESTIDAMA requirements.
If the façade system is not airtight, several damages and issues can occur once the resident starts to stay in the building. Following are the potential consequences of a non-airtight façade assembly.
Energy loss is one of the major problems which a resident will face if there is excessive air leakage.
Air leaks through the façade can lead to significant energy loss by allowing conditioned air to escape as well as the outside air to infiltrate into the building. This can increase heating and cooling demands, resulting in higher energy consumption. This is not only increasing utility costs but also damaging our environmental system.
The non-airtight façades system may require more frequent maintenance as well as repairs to address issues such as water damage, mould remediation, degraded building materials, etc. This can result in additional costs and inconvenience for building owners and occupants.
This will also reduce the lifespan of building components. Uncontrolled air infiltration can accelerate the deterioration of building materials
due to moisture exposure, leading to premature aging and decreased durability of the façade components.
Excessive air leakage will create moisture infiltration. The Nonairtight façades can allow the entry of moisture-laden outdoor air into the building envelope. This moisture infiltration can result in condensation on all interior surfaces, leading to mould growth, deterioration of building
materials, and potential damage to finishes, furniture, and equipment. Prolonged moisture exposure can compromise the structural integrity of the building components. This will also create severe health issues such as respiratory issues, allergies, and other health concerns for occupants. Please note that air leaks can introduce outdoor pollutants, dust, and allergens into the building, negatively affecting indoor air quality.
Air leaks in the façade can allow the transmission of external noise into the building, reducing acoustic comfort. This can disrupt concentration, hinder productivity, and create an unpleasant environment for occupants.
How to make sure the building is airtight?
Proper Design is required. Careful attention should be given to the selection of appropriate building
materials and construction techniques to minimise air leakage pathways. It is crucial to design and construct façades with airtightness in mind. Proper sealing of joints, windows, and other openings, etc., along with the use of appropriate air barriers and insulation. Once the system is designed, this has to be tested for air leakage testing along with other necessary tests such as water penetration, structural stability, building movement, etc.
High-Quality materials and their construction are to be properly monitored. Ensuring the construction is carried out meticulously and according to best practices can significantly reduce the likelihood of air leaks.
Proper air barrier systems take a major role in façade design in terms of air leakage. Installing continuous air barrier systems, such as membranes, sealants, taping, etc. at critical locations can help prevent air infiltration and exfiltration.
Regular inspections and maintenance are also important to identify and address any potential air leakage issues.
ASTM E283 is one of the most common standards being used for determining Air leakage tests. The standard test method was developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) to determine the rate of air leakage through exterior windows, curtain walls, and doors under specified pressure differences across the specimen. This test is commonly known as the “Standard Test Method for Determining Rate of Air Leakage Through Exterior Windows, Curtain Walls, and Doors Under Specified Pressure Differences Across the Specimen.”
The purpose of ASTM E283 is to assess the airtightness of building components, specifically fenestration products such as windows, doors, and curtain walls. The test helps determine the air infiltration and exfiltration rates, which are essential for evaluating the energy efficiency and overall performance of these building elements.
During the ASTM E283 test, the specimen such as façade, doors and windows etc. is subjected to various pressure differences across its exterior surfaces, simulating the conditions it may encounter in real-world scenarios. The pressure differences are typically induced by a fan system, and the airflow rate is measured with a calibrated device under controlled conditions.
An airtight test chamber is required to perform an air infiltration test as per ASTM E283. The test specimen, which is a specific window, door, or
curtain wall assembly, is installed on the same.
The differential pressure measuring device will be used to measure the range of pressure differences between the interior and exterior sides. These pressure differences simulate the wind loads that the building components would experience during normal use.
An Air Flow Measurement system and a calibrated fan system are used to create the pressure differences, and airflow is measured across the specimen at different pressure levels.
The rate of air leakage (in cubic feet per minute or cubic meters per hour) is recorded at each pressure level, and this data is used
to calculate the air infiltration and exfiltration rates.
The results obtained from the test can be compared to building codes, standards, or project specification requirements to assess if the fenestration product meets the airtightness criteria.
ASTM E283 provides a standardised method for evaluating the airtightness of fenestration products, helping architects, engineers, and manufacturers ensure that these building components meet industry performance standards, enhance energy efficiency, and contribute to a comfortable and sustainable built environment.
ASTM E783, CWCT, BS EN 1026, BS EN 12153, AS/NZS 4284, etc. are similar standards for determining air leakage through façade, doors, and windows being used in the industry.
Test procedures and classification or criteria are different in each standard. The test standards are normally specified in the project specifications.
The above-mentioned test standards are specifically applicable to façade system testing.
The building can be leaked from other elements as well such as leakage through the electrical conduit, improper sealing of risers, leakage of the HVAC system, etc.
An airtightness test can be conducted to measure this leakage as well.
The common airtightness test standards are BS EN ISO 9972, ATTMA TSL1 & TSL2, etc.
The purpose of this test is to assess the amount of uncontrolled air leakage through the building envelope, including walls, windows, doors, and other openings. The airtightness of a building is an important factor in determining its energy efficiency, as air leakage that can result in heat loss and higher energy consumption for heating and cooling which is mentioned above.
During air tightness testing, the building to be tested should be
sealed and unoccupied during the test. All external doors and windows should be closed, and any openings, such as vents, should be temporarily sealed to ensure accurate measurements.
The test will be conducted by a blower door system, which includes a calibrated fan that is installed in an exterior door or opening of the building. The fan is used to pressurise or depressurise the building, and pressure sensors are used to measure the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the building.
The blower door fan is set up and installed in an exterior door or opening. The fan is then used to create a pressure difference between the inside and outside of the building. The pressure difference is typically measured at 50 Pascals (Pa), which is approximately the pressure difference that occurs under normal wind conditions.
Results and Compliance: The results of the airtightness test can be used to determine the building’s compliance with airtightness requirements specified in national or regional building codes or standards. In some cases, the test results may also be used for energy performance certifications or to identify areas for improvement in the building envelope.
It is important to note that specific details of the test procedure may vary depending on local regulations and practices, but BS EN ISO 9972 and ATTMA TSL standards provide a standardised method for conducting airtightness tests in buildings. The test is typically carried out by trained and certified professionals to ensure accuracy and consistency in the results.
the Author
Dr. James Glockling Visiting Professor, University of Central Lancashire, England
Dr. James Glockling is a Principal Fire Protection Engineer within the Naval Engineering Team of BMT, consultant, and is the current Chair of BSI FSH/16 ‘Hazards to life from fire’. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering. Following post-doctorate study, he worked as, a lecturer in Chemical Engineering and Fire Safety Engineering, a forensic fire investigator, and ran research laboratories at the Loss Prevention Council (LPC), Building Research Establishment (BRE), and the Fire Protection Association (FPA) where he ran the UK insurance research scheme, RISCAuthority. Jim’s principal areas of expertise are in suppression and detection technologies and complex risk mitigation scenarios. Jim is also visiting Professor at the University of Central Lancashire and continues to work promoting resilience in the commercial built environment and maritime sectors.
Green or living walls are becoming a familiar feature of the built environment. Whilst their relevance to sustainability and net-zero might not be clear they do present a public statement of green intent and do benefit city biodiversity, air purity, thermal environment, noise, and no doubt mental health. With all of these benefits, whilst possibly unpopular, there is a need to consider the challenges that their introduction creates for the safety and insurability of the building they are deployed on. Once included as small decorative areas on buildings, they are now proposed for much greater expanses, covering an entire side, or even every side, of tall buildings, and perhaps this best explains the current raised level of interest in addressing their potential fire implications. Building life safety is normally well addressed within our regulations, but on green walls, there are inconsistencies between ADB and other government guides, and the allowance of a 2-track system for compliance enables them to incorporate materials and be tested in a way that would never pass muster in a normal façade system for certain building types which, in this post-Grenfell era,
seems both wrong and completely counter-intuitive.
In my view, there is an obvious need to stop thinking about green walls as anything except another form of cladding – the outmost layer of a façade system. Building façade engineering is an involved and increasingly complex area that demands very specific expertise to ensure its whole-life performance, meeting stringent requirements for weather protection including wind resistance, thermal efficiency, acoustic performance, light transmittance, security, lifespan, and of course fire safety. Engineering detailing and installation accuracy is paramount, and many organisations, assurance and product certification schemes, exist to promote quality.
A typical rain-screen type façade system is a kit-of-parts comprising innermost, the building’s structure that supports it, layers of insulation, membranes, a cavity for moisture and air pressure management, and outermost the building’s skin –the visible cladding which might normally be formed of masonry tiles, metal composite sheets like
ACM, or a myriad of other options, can now include green walling. Horizontally mounted open-state cavity barriers within the façade’s cavity are designed to close under the action of fire to seal against the rear face of cladding panels to prevent vertical spread, and horizontal spread is restricted by the placement of vertical closedstate cavity barriers.
Green walling systems come in different configurations, but a not uncommon current design employs plastic planting modules filled with growing medium, the plants, and an associated irrigation system (plastic pipe and guttering). Now visualise a rain-screen system where the outermost cladding panels are replaced by the green wall system, and you soon realise where the challenges lie:
• The cavity within the façade is now bounded by the insulation (which might be plastic) and the plastic of the rear of the potting system (without even the metal sheet protection afforded by an ACM), a situation that has the potential to support fire spread at a rate greater than open-state
• cavity barriers may function, effective cavity closure against the often uneven profiled back of the potting system might be almost impossible and closure against combustible materials needs very careful consideration,
• Any profiling of combustible materials within the cavity surface acts to increase the available fuel load above that of a flat surface, and
• The fire spread up the planted vegetation.
Approved document B cites that the external walls of buildings, in respect of green walls, should meet the performance criteria of fullscale façade testing as described in BR135 using the BS 8414 test methodology, a demanding 8+ metre test with full room flashover fire simulation of 3.5 MW heat output, used for all façade systems; or the green wall ‘best practice fire safety guidance document, Fire Performance of Green Roofs and walls, published by DCLG in 2013. By comparison, the best practice guide establishes fire suitability for the whole system from the smallscale Single Burning Item (SBI) test of EN 13823 (1.5 metres high with a fire heat output of just 30 kW), a test more normally used for single materials with flat surfaces.
Of the two options one is clearly much more demanding than the other and the use of SBI can be easily criticised for its small fire challenge and front-face-only fire application where the problems of fire spread within a combustible cavity (the greatest threat) are unlikely to be revealed at that heat output and on that timescale. I have observed enough BS 8414 tests to know that the fire is severe enough to always challenge the cavity and
its contents even if the cladding is fully non-combustible. Those who recall the issues in the 1980s with combustible sandwich panels used in the food industry, know-how inappropriate small-scale testing (the cone calorimeter in this case) can promote products and give false assurance to building systems that behave disastrously at fullscale (later sorted out by insurers introducing the large scale LPS 1181 test that allowed sandwich panels to delaminate and spill their contents under fire at full span). The front-face protection afforded by the soil and plants is obviously greatly influenced by irrigation, plant selection, and the presence
of water and this alone introduces some interesting considerations:
• No other product standards allow performance to be assessed wet for the simple reason that at times, they might not be wet. Is this an abuse of BS EN 13501-1? what if a request came along to test other building products with a wet flannel draped over them?
• If the safety of the building and its occupants is linked to the correct function of the irrigation system, then by default it becomes a life-safety system in its own right and needs to be designed, installed, and maintained as such. For
guidance on what it takes to make water supplies resilient, a good starting point is the LPC Rules for Automatic Sprinkler Installations – it is not a trivial or cheap matter,
• Should the green wall ever dry out, is the building safe to use and occupy? A question for Building Control and the Fire Service,
• Is a test that can be passed or failed based upon the species of living vegetation used a good test?
Just as failures are caused by the alignment of many poor factors (the Swiss cheese model), the
same applies to the correct operation of the systems designed for protection – a green wall installation justified on the grounds of the SBI apparatus alone must always be as wet, AND always have the same plants, AND those plants must always be in the same healthy condition, AND the presented fire must not be greater than 30 kW, AND fire must never enter the cavity, AND fire must not start in the cavity (i.e. kitchen vent), etc. With every additional requirement, the aggregate probability of safe function reduces – you start to quickly appreciate why insurers favour non-combustible materials – they have few other dependencies to perform.
I must confess that it is not clear to me why green walls have been afforded special consideration within Building Regulations. If treating them as cladding systems, excludes their use, one can only assume that the government is prepared to make compromises to safety to make buildings and cities prettier.
So how will a green wall system of the plastic pot type fare when subjected to the BS 8414 test? To a certain extent, this can be answered by a recent ‘worst-case’ experiment funded by AXA Insurance at the Fire Protection Association’s facilities in Moreton-in-Marsh. The material components of an unplanted (no soil or plants) green wall system that, as a planted system achieved a B-s2 d0 fire rating, were subjected to the BS 8414 fire load with a 5m high sample on one face of the test rig. The tested components included the aluminium mounting rails, irrigation system (not watercharged), and guttering system.
Whilst it is certain that there would be differences in the reaction of the front face if planted up, as plant material dries and burns off and growing medium dries, the likely involvement of the unprotected plastic in the cavity and associated plastic pipes and fittings remains valid. At the very least the configuration is relevant to an ‘under construction’ scenario.
If the system installed was compliant with the full requirement of BS 8414 it will not surprise the reader that the system would fail to meet the requirements of BR135, failing on the grounds of both internal and external fire spread, with the size of fire limited only by the amount of system installed. In under 5 minutes, the plastic had burned out completely to the full height of 5 metres above the crib and proceeded to burn laterally. The fire was extinguished soon after.
So, two systems of appraisal that might (subject to establishing the extent of protection afforded by wet soil in the BS 8414 test) give different results - this clearly needs some thought. When testing gaseous fire protection systems there are a number of tests that can be used for the determination of the ‘extinguishing concentration’. These vary greatly in scale from bench-top equipment to large rooms, but the standards state that the value determined at the largest scale will prevail and even then a large safety factor is applied to give the end-user ‘design concentration’ - something similar could be specified for green-walls, but what would that mean for systems installed on the grounds of SBI data, if a future BS 8414 test might give a different result? (are we removing cladding again?)
Like any insurance company, before providing cover for a building, AXA needs to make a judgment on how the prospect will perform in a fire event. Many names and versions are used but the key metric is Estimated Maximum Loss, or EML. This describes the most that are likely to be lost to a single fire event and consider the key routes for mass fire spread: through the occupied compartments of the building, through hidden voids, and over the external surfaces. Grenfell and other large cladding fires demonstrate how the poor choice of external coverings can communicate fires to all floors and compartments readily – a situation that defeats all internal active and passive fire safety measures. A building with a high EML may present challenges in terms of availability, ease, and cost of insurance. Nick Tilley of AXA Insurance states “Early and detailed engagement with insurance risk
engineers and underwriters is very important so all aspects of project design including resilience to wind as well as fire can be fully reviewed. This needs to include the robustness of monitored irrigation systems and any backup to ensure the plants remain healthy plus the ongoing maintenance of both the plants and the irrigation system”.
Other versions of green walling do of course exist, and great effort has been made to remove all combustible content (aside from the plants themselves) by others including Vertical Meadow.
Originally a façade engineer from ARUP, Alistair Law has developed a hydroponic aluminium cassette system that grows the plants in a non-combustible medium. “The events at Grenfell profoundly impacted me as a façade engineer, hence fire and biodiversity enhancement were non-negotiable requirements when we started
designing our living wall cladding panel. I recognise the remaining fire spread limitations; however, I believe this can be addressed in the configuration by good design principles. Getting this right safely is essential in restoring biodiversity to our cities and planet, there is a lot at stake for everyone.” The cassettes that replace the cladding have a flat back, are a suitable surface for open-state cavity barriers to seal against, and introduce no additional combustible materials into the all-important rain-screen cladding void. There’s still the issue of fire spreading up the plants to deal with, a not inconsiderable remaining challenge that might demand the use of forestry-like fire breaks, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction for reducing the number of combustible materials on buildings. It is understood that noncombustible versions (metal) of the soil potting system format tested are also available or proposed.
Ahmad Ayub Senior Consultant - Fire & Life Safety, WSP Middle East
Ahmad Ayub is a Senior Consultant specialising in the Fire and Life Safety field since 2015. With several years of practical experience under his belt, Ahmad is steadily developing his expertise and understanding of fire dynamics and safety measures. Ahmad has developed a comprehensive skill set in fire protection, prevention, and life safety systems and expertise in local and international codes and standards including NFPA and IBC. Ahmad’s growth aligns with the evolving landscape of fire safety practices, highlighting his dedication to continuous learning. Exploring Ahmad’s experiences offers insights into the journey of a determined fire consultant committed to enhancing life and property protection.
The concept of Fire and Life Safety holds a pivotal role within the realm of building and structural design, encompassing a multitude of vital components including Architecture, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) systems, as well as the design of façades. While each of these aspects plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety of occupants, the focus on developing and implementing fire-resistant façades has notably gained momentum on a global scale in recent times. This growing attention is a result of an increased understanding and consciousness regarding the potential risks
associated with fire incidents and, in part, due to unfortunate occurrences of fires that specifically involved building façades.
This heightened emphasis on firesafe façades is not just a localised phenomenon but rather a global response to a series of incidents that have highlighted vulnerabilities within building exteriors. It reflects a collective commitment to proactively address potential fire risks and implement advanced preventative measures. The adoption of stringent regulations and standards regarding façade design further underscores
the serious intent behind enhancing Fire and Life Safety in buildings.
Building codes and standards establish specific guidelines for constructing façades to mitigate the impact of fires involving these exterior building elements. These regulations require façades to be prinicipally made from non-combustible materials or combustible materials that have undergone testing to establish that they comply with fire safety standards. The objective is to evaluate the fire performance of external, non-load-bearing wall assemblies, particularly when modern construction materials and insulation are used. A notable example is the NFPA where an approximately 2-storey wall assembly is constructed to evaluate the performance of the combustible building materials, in a prescribed format, but with the actual buildup of layers intended for use in a building. A controlled fire is then ignited within the assembly to replicate an interior-originating fire breaking out to the exterior and impinging on the façade above.
Source: securonorway.com
Throughout the test, various factors like flame propagation, temperatures within cavities, around window openings and 2nd storey are measured to monitor fire’s progression.
Moreover, façade designs are formulated to prevent continuous vertical gaps that could facilitate the upward spread of fire through the “chimney effect.” A well-designed façade must neither propagate fire nor enable the transfer of fire or heat between different areas (compartmentation). It should also maintain its structural integrity for a reasonable duration during fire exposure to minimise the risk of injuries caused by falling materials and debris. To obstruct potential vertical fire pathways, non-combustible cavity barriers are strategically placed, often at each floor level.
The “chimney effect” refers to the swift spread of fire within an air gap behind the cladding. As the fire consumes the oxygen in this gap, it rapidly moves upward in search of more oxygen. Fires that propagate in this concealed gap can spread faster than fires on the external façade due to the buoyancy of hot air in the gap, radiation of heat back into the fire, and the facade material being heated from both the cavity and external faces. Since the fire is concealed behind the cladding, firefighting efforts become challenging.
In the event of a flashover inside a room, fire can break the external glass and escape through a window. The resulting flames and hot gases can then burn facade material or break glass above the opening, leading to fire re-entry into the room on the floor above. This mechanism, known as the “Leap-Frog” effect, has the potential to repeat itself on successive floors. This process can
lead to rapid fire spread throughout the building.
External wind can also significantly impact fire dynamics. When external wind interacts with a fire, combustion products and smoke are expelled from openings and/or may be forced back toward the building façade due to the Coanda effect. The Coanda effect is the tendency of a flow to stay attached to a nearby surface rather than following a straight line in its original direction. This interaction is a common cause of external fire spread. Façade designs also typically incorporate a fire-rated spandrel panel (typically 915 mm high) to provide a vertical separation distance between floors to mitigate the leapfrog effect. The origin of the 915 mm distance is understood to be somewhat arbitrary and many have challenged whether this is sufficient.
Ventilated façade designs are favoured globally for their particularly energy efficiency and therefore climate protection
benefits. A ventilated façade consists of an outer wall, a ventilated gap, and an inner structure. This setup encourages airflow in the cavity between the wall and cladding, offering protection against weather, reducing humidity, and providing shadingfrom sunlight. In summer, the heated cavity induces an upward airflow, preventing excessive heat build-up in the inner wall.
Maintaining unrestricted airflow and drainage behind cladding is crucial for cavity dryness and performance. However, this design also renders façades highly susceptible to fires as explained above. Due to their extensive coverage and rapid fire spread potential, active solutions like exterior sprinklers are both inefficient and costly. Thus, fire safety should primarily rely on passive methods, void of machinery, sensors, or activation. Consequently, employing cavity barriers capable of blocking the flow of flames and hot gases becomes pivotal in preventing fire propagation, even in non-combustible material façades.
Source: stonesizepanels.com
Source: meteroblue (Dubai)
Source: meteroblue (Wellington)
Annual wind data for two cities: a) Dubai, UAE and b) Wellington, New Zealand
One way of achieving a ventilated façade with a sufficient level of fire safety is with the use of intumescent cavity barriers attached to the inner wall, that leave a gap behind the outer cladding skin. These usually include a shortened mineral fibre cavity barrier but with an intumescent strip on their outer edge, which expands or swells upon heat exposure. When exposed to fire, the intumescent strip expands and closes off the cavity to inhibit vertical fire spread. To enhance fire safety in ventilated façades, intumescent cavity barriers can be utilised. These barriers expand when exposed to heat, effectively sealing gaps and halting fire spread within the construction.
One of the key elements in designing fire-safe Façade systems is to study the effects of wind and the impact it has on fire and smoke behaviours inside and outside of a building. Before we delve deeper into the wind effects on fires, let’s look at why it is an important consideration.
The wind profile’s significance in designing tall buildings like skyscrapers is paramount. The wind’s
impact on tall buildings is influenced by the wind profile – how wind speed and direction change with height. As buildings rise, wind forces typically grow more significant. Ground-level obstructions cause turbulence and slow the wind down while higher altitudes experience smoother, swifter winds. Skyscrapers tackle this through aerodynamic design for stability.
The figures at the top indicate wind annual wind data for two cities: a) Dubai, UAE, and b) Wellington, New Zealand. These figures are provided to put into context the extent wind speeds can reach.
These velocities are typically measured at a height of 10 m above ground level. Above this surface level, the wind velocity increases until it reaches gradient winds as indicated in the figure below.
Wind can have diverse impacts on fires across various stages of their development. However, understanding its effects remains limited compared to other extensively studied subjects. Smoke movement in a building is propelled by many factors such as buoyancy of
combustion gases, gas expansion, ventilation systems, stack effect, and wind. In calm air, fires are primarily driven by buoyancy and material combustibility. Yet, wind-influenced fires pose intricate dynamics. Wind significantly influences fires by augmenting oxygen supply, and intensifying flames and it also reduces surface fuel humidity, further escalating flame strength. Although wind can also diminish fire intensity by dispersing heat and
Source: meteoblue (Wellington, New Zealand)
patterns they develop when acting against a building depend on many
Reference: https://sinovoltaics.com/learning-center/basics/location-factor-for-wind-and-solar/
How wind affects fires concerning changes in the geometry of flamefront in building cladding
factors such as building geometry and shape. Several studies either through computational models or small-scale experiments have been conducted to understand how wind affects fires concerning changes in the geometry of flame front in building cladding.
Studies on urban and large mass fires have found that there are various wind-fire interactions that play an important role in the initiation, development, and spread of large fires. However, we are not aware of a conclusive study to determine the effects of wind on exterior structural fires. Current studies show that:
• External wind acting perpendicular to a fire reduce the flame height.
• The outflow of unburned combustible gases is increasingly hindered by increasingly high velocities.
• External wind acting parallel or across (at an angle) to the fire location cause lateral tilting of the flame which increases its area when compared to no wind or perpendicular wind condition.
These effects, from one of the studies using a computational
model, are depicted in the figure below.
However, most of these studies have been conducted on a rectangularshaped building with no effects considered from the adjacent terrain on wind flow patterns or did not account for the effect of the wind flow patterns generated by the full building geometry. Geometries that promote airflow along the building promote airflow or that result in the entrapment of air pockets require further studies and investigations to fully understand the effects of the wind effects on fires. A building situated in a wind flow path creates complex and varying flow patterns which maybe very different from a thin façade structure.
The current test standard for façade fire performance does not include the effects of wind when
conducting fire tests. NFPA 285 requires the test apparatus and test specimen to be protected from exposure to wind/precipitation and limits the airflow across the exterior face of the test specimen to less than 1.3 m/s. Similarly, BS 8414 required the air velocity in any direction shall be less than 2 m/s at the start of the test.
Test standards mainly focus on indoor testing, often disregarding wind effects. Introducing wind effects in these tests creates challenges in terms of reproducibility and repeatability of the test standards. And there is no concrete proof that higher wind velocities consistently lead to an increased flame spread.
Lateral flame spread caused by wind is suggested to be more profound in the case of easily ignitable combustible façades. Wind-driven fires could cause more significant fire spread in this case due to increased area of fire. Another aspect is the delamination or falling of burning debris that can be carried over to adjacent buildings or other fuel loads by winds and could result in more severe consequences. This is especially critical in areas with densely packed buildings, narrow streets, parking areas around the building and limited access that can impede the movement of firefighting equipment and personnel.
Wind can affect the pressure distributions in various parts of a building. Wind acting directly on an open-windowed room, increases the room’s internal air pressure proportionate to its speed, thereby pushing air in, whereas rooms on the leeward side experience lower ambient pressure, drawing airflow out.
Room fires with broken out windows in the presence of external wind can lead to rapid and considerable growth in the fire’s heat production due to increased supply of oxygen. Importantly, where windows are open or broken, the external pressure previously resisted by the facade is then transferred to the room’s interior, acting for example on the internal door, which is likely to have a significant impact on its (tested) performance. High-rise buildings cause unpredictable airflow due to increased altitude, and shape underlining the importance of comprehending wind’s effect on smoke and plume spread. Predicting fire spread in buildings is crucial in modern research.
Wind-driven fires pose a severe challenge for firefighters in tall buildings, a problem not solely confined to brush fires, as emerging research and incidents reveal their significance in structure fires. Winds directly affect combustion, offering oxygen that intensifies flames. Fire-generated heat and pressure can shatter windows, while open windows or doors for smoke venting can interact with wind and flames. In such scenarios, external winds can cause unexpected flow paths inside a building.
Flow path is the location between where the fire is and where it wants to go. Under no external wind, openings yield two-way airflow: air enters at the bottom and hot gases exit at the
Source: cfbt-us.com
top. However, with external wind, a unidirectional flow emerges, as wind overpowers fire-generated pressures, driving hot gases inward. Opening access to a fire-origin room results in substantial fire and smoke flow into corridors, endangering firefighters.
Firefighter training and tactical preparation for wind-driven fires enhances effectiveness & reduces injuries. Wind-driven fires, perilous even at ground level, warrant comprehensive understanding by all firefighters. These fires are intricate, unpredictable, and hard to extinguish, especially considering resource constraints at high elevations. This also highlights the importance of façade designs to accommodate high wind pressures, maintain the stability of perimeter fire stop and spandrel areas, and to not delaminate when burning.
Building structures and façades aren’t hermetically sealed; façade airtightness varies based on materials, methods, and building purposes. Modern focus on energy efficiency drives airtight façade design to reduce unwanted air infiltration
and conditioned air loss to enhance comfort, conserve energy, and avert moisture problems. Yet, total airtightness remains impratical, and complex as controlled ventilation is sometimes vital for maintaining indoor air quality.
Wind and external climate can affect the performance of life safety systems inside the building such as smoke control or stair pressurisation due to differences in pressure they cause inside a building. The leakage of external walls and components can detrimentally impact fan performance.
During winter, building shafts like stairways and lift shafts experience vertical air movement due to warm air buoyancy against colder outdoor air; the reverse happens in summer. Termed the stack effect, it notably affects smoke flow in fires. Cold outdoor conditions enhance upward shaft airflow, especially when buoyant smoke is involved. Below the neutral plane, smoke enters and rises; above, smoke exits to building areas. Properly pressurised stairwells counter stack
Source: cppwind.com
effect, nullifying the described smoke flow. Generally, in modern buildings, the stack effect’s influence on most pressurised stairwells and elevators is minor, as the air used in these systems is untreated and matches the shaft temperature.
The more significant factor is the wind pressures affecting the shafts which can reduce the pressure differential across the staircase. In high-rise structures, the wind’s external pressure can vary greatly depending on factors such as building shape, location, and prevailing wind direction and strength. Wind effects can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of stair pressurisation systems in buildings. Stair pressurisation systems are designed to maintain a pressure differential between stairwells and the rest of the building, preventing the infiltration of smoke and toxic gases during a fire. However, strong winds can disrupt this pressure differential. It’s worth noting that, although lift and stair shafts are generally well within the building, the cumulative
effect of air infiltration through the various sources, including the facade, open balcony doors, open windows, exhaust shafts, entrance doors, etc, results in internal spaces such as lift and stair shafts being affected.
When wind blows against the exterior of a building, it can create positive or negative pressure zones on different sides of the structure. These pressure differentials can interfere with the intended airflow patterns of the stair pressurisation system, causing smoke to infiltrate the stairwells or making it difficult for occupants to open stairwell doors due to increased pressure.
Wind effects play a critical role in the performance of atrium smoke control systems, which are designed to manage smoke movement in large open spaces like atriums during fires. Wind can significantly influence the behaviour of smoke, potentially complicating the system’s ability to effectively contain and exhaust smoke. The direction and intensity of the wind can create turbulence within the atrium, affecting smoke
dispersion patterns and potentially causing smoke to spread to areas where it shouldn’t.
In essence, the design of façades once primarily considered a matter of aesthetics, in this context emerged as a pivotal component in the broader scope of Fire and Life Safety. This paradigm shift aligns with the evolving understanding of the integral relationship between building design and occupant protection, urging architects, engineers, and designers to collaboratively forge innovative paths that prioritise safety without compromising on the aesthetic and functional aspects of modern structures. This transition is a call to action, fostering a collaborative spirit among professionals from diverse disciplines to collectively reimagine the concept of façade design. Architects are challenged to seamlessly integrate firesafe materials and innovative construction techniques that fortify façades against the capricious nature of flames and heat. Simultaneously, engineers are called upon to devise systems that harmonise fire safety features with existing building infrastructure, orchestrating a symphony where the resilience of the façade resonates in perfect harmony with the efficiency of life safety systems.
Source: Effect of wind speed and direction on façade fire spread in an isolated rectangular building, Abu-Zidan et. al, Fire Safety Journal, May 2022)
One of the most vulnerable aspects of building design is the façade. Because the majority of the populace is unaware of the material’s performance, they frequently misunderstand the importance of façade design, particularly in limiting or spreading fire spread. Fire safety has traditionally been overlooked in favour of beauty, energy efficiency, cost, and other factors. However, in light of current market trends, this has progressed beyond only the aesthetic aspect and now plays a larger role in light conveyance, acoustical execution, and efficacy.
The importance of cladding in buildings goes beyond functionality and serves as a crucial aspect of modern architecture. It not only protects the structure, from weather conditions but also contributes to its visual appeal. The selection of cladding material, design, and installation technique greatly impact the building’s energy efficiency, durability, and overall aesthetic impact. With a range of options architects, designers, and builders can now choose from various cladding options to seamlessly integrate structures with their surroundings while meeting sustainability and durability requirements.
It is about the universal understanding of the reality that any possible fire threats can only be mitigated when façade systems, materials, and testing are given the attention they deserve. The emphasis should be on a comprehensive approach to examining the performance of façade materials, components of façade design for fire safety, fire testing of façade materials, compartmentalization, and much more.
In this cover story, we will delve into the role of cladding as it has the potential to transform buildings into visually stunning and environmentally responsive works of art. For this, we have interviewed a few industry experts to bring to you all the important aspects related to cladding. Here are the excerpts:
The opinions and ideas of subject-matter experts are featured in this cover story. We sought to collect their thoughts on things like façade fire safety, laws and regulations, appropriate materials, the best approach to build a fire-safe façade, and so on.
Mathieu Meur Director, DP Façade PTE LTD.
Abdulmajid Karanouh International Director, Head of Interdisciplinary Design & Research, Drees & Sommer
Avinash Kumar Executive Director, Godwin Austen Johnson
According to Mathieu Meur, Director, DP Façade PTE LTD., there are hundreds of options in the palette of materials available to designers. These range from translucent or transparent materials, in particular glass and its countless declinations, to solid materials which include several metals (steel, aluminium, zinc, copper, etc.), various essences of timber, earth-based
materials (ceramic, terracotta, bricks), cement-based options (architectural precast, GRC/UHPC, fibre cement boards), to a wide variety of stones, and much more too long to list down. Ultimately, it is up to the façade designers to leverage this enormous range of design options instead of confining themselves to the ubiquitous glass and aluminium which we sadly see on so many buildings, even though so many alternatives are available.
There is a wide range of cladding materials out there indeed that are too many to list within the context of this interview, and the criteria for choosing a material may vary significantly from building to building depending on its context and complex configurations of different factors. Materials can be listed in the following main categories.
• Wood: This material can be used as a structural and weathertight load-bearing exterior wall as well as an external facia (rainscreen) attached to a weathertight wall. It can also be used as a solar screen be it in the form of louvers or Mashrabiya-like lattice. Wood is normally considered a lightweight construction material, whereas certain types, like Bamboo, are heavy-duty and highly durable indeed, especially in hot humid environments, while having excellent thermal insulation qualities. The affordability of wood may vary depending on its source and application, especially when considering treatment against fire, pests, solar rays, and humidity. Depending on the wood type, its articulation, and treatment, it can vary in its application on façades to offer casual/cozy/friendly to high-end/luxury/elegant look and feel indeed, and therefore can be used on various building types from simple huts to luxury palaces. Wood cannot be recycled per se (like metal) due to its organic nature, but it can be re-used in similar or different applications, and where certain types (like Bamboo) can grow much faster than others (like Cedars).
• Stone: A heavy material that is normally used to project more permeance and monumentality (palaces, museums, memorials, etc.) as well as luxury and prestige (high-end residences and offices), as the material is considered heavy-duty (highly durable), fire-resistant, and relatively expensive compared to other streamline solid materials like render or precast concrete. Stone can be used for load-bearing walls (structural) and/or as an exterior cladding material (rainscreen). Stone cannot be recycled per se (like metal) due to its organic nature, but it can be re-used in similar or different applications. Stone cannot naturally be replaced within the lifecycle of any building as it takes a long time to form naturally, and therefore it should be used with a lot of careful planning to be re-used again, as our ancestors did that very well in the past.
• Clay-based: Like Bricks, Terracotta, Ceramics, etc. that undergo a relatively low-tech process (like baking) before they can be used for loadbearing and/or rain screen applications. Claybased products are relatively affordable while offering a variety of looks and feel (shiny/polished or matt/rough, of all textures and colours) for all kinds of applications (from heavy-duty tiles to decorative portraits). They are very durable and fire-resistant and are both recyclable and reusable in different applications.
• Render: This is one of the oldest and most established and affordable types of façade applications, which is mainly comprised of cementitious plaster and paint that are applied to a weathertight wall. Render can be articulated to form all kinds of patterns, textures, and colours, and can be applied to almost any geometrically complex surface. However, due to its manual application, render is always prone to poor workmanship, site conditions, and surface cracking, especially if other components are present behind it like insulation, or if applied at the interface between different building components like a slab and wall. Therefore, it is important to apply joints where higher building movements are expected. Furthermore, render is also available as more industrialised/standardised insulated products, otherwise known as Exterior Insulation Finishing Systems (EIFS) that can be applied to simple and geometrically complex surfaces while reducing (not eliminating) requirements for site workmanship. However, all EIFS components must be compatible otherwise the quality could be severely compromised.
• Precast Concrete: A very heavy and heavy-duty material and affordable indeed, that can take many shapes and sizes (units can reach up to 18m long), with fair-faced (raw look) or treated/ pigmented/painted finished surface. It is used on all types of building applications but generally tends to be avoided on high-rise buildings due to its heaviness which adds substantial dead-load to the main structure of the building. Precast Concrete is generally used for mid-end commercial applications like low-rise residential units and high-end fortified buildings like ministries and embassies. Precast Concrete cannot be recycled but can be reused in different applications.
• Glass: Due to advancements in glass technology over the past few decades, there are thousands of glass products out there that vary in colour and level of transparency and reflectivity. From lowiron (over 90% transparency) to mirrored glass (less than 10% transparency), glass can be used for all kinds of applications and building types. Like metal, however, while it can project slick high-tech/ sophisticated looks, too much of it can also create a sterile look and feel. Too much glass on a building façade can also compromise the comfort and privacy of occupants, in addition to compromising the energy performance of the building due to high heat gain/loss (whether applied in a hot or cold environment). Glass can come in single, double, or triple glazed units to improve thermal and acoustic performance. Glass can be flat, single or doubly-curved either by applying cold-bending (for relaxed curvatures – relatively cheap process) or warm-bending (for tighter curvatures – very expensive process as it requires special three-dimensional molds). Only certain types of non-coated glass applications can be recycled, otherwise, glass can mostly be re-used in different applications.
• Metal: Like Aluminium, Steel, Bronze, etc. metals are usually considered lightweight cladding materials (thin sheets) when compared to heavier applications like pre-cast concrete and even some composite materials like Glass Fibre Reinforced Cement (GFRC). Apart from commercial coated/painted applications like composite aluminium panels, metal cladding can offer unique and stylish looks like polished or brushed stainless steel, rusty bronze, or even rippled titanium. Metal can be moulded and shaped to create geometrically complex surfaces and can be relatively easily perforated due to its strong homogeneous nature. However, metal can also be relatively expensive to fabricate and supply, and difficult to maintain. While metal cladding can project slick high-tech/sophisticated looks, too much of it can also create an industrial/sterile look and feel, which may alienate people. While metal is one of the most recyclable building materials, it requires a lot of energy to do so. As they are generally considered lightweight cladding materials, both metal and glass are widely used on high-rise buildings.
• Composites: Like Glass Fibre Reinforced Cement (GFRC), Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic (GFRP), and Carbon Fibre. While GFRC is the heaviest of the 3 applications, it is still considerably lighter than precast concrete while almost equally durable but significantly more expensive, and can be molded into various shapes and geometric surfaces, including complex doubly-curved or perforated ones. While less fire-resistant and durable than GFRC, GFRP can be manufactured into much larger pieces (units can reach up to 20 meters long), however, due to its high reliance on its fibres for its structural integrity, it likes relatively smooth and large surfaces and does not like perforations, like a boat hull or wind turbine blade. Both GFRC and GFRP are mostly used as non-load-bearing rain-screen cladding. Carbon Fibre is similar to GFRP albeit much stronger (3 times the strength of steel while 12 times lighter), however, both are prone to fire (can melt at relatively low temperatures) while Carbon Fibre is significantly more expensive than GFRP. Therefore, Carbon Fibre is only really recommended for niche and geometrically complex structural cladding features, like special canopies, signages, or exceptionally large cladding units. Being lightweight, relatively durable, and easy to mould and shape, composites are suitable for buildings that are geometrically complex and/or high-rise. Contrary to claims made by many suppliers, composites are not exactly recyclable but can be reused in different applications.
• Membranes & Meshes: Membranes are ultra-lightweight weathertight skins, like PVC or PTFEcoated Fibre Glass closed-weave mesh, or transparent/printed ETFE that come as flat or airinflated units that look like large nylon cushions. Such materials can cover very large spans indeed, like stadia and shopping mall roofs, and are also increasingly being used as vertical façades. They are however prone to vandalism and sharp objects, and should therefore only be used in parts of the buildings that are out of reach of people. Open-weave meshes tend to allow water and air through, like PVC or PTFE-coated Fibre Glass open-weave mesh, or metal meshes that are mostly made of stainless steel or powder-coated aluminium, and mostly used as shading screens, decorative screens, or fences.
• Vegetation: Plants can be used as an integral part of the external façade, which can serve as decoration, a shading screen, a privacy screen, like climbers, and help in creating a cozier micro-climate for occupants indeed. Depending on the type of vegetation used in a particular context, requirements for maintenance like applying pesticides, trimming, watering, etc. may vary significantly. Vegetation may also offer occupants customisation options when allowed to choose their plants to grow. Using vegetation as a façade element is growing in popularity, however, more education is needed to apply it correctly. For example, certain climbers may require a lot of watering and may also contribute to growing certain types of dangerous mold that can infect the inner parts of the façade causing serious health issues. Other types may attract a lot of undesirable insects and birds like mosquitos and craws respectively. Another way for using vegetation in building façades is by creating pockets or pop-out boxes within the building form to accommodate sky gardens or winter gardens, where plants can be grown and maintained in a more controlled environment.
• Abdulmajid Karanouh, International Director - Head of Interdisciplinary Design & Research, Drees & Sommer
Avinash Kumar, Executive Director, Godwin Austen Johnson, says in terms of cladding, we are mainly using concrete, metal, stone, and glass panels. The selection is entirely based on the overall design intent. While weatherproofing forms the key factor for selection, aesthetics equally plays a major role. Right from fixing type to the performance it achieves, there are various factors for selection. Performance criteria are very important in terms of human comfort and the overall well-being of the users. FLS is one of the very stringent criteria which needs to be reviewed while selecting and fixing any cladding material.
Many factors come into play when selecting façade materials or systems. These include aesthetics, cost, performance, and more. When it comes to environmental considerations, it is essential to assess the durability of the materials through experience and testing. Beyond that, designers need to consider the thermal performance of the material and how this impacts the heat transfer between the inside and outside of the building. In many instances, it comes down more to the type of finish that is applied to the material than the base material itself, believes Mathieu.
• Live-loads: The first factor that is normally taken into consideration is structural integrity and safety, which becomes especially critical the larger the cladding units and the higher the building become, due to higher live-loads (wind pressures and building movements) applied to the cladding. This factor becomes more complex once security requirements like blast-proof are added to the equation. The higher live loads are applied to the cladding units, the stronger yet more flexible the selected building material needs to be.
• Shading & Thermal Insulation: Another major driver is energy performance and the ability of the building to reduce energy exchange between the internal and external environments of the building. This includes the ability of the façade system/materials to shade the building during intense sunny conditions and to insulate the building during extremely hot/cold temperatures. The latter especially requires materials that are low in thermal conductivity like wood and rockwool. Plastic-based materials are also low in thermal conductivity; however, they should be used with a lot of caution as they are prone to burning or emitting high amounts of smoke if exposed directly to fire. Introducing air gaps or inert gases into façade walls is also common practice, like Insulated Glass Units (IGUs), double walls, hollow blocks, etc. However, if not designed and ventilated properly, façades with cavities can cause condensation and grow mold.
• Lighting: Another major factor is the ability of the façade to optimise and balance the admission of natural sunlight; too much sunlight causes overheating and glare, and too little creates a dim and lifeless environment of very low energy indeed.
• Weathertightness: This is the ability of the façade to keep rainwater out of the building while controlling (not preventing) air infiltration. This also includes incorporating a proper ventilation mechanism while minimising thermal bridging that could cause condensation, especially during highly humid conditions. It is important to emphasize that no façade system can prevent water and air infiltration 100%. Good façade design entails creating a system that can channel water, that manages to breach or collect behind the first line of
defence, out of the building again, while controlling the ability of the façade to breathe. The latter is especially critical when it comes to condensation; some forms of condensation can be avoided by avoiding thermal bridging (contact of cold components with humid air), while other forms of condensation are inevitable during highly humid conditions and high due-point temperatures, therefore, the ventilation of cavities is very critical in this case to avoid the collection of condensed water causing water penetration, rust, mold, and other serious issues.
• Acoustics: The façade needs to be able to reduce noise, especially if surrounded by major sources of noise like highways and airports, or if subjected to highly windy conditions. Acoustics can be very tricky and counterintuitive in many ways. For example, if opening areas in a façade screen reach about 10% of the total area of the screen, it becomes almost useless as an acoustic barrier. Similar to thermal conductivity, using materials that are low in acoustic conductivity is a good starting point to reduce noise. Metal for example is one of the worst materials in terms of sound insulation due to its high-density and conductive nature, while double walls and IGUs with incorporated air cavities/chambers tend to be most effective in reducing noise. Also, varying the external and internal wall layers in terms of material and thickness (like combining hollow blocks with bricks with a cavity in between, or by introducing a laminated lite in the IGU) can increase the sound insulation quality of façades.
• Durability & Maintenance: Façade materials need to resist several environmental elements that could cause components to deteriorate quickly like solar rays, humidity, salination, dust and sand, and other air particles. That said, façade materials should be able to embrace (and not defy) such environmental elements to minimise requirements nt for cleaning and maintenance, and extend the overall service life of the façade. For example, cladding an entire tower with glass in a hot desert environment is counterintuitive on every level; technical performance, user comfort, and last but least cleaning and maintenance. The latter is especially the case as glass façades easily attract dust and sand that stick to their surface, which in return require a lot of water (a scarcity in desert regions) to clean. Furthermore, over-exposure to solar rays accelerates the deterioration of critical curtainwall components like gaskets and IGU sealants. Therefore, a careful study of the building context and maximising the use of indigenous materials that have withstood the test of time in the building environment is a good starting point in that respect. Finally, bird dropping is another major challenge that we face in maintaining building façades, and while many solutions have been applied over the years like spikes, poison, falcons, light reflectors, ultra-sound devices, etc. none has been entirely effective in keeping birds away from building façades. Therefore, attention to geometric articulation should be given to avoid creating unreachable corners where birds can safely nest.
• Abdulmajid Karanouh, International Director - Head of Interdisciplinary Design & Research, Drees & Sommer
Cladding is a “cover” to the building façade and hence this cover does protect the users inside and hence it must achieve the right thermal performance. It’s the right insulation and the thermal break properties that any cladding has to achieve to keep the external temperature away from the inner leaf of the building, says Avinash.
There are multiple aspects to consider when assessing the need for thermal insulation. In particular, one must consider the typical temperature profile throughout the year for the project being designed. This informs the designer on whether insulation is needed or not, and if so, how much insulation is required. This also determines on which face of the wall (internal or external) it is most judicious to place the insulation to minimise the risk of interstitial condensation within the walls or façade. There are other considerations, such as the fire performance of the insulation, and whether the insulated layer can be exposed to elements externally or not, says Mathieu.
Mathieu believes that the building envelope has a substantial impact on the acoustic performance of the building, particularly in locations where high
environmental noise is expected to occur, such as city centres or near airports. The façade designer must first understand what environmental noise contours will occur near the façade, then decide on acceptable noise levels within the building (this depends on the building typology), and finally carefully select the cladding materials and systems to meet these noise levels. It should be noted that any opening within the façade will cause severe deterioration of its acoustic properties, so these need to be avoided. Finally, one must consider that different materials attenuate different sound frequencies more or less, so for more sensitive building typologies (such as performance venues), one needs to consider this in greater detail.
According to Avinash, windows which are a must for any building must adhere to the right STC values to enable the acoustics performance. The absence of this would mean that the end-user will hear the external noise inside the space which can be annoying. Similarly, the overall external skin must be selected properly to keep the external ambient noise out of the building.
In many situations, the exterior cladding covers another sealed envelope located behind it, such as a concrete or brick wall. Water penetration is less of a concern in such
situations. The most critical areas for water tightness are always openings (windows, curtain walls, etc.) and interfaces between different types of envelopes (for instance the junction between a curtain wall and a surrounding structure). The first and most important step is to properly design and engineer these façade systems. It is often also essential to fully test the systems, first in a laboratory to verify the design, and then again onsite to assess the workmanship. Extra attention must be paid to interfaces. Seals or flashings should be carefully detailed and verified at the site to ensure that the building envelope is fully watertight, opines Mathieu.
When it comes to external glazing, water infiltration details are very important to allow moisture and rainwater out of the building. We have observed that if the weatherproofing is not properly, it leads to water leakages inside the building during rains. So, it’s very important that the windows are properly weatherproofed to avoid water ingress, believes Avinash.
Mathieu explains a rain-screen system consists of an exterior layer of cladding with open joints, and another layer behind it which is fully sealed to prevent air and water infiltration. This differs from the more traditional cladding designs, for which the external layer has sealed joints. The rain-screen approach is superior to this traditional sealed joint design, as the open joints allow the wind to pass through them, and to pressurise the cavity located between the cladding and back wall. Since the cavity is pressurised, rainwater does not get pushed (or sucked) through the joints by the wind. Therefore, although the joints are open, very little water, if any, is getting past the external cladding layer. Another advantage of this approach is that the absence of sealant in the joints greatly reduces maintenance requirements. Finally, since wind pressure is equalised between the two sides of the external cladding layer, the latter can be optimised structurally, resulting in savings in terms of the size or thickness of the cladding components.
A rain-screen is generally considered a lightweight external cladding layer that keeps most of the rainwater away from the weathertight line of the building. It does not contribute to the structural stability of the building as it is normally fixed to either a load-bearing wall or to a secondary structural system that translates the rain screen’s dead-load and live-load reactions back to the
main frame of the building. A typical example of rainscreen cladding would be aluminium composite panels or EIFS render systems, says Abdulmajid.
Rain screen cladding is the cladding that covers the building from heat, window, and moisture, and the cavity can be ventilated or non-ventilated. The cavity has provisions where a limited water ingress can be controlled and it drains on its own. This cladding always helps in the aesthetics of a new building but it can be very effective in the case of renovating old buildings as well, believes Avinash.
This is a very complex topic that could justify a whole book being written on it! Different geographies have different ways of dealing with the fire performance of façade. Broadly speaking, when selecting façade materials, the fire authorities of most countries require them to be noncombustible and not promote the spread of flame over their surface. Other aspects that are sometimes taken into consideration may include whether the materials produce flaming droplets or toxic smoke. However, this all only looks at the performance of the cladding material itself. The overall behaviour of the assembled cladding system should also be considered. In particular, the cladding system should not promote the spread of flame vertically or horizontally across the building (chimney effect), and it should also not allow the fire to spread from floor to floor. This requires the designer to carefully consider both the cladding materials and overall system construction, as well as perform testing on both the materials and systems to verify their respective behavior, suggests Mathieu.
According to Abdulmajid, a good starting point is to understand and appreciate that there is only so much that can be done to prevent fires from breaking out and reaching the building façade, simply because most interior finishes comprise combustible materials like fabric, wood, and plastics, that always tend to catch fire and reach the façade easily. It is also important to highlight that most fire-related fatalities are due to suffocation from toxic smoke, less so much from burns. Therefore, in addition to avoiding using combustible materials on façades, it is equally if not more important to make sure that façades are designed in a manner to compartmentalise each floor to minimise smoke spreading from one level to another. Last but not least, most internationally recognised fire tests are designed to keep the fire from spreading from one level to another long enough (around 45 minutes)
for firefighters to reach the building site. However, during special events like New Year’s Eve, traffic congestion may delay the arrival of firefighters which may have catastrophic consequences as fire can quickly spread out of control. Therefore, avoiding using materials that can become fuel to fire or generate a lot of smoke is always the safest bet.
With the above said, brittle materials like stone, cementitious or clay-based applications tend to perform best in terms of fire resistance as they do not ‘burn’, melt/drip, or generate smoke when directly exposed to fire, and are therefore considered among the best choices in that respect. Both glass and metal cladding do not burn or generate smoke as such (if free of plastic components) but may break/melt if exposed
directly to the fire. While fire-resistant glass products exist out there, comprising multi-laminated layers, they are mostly used for internal applications as opposed to exterior cladding. Wood, PVC, and other plasticbased combustible materials need to be used with caution; they may be used as external shading devices but should be kept away from the main skin of the building, especially on high-rise buildings. PTFE-coated fabric and ETFE membranes simply evaporate and emit little to no smoke when exposed directly to the fire. Overall, the façade consultant needs to distinguish between different types of façade components and choose the right material accordingly; main structural components need to be more fire resistant than others, weather-tight skins need to avoid emitting smoke, and decorative materials need to avoid burning/dripping.
Avinash believes that it is the flame spread that defines the overall flame propagation. In normal cladding, the flame spread is controlled and also there are cavity barriers that contain the fire in specified zones or floors in an unfortunate case of a building fire. The whole idea is that the flame spread should be as per code and secondly the flame/fire should be always controlled in zones in case of fire so that the whole building is not affected.
According to Mathieu, the most common challenge is that many building owners expect their façades to be maintenance-free in the literal sense! No façade is ever maintenance-free, but designers can certainly
minimise maintenance issues through simple design considerations, such as selecting materials adequate for a specific geography and weather conditions, minimise the use of customised elements (to facilitate future replacement), managing the flow of rainwater within the design (slope horizontal surfaces away from the façade, including drip grooves/edges, etc.) and minimise or avoid the use of materials that could increase the level of maintenance required (e.g., certain types of sealant).
Any building needs access to the façade for general maintenance. It can be cleaning or replacing the panels or system installed. For general BMU systems, we do have limited options which many times does clash with the building design, and architects try to avoid the same. We need more robotics, suggests Avinash.
Sustainability has been at the core of our designs for a very long time now, so it has become second nature. There are always means of improving, though, so very intense R&D efforts are being expanded in making our façades even more sustainable. Some of the interesting technologies that I have come across recently include an LCD panel and laminated glass hybrid which has the potential to revolutionise façades by allowing designers to modulate the passage of light and heat through the glass to extreme levels, and largely independently of each other. Another interesting development to watch out for is that of clear photovoltaic glass, allowing building façades to generate electricity not only from the spandrel zones but also from the much larger vision areas. Several other research and manufacturing efforts are geared towards reducing the carbon footprint of the building envelope, not only from the point of view of embodied carbon but more importantly from cradle to cradle, says Mathieu.
Abdulmajid says maximising passive features and the use of indigenous materials that optimise natural ventilation and admission of diffused natural light while minimising the need for cleaning and maintenance respectively is always a good start to sustainable façade design. That said, automated mechanised solutions (external shading devices, operable vents, electrochromic glass, etc.) linked to sensors and a central computerised control system may also assist
in improving and optimising the building façade performance, especially in office buildings. Renewable technologies like photovoltaics and wind turbines have only proven to be effective/efficient on low-rise buildings that do not require high amounts of energy to run, but have been less successful on high-rise buildings. There’s also been a lot of experimentation on self-maintaining materials, but none have been considered established enough yet for mass/ commercial use.
Sustainability efforts follow several different axes. Some of the design strategies involve selecting sustainable material (responsibly sourced, based on a high level of recycled content, featuring lower embodied and operational carbon, etc.). Other efforts consist in developing façades that offer the best possible thermal efficiency, thus reducing one of the largest sources of heating or cooling for a building (and thus reducing its energy demand). Yet another approach involves generating electricity from the building envelope, which in turn reduces the demand for fossil energy sources. Interestingly, making the building envelope more sustainable often does not involve a substantial, if any at all, premium on its lifetime cost. It is often a case of being creative and exploring other avenues of achieving the desired outcome, notes Mathieu.
According to Abdulmajid, maximising passive design features and using indigenous materials to minimise the need for energy, water, and overall maintenance requirements is a good starting point. Indigenous materials can cope with the building’s surrounding environmental factors a lot better than imported or chemically/industrially processed ones. Furthermore, indigenous materials can be recycled or reused more effectively in the same context as well.
The cladding does help in reducing energy bills and hence aids in the sustainability aspect. Now the cladding material proposed must be also sustainable and that’s a challenge. So, it’s ‘stringent that the material being proposed are either reusable or can be recycled once the end of life is achieved. At times we opt for highly recycled contents or local materials where the carbon footprint is regulated and lesser than our counterparts, says Avinash.
These fall under two main headings: regulations, which are dictated by local authorities of a country or municipality and which must be obeyed, and standards, which may or may not be followed, depending on the specifications for particular projects. Regulations may cover several design aspects, the most common being structural and safety considerations, fire safety, and environmental performance. Standards may define certain minimum performance requirements (thermal, water-tightness, air-tightness, acoustic, etc.), or they may describe testing procedures for the cladding materials or system. Interestingly, given the wide palette of materials that I mentioned earlier, we often come across situations where there are no standards available to guide us on the selection or use of a particular material or product. In such situations, it comes down to the experience and knowledge of the designer to be able to make judicious decisions and recommend bespoke tests if needed, explains Mathieu.
There are many internationally recognised building standards that cover building façades like ASTM (American) BS (British), and ES (European) among others, in addition to local ones that every country has in place. However, such standards are designed to offer guidance for minimal requirements, and not for optimal/best design practice. Therefore, utilising international standards is important from a contractual standpoint, but is not often sufficient to achieve optimal design solutions and apply best practices. Therefore, design teams should be able to formulate their project-specific design criteria and standards while aligning with internationally and locally recognised ones, says Abdulmajid.
Avinash notes that in several countries, the U values and Solar heat gains are regulated by stringent codes which helps to reduce the overall solar gains. Apart from this, the glazing area is also monitored and regulated in codes which do help in controlling it. In some cases, if the glazing area is more because of design, the Architect needs to demonstrate other means of control which reduce the overall energy usage. So, generally, the design is not affected by the building regulations and codes and all we need is to design incorporating the codes.
On average, the Capital Expenditure (cost to build) vs the Operational Expenditure (cost to run/operate) is
around 20% (CapEx) vs 80% (OpEx) of the overall whole lifecycle cost of the building. Therefore, investing more capital to build a better-performing façade to improve the overall performance of the building and minimising the required resources and costs to run it is a no-brainer in every measurable way. However, the main problem that we face is that developers/investors who build proprieties to either let or sell to end-users/occupants who ultimately pay for their own utilities and facility management bills, are less interested in increasing their capital investment in return for lower operational costs or a more sustainable outcome. Furthermore, developers/investors along with their consultants will always find ways to make their designs look better on paper than in reality for obvious commercial/marketing gains – consequently why enforcing regulations has failed considerably in that respect. Therefore, new business models and regulations should be devised to incentivise (as opposed to force) developers and investors to invest in producing better quality building façades, as opposed to taking shortcuts for short-term gains, opines Abdulmajid.
Avinash says the one-time capital cost ensures that the operational costs are smaller and in a matter of few years, the break-even is achieved where you compensate the extra capital spent at the inception. We have very good examples where the high U values of the façades have helped to reduce the solar heat gain and finally, it affected the AC loads and eventually, the energy bills were down.
In the world of architecture, cladding goes beyond its purpose and becomes a fundamental part of both aesthetic and sustainable design. It not only protects buildings, from the elements. Also serves as a canvas for architects to blend their structures with the surrounding environment. Architects use materials and techniques to ensure durability and energy efficiency in their creations. Cladding is more than a shield; it transforms buildings into environmentally conscious masterpieces. This intricate interplay, between vision, sustainability, and innovation turns cladding into a force that shapes edifices into responsive and longlasting works of architectural finesse.
MAHA AL-GEBALY Senior Façade Engineer, Building Envelope Specialist
• Could you provide an overview of the different types of exterior cladding materials available, and what factors should be considered when selecting them?
Choosing the appropriate cladding material is not just a matter of the architect's design considerations, such as
the client's preferences, budget, structural loads, context, performance against environmental conditions, and the design's geometry and materials properties that match it. It is also essential to ensure that the chosen materials comply with sustainability and embodied carbon certifications and goals, including energy efficiency, long lifespan, and recyclability.
From cladding sheets to composite panels, shingles, and sandwich panels, the available cladding materials offer a comprehensive selection of all types to meet all your needs. Some commonly used cladding materials include metal (such as aluminum, ACP, zinc, copper, brass, galvanized steel, and MCP), glass, stone (including granite, marble, limestone, travertine, and sandstone), plastics (such as FRP, polycarbonate, ETFE cushions, and UPVC), wood/timber (both natural and WPC), concrete (including GRC, UHPC, and fiber cement board/Hardie board), fabrics (such as PVC coated polyester), brick/clay (ceramic/ Porcelain, adobe brick, bricks, veneer, and terracotta panels), EIFS (as a system), stucco, and GRG (rarely used).
Considering the current global situation, it may be necessary to use locally available materials. However, architects may need more support regarding the available finishes, sizes, and colors offered by local suppliers, which could affect their designs and potentially increase costs. There is a trend in the Middle East to use adobe bricks to enhance the cultural significance of mudbrick in a modern style for newly constructed buildings while also restoring and retrofitting older ones.
Using conventional cladding material has a drawback, as it presents limited flexibility against imposed deformations, such as those caused by changes in temperature, building movement, and elevated weights that require costly connections and mounting operations.
The Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Nonprofit City (Almashreq district) is beside the stunning Wadi Hanifa in Riyadh's Irqah neighborhood, KSA. The picture features various cladding materials employed for retail, residential, and office spaces’ wall cladding, such as ACP, stones, and GRC. Additionally, the fabric is being utilised to clad canopies
• How do environmental factors, such as climate and exposure to sunlight, impact the choice of exterior cladding materials?
In the scorching hot regions of the Middle East, the cladding material used for the building's exterior must withstand harsh environmental conditions. This is crucial to ensure it remains intact and unaltered even during sand storms in certain months of the year. We take great care to address the mitigation of water and air leakage, handling wind loads, preventing heat and thermal conductivity, avoiding acoustical intrusion, and controlling solar considerations to achieve the desired level of indoor comfort.
Regarding cladding materials, it's essential to consider each type's specific properties and characteristics. For instance, concrete cladding is porous and has high thermal conductivity and soundproofing qualities, so it requires a combination of WRB and insulation to prevent moisture transportation and improve energy efficiency.
Stone cladding, on the other hand, is durable and environmentally friendly but prone to water retention and staining, which can be mitigated through a rain-screen system.
Brick cladding requires sealing to prevent moisture damage but offers good thermal resistance and sound insulation. Steel and metal cladding also require insulation to counteract their high thermal conductivity, while glass cladding needs to be less transparent and more reflective to reduce solar heat gain. Finally, wood cladding is porous and prone to decay from insects and fungi, so it's recommended to use engineered wood that has been treated and coated for more excellent resistance to moisture and swelling.
Manufacturers offer solutions to help architects use materials in different climates, such as composites and coatings. These treatments protect against mold, corrosion, and color fading or damage.
The New Alamein Downtown towers of the Egyptian housing ministry and CSCEC are beside Alexandria, Egypt. The pictures feature Wind tunnel test diagrams of wind pressure affecting tower walls, fasciae, balustrades, and roof crown claddings, such as steel-mounted ACP and soffit-mounted cement board, are addressed in the test for proper design wind pressure loads
• In terms of thermal resistance, what are the considerations for selecting exterior cladding materials that provide effective energy efficiency?
You can now run mind-blowing 3D building energy performance analysis using cutting-edge tools like Design-Builder! When choosing energy-efficient cladding materials for your project, conducting a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and carbon metric is important for final sustainable solutions.
When choosing cladding materials, the cost can often be a significant factor. However, it's worth remembering that by investing in energy-efficient options; clients can save on operational costs in the long run. With careful consideration, the benefits can outweigh the initial expenses.
With a click, you can get energy usage, heat gain-loss, ventilation, CFD output, and HVAC loads through detailing graphs. And the best part? You can even visualise it all on Sketch-up! But that's not all. With other thermal design simulations like WUFI and THERM, you can weigh the pros and cons of different materials and make informed recommendations. Get ready to take your project to the next level with these exciting tools!
The selection process is focused on cladding materials that can effectively reduce embodied carbon, which refers to the total energy required for the extraction, processing, transportation, installation, reuse, and recycling of material.
Recladding or over-cladding must be cautiously approached regarding retrofitting buildings to meet net zero carbon global standards. Adding insulation behind the existing cladding can increase costs by up to 20%, but it is worth it.
Various types of cladding offer energy efficiency, including stone, brick wall, stainless steel, and aluminum. You must be wondering if there are other alternatives to consider.
The thermal conductivity of wood is influenced by various factors such as the type of wood used, direction of measurement (parallel or perpendicular to the fibers), density, and moisture content. Wood and wood products have lower thermal conductivity values than other materials.
EIFS is a popular choice for an energy-efficient and costeffective lightweight cladding material that can mimic the look of building materials such as brick, stone, metal panels, siding, and stucco. It can also be used as a retrofit over existing claddings. However, improper installation of details at penetrations can cause water infiltration problems, the system's thermal bridging, and excess ventilation. Fire resistance is also a challenge.
IMP (insulated metal panel/sandwich panel) is chosen for its lightweight design, easy dismantling and reinstallation on a different building, and recyclable metal content. However, this system's cost of materials is generally higher than standard wall systems.
Rammed earth/Adobe earthen cladding materials are chosen for their exceptional thermal mass, providing energy efficiency while being a renewable source of material. Terracotta panels can be sprayed or ram-pressed into various mold shapes. By partially glazing these panels while maintaining a lightweight sub-structure, you can contribute to carbon reduction compared to fully glazed or heavier flat terra-clad. Combining clay, glazing, and recyclable pigment sourced from industrial waste makes it possible to achieve a greater level of carbon reduction. Good craftsmanship and consistent insulation thickness can help lower cooling loads and achieve appropriate thermal transmittance and solar heat gain coefficient.
• How does the selection of exterior cladding impact a building's acoustics and sound insulation properties?
For the exterior façade, an STC of at least 45 is necessary to block out street noise effectively. It's fascinating to learn about! I came across how certain properties of cladding materials can impact their ability to block out sound waves. Specifically, reflectivity, porosity, and density can all affect a material's STC (Sound Transmission Class).
To save time for façade consultants and architects, acoustic consultants should conduct proper testing and simulations to provide an analysis for each cladding material sheet. For high-quality acoustic cladding, it is essential to consider the acoustic barrier/damper, system depth of the exterior wall assembly, insulation, and connection seal. Timber, porcelain, and GRC are recommended cladding materials for an efficient overall system.
Acoustic problems often arise in private spaces susceptible to noise from HVAC rooms, cooling towers, and outdoor street noise. However, minor acoustic concerns can occur from one room/space to another. To address these concerns, it is recommended to use practical sound barriers such as closed cell foam (CCF), acoustic gypsum board, and dense mineral wool. These materials can help achieve an STC rating of 45 for public spaces and 45-50 STC for private rooms. In addition, cladding panels with a cavity, such as a rain screen, can provide good sound insulation.
Outdoor-Indoor Transmission Class (OITC) is a singlenumber descriptor used to identify the noise transmission properties of a building envelope or façade. OITC varies from STC in that the applicable third-octave bands extend to lower frequencies to account for the typical range of exterior noise sources. Higher OITC ratings correspond to more significant noise reduction.
Furthermore, profiles with specific shapes can also help reduce the impact of sound waves. Even the louvers can have different depths and shapes based on their acoustic sound properties, but they are all costly, causing the overall cost of the façade budget to increase. Using SoundPLAN software to analyse the exterior enclosure during initial design thoroughly ensures a comfortable sound level and budget-friendly façade.
• What are the key factors to consider when designing exterior cladding systems to ensure proper water penetration resistance and moisture management?
To achieve the best water resistance and moisture management, it's important to understand the different forms of water in a cladding assembly. You can ensure a reliable and effective solution by thoroughly understanding the three levels of defense/control in cladding system design. It's also crucial to manage the driving forces that cause water to penetrate and migrate through the cladding assembly materials.
These forces include kinetic energy, capillary action (for Stone-concrete), gravity (for surface tension),
New Alamein Downtown iconic tower of (CSCEC and DAR) through the podium recreational areas in New Alamein, Egypt. This image showcases the various cladding choices for retail and office spaces, including granite stone cladding. ACP cladding is used for walls, balustrades, fascia, the crown of the tower, and signage for retail shops and skylight sides at the podium. Acoustic treatments for apartments and shops façade that are affected by street noise or close to mechanical floors are treated carefully utilising SOUNDPLAN software.
wind pressure (which can push water inside cladding joints), and pressure non-equalization (which can push, pull, dry, and prevent moisture in the assemblies).
The three essential control layers are: First, a facesealed non-porous cladding material must be used to withstand harsh weather conditions. Properly seal all joints between panels with suitable sealant/gaskets. Second, apply a liquid weather-resistive barrier (WRB) to the wall to prevent water vapor or condensation from penetrating the wall. This step is crucial, so pay close attention to it. Finally, incorporate a drainage path/ cavity with EPDM and flashing to eliminate residual water or vapor and prevent mold or fungus growth due to absorbed moisture. By following these control
measures, you can ensure a sturdy and moisture-free building structure.
Use simulation software like WUFI to analyze air moisture performance. It can model complex assemblies to predict moisture penetration. Moisture penetration can cause structural integrity/safety issues and raise heat resistance by deteriorating insulation panels when accumulated in the assembly. Terracotta cladding is more effective than regular masonry when exposed to water since it has been heated and can have partial glazing adapted to function. During construction, field tests should be made for assembly. Also, It is necessary to dry any construction materials that become wet during assembly to prevent them from getting trapped inside the enclosure, causing damage.
• What is the concept of a rain-screen system and its benefits in exterior cladding design?
In today's market, there exist three distinct types of rain screen cladding: vented (enabling upward dryness), drained and vented (allowing for upward dryness and downward drainage), and pressure equalised (neutralised).
A rain screen comprises several components, including facing panes, mounting brackets that create a cavity for air circulation, drainage, and moisture evaporation, a thermal insulation layer attached to the cladding, and a weather-resistant barrier mounted directly to the building structure. The barrier prevents vapor diffusion and air from coming into contact or being absorbed by the wall.
Rain screen cladding offers numerous benefits, including weather resistance, reduced thermal movement, and soundproofing. It is also highly durable and requires minimal maintenance, preventing warping, rotting, and decay.
Additionally, it can function as a chimney to improve heating and cooling efficiency, ultimately reducing energy costs. By incorporating rain screen cladding, you can make buildings more breathable and recyclable achieving sustainability certification goals.
• How do different exterior cladding materials perform in terms of fire resistance, and what are some fire safety measures to be implemented in cladding design?
Cladding materials are assigned a fire rating on a scale of A to D, with the A being more fire resistant and the D being less fire resistant. Manufacturers determine the rating through prior material testing, which complies with NFPA 285, ASTM E119, building regulations, and IBC standards.
Cladding materials rates are affected by factors including their ignitability/combustibility, which determine the likelihood of catching fire based on temperature. Additionally, flammability plays a role in the rate of fire and flame spread. Resistance is essential to determine whether the material can withstand fire without structural integrity damage. The reaction which rates the heat and smoke release is another factor to consider, as well as the factor which signifies the potential for fire propagation to other areas. It's
crucial to consider all of these factors to ensure the safety of buildings and those inside them.
For tall buildings exceeding 18 meters, it is a regulatory requirement to use certified FR (fire-rated) materials for cladding. Testing the material and the entire cladding assembly for combustibility is crucial. Safety should always be the top priority when constructing any building.
For cladding with high ignition temperature, opt for Aluminum, steel, stone, and terracotta/brick with a class A rating. It's best to steer clear of UPVC, MCM with class C or D, composite metals/MCM (nonretardant core), and ETFE assembled vertically, as they can encourage flame spread. If MCM is necessary, go for one with a fire retardant core to ensure maximum safety.
When designing a façade, it's essential to consider the cladding panels and implement safety measures to reduce fire risk. One way to do this is by using a high-density mineral fiber core as a thermal insulation barrier and fire stop. Additionally, using special coatings on the cladding facing can further increase safety.
Combustibility is highest in the WRB within the cladding assembly, while mineral insulation is the lowest noncombustible element. To minimise risk, it's recommended to reduce the thickness of the EIFS cladding system and use mineral insulation instead of foam insulation.
Zayed National Museum of (ASGC and Lindner prater) through the oasis around the 5 Wings, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. The image depicts the connections of the glazing system on steel columns and the intricate ACP cladding used on the exterior base and interior lobby in a rain-screen system. The steel tubes surrounding the enclosure help to absorb heat that could spread to the inside of the building. They are also thermally separated from the substructure, providing shade to the building. Like the chimney effect, vents in the upper portion are automated to release hot air in summer and keep it in winter. Additionally, the metal rings that protrude outward, resembling feathers, help to catch and cool down the building during the night
A look at @strata community insurance diagrams showing stages of ACP structural integrity failure due to fire. Additionally, the Flammability of different materials is shown in the above figure
• What are the common challenges or issues related to exterior cladding maintenance, and what strategies can be employed to ensure longevity and durability?
Maintaining cladding in office buildings, observation decks, and public spaces can be a challenge when there are high levels of user occupancy. Adverse weather conditions such as speedy wind and rain may result in postponements or even cancellations of the maintenance operation for the day.
When it comes to maintaining weather resistance and aesthetics of a building façade over the long term, regular maintenance (including cleaning, replacement, and repair) is essential. In the past, cladding maintenance could be quite challenging due to the need to dismantle overlapped panels over the façade. However, today's system designers have implemented much more easily-dismantlable methods of fixation, which make installation and panel replacement a breeze. With these advancements, maintenance is now easier than ever before!
The client's budget determines the frequency of cleaning and maintenance cycles, which includes the time required to clean the entire building's cladding, the number of crew members needed, and the number of cleaning cycles per year.
Using non-pressurised water is crucial to prevent any damage to the joint seal. A compromised seal can quickly become permeable to heat, water, and air, leading to costly repairs. Furthermore, it is highly advised to use only soft and gentle cleaning materials that won't cause any chemical reaction or fade the paint color of the façade facing.
Maintenance sometimes involves dealing with mold and fungus and checking for corrosion in flashing.
To ensure the longevity and durability of a façade system, selecting suitable materials, conducting performance tests, and performing regular maintenance after installation are essential.
• Could you discuss any recent advancements in exterior cladding technologies that have improved performance or sustainability?
The realm of cladding is experiencing a surge in product advancements. Modern cladding panels now
blend various materials and alloys into one product. This has reduced object mass and material usage while maintaining structural integrity. These achievements have been made possible by utilising lattice-based design and topology optimisation techniques, enabling highstrength capabilities. Cladding is now available in natural stone or wood tones, patterns, finishes, and colors that are composed of plastic, concrete, aluminium, and porcelain.”
The manufacturing industry increasingly recognises the importance of energy conservation and cradle-to-cradle products (cradle-to-gate). Cladding materials sent directly from the design model to manufacturing machines are becoming popular to meet the demands of fast-paced, complex geometrical projects. This approach saves time and costs and helps ensure a seamless and efficient manufacturing process, especially if the assembly of panels can also be made through robotics. Regarding sustainable cladding design technology, the economic and energy efficiency performance of façade cladding is crucial in decision-making. In the design phase, technologies are shifting towards algorithmic-parametric models using customized programmed scripts instead of conventional CAD. The integration of AI in design, automation, manufacturing, and open software programs, as well as the integration of software like Grasshopper in Revit, is already happening. To generate a panel design for your project, you can use two options: Use the mid-journey software or employ Python scripts with Grasshopper. As a result, the design process is now becoming fully sustainable.
Due to high energy demands, conventional manufacturing processes are becoming outdated compared to sustainable manufacturing technologies. This significantly affects the overall environmental impact of a product and its energy usage. Manufacturing building materials alone accounts for over 80% of the energy used in building construction. Therefore, the focus should be on improving and optimizing remanufacturing processes, considering processing time, costs, manufacturing quality, resource consumption, environmental impact, and waste reduction.
Current innovative technologies focus on improving the planning, design, operations, and maintenance of production systems while improving products for clean production (CP). To minimise processing time and carbon emissions, optimum cutting speed and feed rate must be optimised. Multi-objective parameter optimisation is proposed to consider a balance of process efficiency.
Some examples of such technologies are CRM (Customised Repetitive Manufacturing of Models) and AM (Additive Manufacturing). CRM replaces conventional CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing) for complex buildings with repetitive similar panels. It revolutionises cladding material manufacturing from design to production. CRM production runs mostly with 10,000 custom-made repetitive units of cladding. On the other hand, AM is more significant with potential for long-term production than traditional subtractive manufacturing (SM) and may result in considerable material and energy resource savings. It can reuse cladding material and create a healthy environment free of pollutants. AM is a breakthrough production of parts with complex geometry. However, AM is still in its early stages and requires further research to lower material and machine costs, create quicker and more accurate printing processes, and function autonomously.
Microwave Processing (MWP) of materials and heating technology is another novel manufacturing route that can be used for processing ceramics, metal matrix composites (MMC), fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP), alloys, metals, material joining, coating, cladding, materials synthesis, etc. In previous years, the market share for 3D printing of plastic/concrete panels and molding technologies such as wood-molded blown glass was anticipated to grow. This is particularly true for repetitive paneling, where a single mold prototype can be used for multiple panels.
Virtual models and digital twins are essential as sustainable operational and maintenance technology in smart manufacturing, as they enhance the design phase through to operations. BIM 3D models provide a clear visualisation of the construction and design of an asset, while digital twins allow for virtual interaction with the asset. With digital twins, buildings can stay current with future trends and needs rather than becoming outdated. These advancements have significantly improved cladding performance and helped achieve sustainable enclosure goals.
• How does exterior cladding affect the overall sustainability of a building, and what sustainable materials or practices are commonly employed in cladding design?
Did you know the construction material industry contributes to 11% use of CO2 emissions, 40% of total energy consumption, and 45% of generated waste in the EU? And that's not all - 40% of summer overheating is caused by façades/envelopes, while 50% of energy bills go towards heating and cooling (HVAC).
Timber usage in cladding, CW, and CLT structures. Timber is at least as suitable as aluminum and steel to meet architectural and structural requirements. It has excellent thermal insulation and low carbon emissions, wood is one of the preferred materials for current and future sustainability demands.
Sustainable enclosures enhance circular economy practices with their eco-friendly materials. They should have energygenerating capabilities, a low heat transfer coefficient, and the ability to harvest fog and rain. Additionally, they should have minimal embodied carbon and no volatile organic compounds. Furthermore, they should have low impact, reduced material quantities, and be reusable. Lastly, they should be integrated and produced with recyclable materials.
Several sustainable cladding materials are available, including stone, thermal-modified timber, rammed earth, recycled plastic, recycled textile waste fabric, reinforced cement board, and recycled brick. Bio-based composites are another option that can enhance a material’s efficiency through renewable, recyclable, biodegradable, low specific gravity, and high distinct strength advantages. Timber is just as suitable as aluminum and steel. However, the use of timber in cladding, CW, and CLT structures is a viable option that meets both architectural and structural requirements. With its excellent thermal insulation and low carbon emissions, it is becoming one of the preferred materials for sustainability demands, both present and future. By blending wood panels with stone, a long-lasting and fire-resistant material can be produced that retains the appearance of real wood. However, bio-composite materials have drawbacks, such as poor moisture resistance (hydrophilicity), fiber/matrix incompatibility, supply logistics, low thermal stability, flammability, poor electrical properties, extraction, processing, and surface modification.
Bio-composites include hemp, wood, date palm wood, cork, alfa, and straw. Like hemp concrete, using locally harvested straw in cladding panels can add to your sustainable goals. Additionally, 3D-printed bioplastic cladding panels can be fully recycled after a building's end of life.
These products are created using prior life cycle assessments and are manufactured in certified factories. To ensure optimal performance, an energy-efficient façade system should be incorporated during the early stages of design, and proper analysis should be conducted using Product lifecycle management (PLM). The designer and manufacturer are responsible for staying updated and committed to evolving sustainability standards, emerging technologies, and industry trends through ongoing learning and adaptation.
Zayed National Museum of (ASGC and Lindner prater) through The Source residential development in
The picture displays a complex glazing system that is custom-made and mounted on steel, along with ACP cladding for the main entrance, the plinth facade,structure spin arch beam, and main columns holding the envelope
Some cladding materials that are considered sustainable may need to be more environmentally friendly during their manufacturing process. For example, stone is a sustainable material in operation, but the extraction and processing of its raw materials can have a high environmental impact. Timber tree-cutting methodology is considered to have a negative effect despite its sustainability.
By implementing a rain screen system, cladding materials that permeate water and heat can be more energy-efficient and sustainable.
• What are the building codes or regulations that pertain to exterior cladding, and how do they influence the design and construction process?
Designers are often restricted with codes in their design. No, as they know, these limitations ultimately benefit both the users and the environment. That does matter!
The construction industry's focus on sustainable cladding materials drives building performance enhancement. Building codes act as the backbone guideline of these standards, ensuring that the building enclosure is of high quality and meets efficiency guidelines. Designers must adhere to these codes when selecting materials, system components, layer sequencing, durability, insulation procedures, loads, testing, heat-moisture-air flow, and acoustic.
Today, most codes demand environmentally friendly and cost-effective sustainable cladding materials. This results in an iterative design process that meets the code requirements, boosts performance and achieves certification goals while maintaining the client's desired business aesthetic for the building façades.
In the USA, each state has its own set of regulations in the code. In the Middle East, international codes are used alongside the current codes of each country to choose materials with better qualities and safe loads.
Some of the codes used for façades and cladding systems include ANSI/ASA-EN1808 for acoustics, NFPA 285 for fire resistance, NFRC100/200 for thermal transmittance/loads, NIBS/ASHARE for building energy-efficient heat and airflow, ASTM E119 for water tightness, AAMA for fire performance, IBC for structural wind loads, and IRC.
• In terms of cost-effectiveness, how does the initial investment in high-quality exterior cladding materials compare to potential long-term savings in maintenance and energy efficiency?
It's a fact that investing money in high-quality cladding is a serious matter, and clients must be increasingly aware of the importance of returning it. By opting for high-performance cladding materials and their specialised system components, lik e insulation, cavities, flashing, and WRB, coupled with a rain screen substructure, you can save money in the long term and contribute to preserving the environment.
A careful selection of high-quality cladding materials coupled with skilled installation techniques can lead to significant savings. Incorporating Nanotechnology into cladding materials presents significant advantages, including the possibility of creating self-cleaning surfaces, reducing the need for cleaning using traditional methods, and ultimately saving costs. Moreover, one can generate energy by integrating photovoltaic technology, further enhancing the cost-saving benefits of such cladding systems. Replacing conventional reinforced concrete cladding with ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) can reduce the embodied carbon of precast concrete façade cladding by up to 50%. Additionally, ETFE cushions can be employed as an alternative to tripleglazing claddings, further contributing to energy savings.
Similarly, using bio-based insulation materials derived from renewable sources can dramatically reduce thermal loads in buildings while carrying a low embodied energy, thus cutting down on energy consumption. One noteworthy example of a bio-based material is date palm fiber insulation, which boasts the lowest life cycle energy balance of all building materials, surpassing expanded polystyrene and glass wool insulation.
Finally, consider informed decisions concerning the aspects of multiple cladding systems’ thicknesses, joints, corners, and finishing such as a gradient mix of colors and patterns on one panel, and a mix of materials. All of these are essential when designing a building envelope assembly. These components are interdependent and should function harmoniously for a successful design that matches the desires of multiple tenants and commercial rentals that will last for years.
To achieve this, reviewing data sheets and conducting thorough analyses of each option's benefits and potential returns is crucial. Simplifying this information can help build client trust and develop strong, long-term relationships. This approach can positively impact the built environment and contribute to a brighter future.
“Siderise is now one of the world’s leading construction product manufacturers of high-performance passive fire protection solutions for the building envelope”
the Author
Sreenivas Narayanan
Technical & Compliance Director - Middle East & Asia Pacific, Siderise Insulation
Sreenivas Narayanan (Sreeni) is a façade specification and compliance specialist at Siderise Group. He oversees the company’s technical strategy in the Middle East, India, and Asia Pacific regions. Sreeni has over a decade’s experience in sales, business and new market development, the majority of which has been in the field of passive fire protection and façades. He has been in the Middle East since 2007 and in that time, he has developed a deep understanding of the region, its requirements, and its regulations.
He has worked extensively with contractors, architects, and developers assisting them with code compliance and project specific matters. On behalf of Siderise, Sreeni has been instrumental in the undertaking of several comprehensive fire testing programs, collaborating with over 57 cladding manufacturers to complete more than 200 large-scale system tests relating to external façade assemblies. He is a regular participant at various façade and fire safety conferences promoting the technology of fire containment in modern building construction and frequently delivering educational presentations on this subject to industry.
In a conversation with Window & Façade Magazine, Sreeni talks about Siderise’s evolution, its products, projects and its contribution to improving fire safety in buildings. Here are the excerpts...
Can you provide an overview of Siderise’s history and the evolution of your solutions over the past 50 years?
Siderise started its life in 1972 as a distributor of acoustic materials. However, we soon became aware that the standard materials available on the market could not
always meet the specific requirements of our customer base. So, in 1979, we opened our first manufacturing facility. This allowed us to develop more progressive acoustic options and bespoke product designs for a mix of construction markets.
After success in this field, we expanded our offering in 1991 with another manufacturing facility dedicated to the development and production of passive fire protection solutions for the building envelope. However, again, we did not want to simply replicate what was already available on the market. Recognising the limitations of standard spray on fire seals and horizontally fibered fire barriers - and understanding the need for reliable fire-safe constructions - we engineered an innovative dry-fit stonewool Lamella solution with a patented manufacturing process.
In essence, this involves laterally compressing vertically oriented fibres and heat-bonding foil to the ‘cut’ face of the fibres under factory-controlled conditions. The foil and the pre-compression are critical to the mechanics of effective fire-stopping.
From this strong foundation, we continued to grow the business through mergers and active globalisation to meet the growing demand for fire, acoustic and thermal solutions for this rapidly evolving worldwide market. This included embracing new technologies to help improve building safety.
Fifty years on from our acoustic beginnings, Siderise is now one of the world’s leading construction product manufacturers of high-performance passive fire protection solutions for the building envelope, operating across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, the US, India, Asia Pacific, and beyond.
How has the Siderise brand and range of passive fire safety products gained international recognition?
At the heart of our global reputation is the dependable performance of our factory-engineered products and systems. This is verified by intensive fire testing to national, European, and international standards at a product and system level, as well as part of large-scale façade constructions. Whilst universally recognised standards are of unquestionable importance, we also take into consideration regional standards and undertake testing to satisfy localised compliance criteria. We also advocate for independent certification where
possible, even though it’s not always mandatory. We use accredited bodies such as ICC-ES to evaluate our products and were recently issued with our ESL-1524 listing for CW-FS120 - the first curtain wall perimeter firestop manufacturer to get this listing. This essentially means that we can obtain approval from local authorities in the MENA region as it is deemed to comply with the applicable sections of the International Building and Saudi Codes (IBC and SBC) for compartmentation in curtain wall applications.
We are also committed to fulfilling the requirements of regional AHJs where the approval process for certified acceptance varies country-to-country. Take the Malaysia Fire and Rescue Department (BOMBA) for example, or the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). This ensures code compliance— and beyond— across different applications in multiple regions.
It doesn’t stop there; we have a strong network of incountry partners spanning the globe whose local knowledge and on-the-ground expertise have been invaluable enabling access to Siderise products and systems.
However, we do not only export products but an ethos. Our offering is underpinned by a core value of ‘integrity in all we do’. This includes openly providing trusted product information to the market, commitment to building competency within the workforce, and sharing our knowledge and experience with the industry.
It is this mix of quality manufacturing, thorough testing, and supportive service that sets us apart in the global market, and why international architects, consultants, façade contractors, and other stakeholders have confidence in specifying and using our products.
Can you elaborate on the class-leading fire protection, noise control, and thermal insulation capabilities of Siderise’s products?
We are always looking to push the performance of our products to the next level - typically far beyond the minimum requirements of code and regulation to ensure the safest possible solution. It raises the bar and creates a higher playing field to help drive the industry toward best practices.
One example is the current development of a product that aims to fulfill both thermal and fire performance
criteria in curtain wall façade applications. Designers and specifiers are often presented with conflicting principles when it comes to energy efficiency and fire safety considerations. So, we wanted to address this with an innovation that functions as both a fireboard and thermal insulation. This will also streamline the source and supply process for buyers by providing a complete system under one warranty from a single manufacturer, with the confidence that each component is compatible. Furthermore, much of our business is in curtain walling so in addition to our passive fire protection offering, we offer a range of solutions for managing sound in these building types.
Our Siderise CW-FS Curtain Wall Firestop is another fine example. We were the first, and currently, we are the only manufacturer, to produce a perimeter barrier solution that has been tested to EN 1364-4 in a façade construction with mechanically induced pre-test movement cycling to EAD 350141-00-1106. It is clear how crucial this is when we consider that curtain wall façades and floor slabs can move a lot due to forces such as wind loading, seismic activity, and thermal stress. Installed between the façade and the slab edge, it is therefore vital to ensure that perimeter fire seals can
withstand this constant deflection, whilst maintaining a tight fire seal against both elements to ensure effective compartmentation.
Nevertheless, we have recently gone one step beyond as the first-ever manufacturer of holistic curtain walling compartmentation systems outside of the US to test for ASTM E2874. Released around three years ago, this is a standard that aims to address a huge issue that has been lingering in the industry for some time – how do you assess leap-frog risk? In summary, this new test method seeks to help specifiers evaluate the performance of a spandrel construction in terms of auto-exposure and fire resistance. At this time, it is not an obligatory requirement of any jurisdiction yet, despite the cost, we wanted to test one of our protected spandrel systems to gain a deeper understanding of performance.
How does Siderise support customers and specifiers with technical expertise? Can you provide examples of the support services offered?
Accurate specification and installation are key to successful passive fire protection. To support this, we are committed to nurturing technical excellence, which is why we have wrapped our product and systems portfolio in a comprehensive and free-of-charge technical services offering throughout the construction journey, from concept and design to sign-off and handover.
We currently have four regional offices with in-house expertise at both a national and international level, with over a third of our entire global workforce technically trained. Combine this with the expert local knowledge of our partners and we have a wider reach with the ability to support more stakeholders.
Our highly trained competent engineers in our technical services team have an intrinsic understanding of how our products work and what makes a safe building. With a huge amount of test data and experience at their fingertips, they provide detailed advice and assistance on specification, detailing, engineering judgments, compliance, and even bespoke product or systems development that comply with various performance criteria, depending on the application.
To help bridge the gap between design and as-built performance, our Site Services team provides site managers and installers with invaluable insight into potential practical challenges whilst helping to ensure
the fire safety strategy is not undermined. This includes toolbox talks, project-specific training, and benchmark installations, which all assist in ensuring instructions and method statements are fully understood.
The team also provides an inspection service to ensure our products are installed as intended. This can be done inperson or digitally using our free Siderise Inspection App, which allows installers to send photographic evidence and installation data directly to Siderise engineers to review. This makes it simple to record the progress and quality of installation of standard Siderise firestop, cavity barrier, and acoustic barrier systems before they are concealed by the façade.
The report generated by the app provides a valuable visual record of hidden elements of construction once the build is complete. This means it is clear exactly what’s in the building and how it was installed which can be passed over to the building owner at sign-off and used to inform any future maintenance or building work.
In what ways has Siderise contributed to advancements in fire protection, noise control, and thermal insulation in the construction industry? Collaboration and knowledge-sharing are fundamental when it comes to progress, especially around a subject as complex as passive fire safety or as misunderstood as acoustics.
We have created a bank of educational resources to help construction professionals build and consolidate their knowledge, from interactive online learning modules (Deep Dives) for specifiers, to hands-on onsite training for installation teams.
We also take the insights we have gained from our test data and project involvement and use them to actively participate in key technical committees and trade associations activity to help drive the global construction industry towards better solution performance and competency standards.
Additionally, as an Officer of the Construction Products Association (CPA) in the UK and Chair of its Marketing Integrity Group (MIG), our CEO, Adam Turk has taken a lead role in advising regulators and legislators on the emerging ‘Code for Construction Product Information’ (CCPI). This new code is voluntary and aims to improve the marketing of construction product information so that it is clear, accurate, up-to-date, accessible, and unambiguous. Naturally, we have signed up for the code because in line with our core value of ‘integrity in all we do’, we believe in the open sharing of trusted information.
Of course, reliable information and competency are intrinsically interlinked – training someone to be highly competent and giving them unreliable information does not make sense, nor does giving reliable information to someone who does not have the competency to use it. It is our duty as experts in this safety-critical field of construction to provide trusted product information to the market and share our knowledge and insight to help build competency and raise the bar for a safer global built environment.
Can you discuss any recent innovations or advancements in Siderise’s solutions?
We have invested in our R&D capacity with a new £1 million Global Innovation Centre. Operational from January 2023, the center marks a huge step forward for us, raising our profile as a diligent and dedicated manufacturer of life-safety critical products. Featuring a specialist fire test furnace - the only one of its kind outside a dedicated fire testing facility - the ability to test products to any published fire test curve to BS, EN, ASTM, UL, and ISO standards will allow us to not only conduct our own research and quality control testing inhouse but also to expand our bespoke solution offering, helping to develop passive fire protection systems for even the most unusual projects.
We are in the process of seeking UKAS accreditation to ISO 17025 to verify that it operates with technical competency and generates valid results, with the goal of making fire safety performance testing more accessible across the industry.
We are also seeking to embrace new advancements in service-related technology, such as the development of the next-generation Siderise Inspection App or embracing AR technology to view and position 3D design models of our systems, transforming the way people consume and interact with information.
How does Siderise ensure that its insulation products meet or exceed industry standards and regulations?
Whilst not always compulsory, testing to the correct standards and gaining third-party certification are the best ways of assessing and verifying the performance of passive fire protection products, and ensuring true compliance with any regulations or best-practice standards. There are often multiple tests on the market, but testing to standards that offer a more accurate indicator of real-life
performance in line with the real-world demands of the application can be considered much safer.
As mentioned earlier, we have partnered with worldrenowned certification bodies - including UL, Intertek, IFC, ESL and Certifire, ICC ES - to ensure all our tests are independently checked and verified. Gaining certification is a rigorous process, usually involving reviewing product test data against appropriate standards and requirements, and submitting product samples for analysis and as comparative samples. Factory visits and audits may also be carried out randomly, certification will be withdrawn, and re-testing required if any significant changes are observed. Any certificates that have been achieved are always uploaded to our website for specifiers to assess and use.
Could you provide some examples of notable projects where Siderise’s solutions have been successfully implemented?
Our robust portfolio of properly verified passive fire protection has led to specification on some of the world’s most iconic and innovative buildings. For example, in Dubai, our products have gone into many of the skyscrapers that dominate the city’s famous skyline, such as Boulevard Heights, Fountain Views, Al Fattan, and Merano Tower along with the Mobility Pavilion Expo 2020 and more recently Uptown Tower. We are also currently working with the project teams on the stunning 360m Ciel Tower - the world’s tallest hotel. Across India, we have completed over 200 projects with our distribution partner, Allarch, including Three Sixty West - a notable residential and hotel tower in Mumbai. Elsewhere, we have Assima Tower in Kuwait, Samsung Biologics in Korea, MOL in Hungary, Lusail Plaza, Doha, Al Amein Towers, in Egypt Sanofi EVF in Singapore and the TK Office Tower in Cambodia with plenty more projects underway!
What specific challenges are associated with insulating cladding systems, and how does Siderise address those challenges?
From a fire safety perspective, one of the key challenges when it comes to protecting cladding systems is the frequent requirement for a ventilation gap between the insulation and the cladding. This is to allow any moisture that penetrates the external façade to drain away. In addition to preventing issues with dampness or mould, the airflow within the cavity allows the whole system to stay cool in summer, and warm in winter, and provides some acoustic benefits. However, this open cavity can present a fire risk if not carefully considered. If a fire entered the wall construction, this void would act like a chimney, drawing the flames, smoke, and heat up the building and causing the fire to spread to multiple floors.
To prevent this happening, in many countries there is a legal requirement for the cavity to be closed off using cavity barriers. Yet this directly conflicts with the idea of a ventilated cavity. To address this, we developed our open-state Siderise RH Cavity Barriers. These include an integral intumescent material that rapidly expands in reaction to high heat (around 130°C). This allows them to be fixed to the internal cavity wall, leaving the ventilation gap open to allow for free vertical movement of air and drainage day-to-day (sometimes referred to as the “cold state”). However, in the event of a fire, the intumescent expands in a matter of seconds until the void is fully closed and a robust fire seal is formed.
We are always collaborating with partners in the industry to conduct large-scale tests in different configurations with different materials and the dataset from these tests means that we can learn a lot about specific challenges and find new ways of overcoming them safely.
How does Siderise ensure the compatibility and integration of its insulation solutions with different cladding materials and systems?
Again, testing is key here - particularly to standards that allow us to understand how our products will be used in real-life applications. This includes submitting our products to be used within large-scale façade systems tests, such as NFPA 285 and BS 8414-1 and -2, and in system tests for specific applications such as ASTM E2307 and EN 1364-4 for the perimeter fire seals used within the spandrel zone of a curtain wall façade. These comprehensive tests offer a clearer understanding of the fire resistance in terms of not only how our product performs but how it will interact dynamically with other components and materials within the façade under fire conditions.
In light of recent incidents involving claddingrelated fire hazards, how does Siderise contribute to improving the fire safety of cladding systems? These incidents have very clearly demonstrated that doing ‘just enough’ is never enough and that fire safety must be at the heart of every stage of the construction process, especially in high-rise buildings.
As global experts in passive fire protection, we believe we have a key part to play, acting as a trusted project partner from concept to handover. With our robust testing approach and investment in ensuring technical excellence, we are equipping design and construction teams across the globe with the cuttingedge solutions and tools they need to ensure the highest safety and performance standards possible to protect buildings and all who use them.
“The Middle East has the Capacity to Catch Up to and Surpass International Norms Over Time”
Marwa Abla Co-Founder & CEO, MAB Design Studio
Marwa Abla is Co-Founder and CEO of MAB Design Studio, with over two decades of experience in architectural projects across various countries. Her remarkable contributions as a member of the Engineering Projects Committee within the Egyptian Engineers Syndicate from 2018 to 2022 have been. Alongside her exceptional team, Marwa has led successful projects in architecture, interior design, and Building Information Modeling (BIM). Now, she is venturing into the metaverse, combining her design expertise and understanding of this digital realm. Marwa aims to redefine virtual spaces, offering her innovative architectural vision to create captivating virtual environments and guide brands through the uncharted territory of the metaverse, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in architecture.
Here are the excerpts from his recent interview with Window & Façade Magazine…
• Tell us about your practice and design approach?
MAB Design Studio is a multi-disciplinary Architecture & Engineering practice with offices across Egypt, and the UAE. We have been established in the Egypt for 8 years, with a significant portfolio of work across the Middle East.
Championing the convergence of art and science, our approach to design is truly collaborative, combining the experience and specialist knowledge of our architects and engineers, in combination with external specialist designers and clients to deliver comprehensive and holistic solutions to design projects. In the role of Lead Consultant, from design inception to completion on-site, our team is carefully selected to ensure the best possible outcome of each project, combining local knowledge with global expertise.
• Could you please tell us about your journey in the field? How did you think of becoming an architect? What do you enjoy most about your profession?
I have always been interested in design, in the wider sense. I studied design at school, and seriously
considered Product Design as the way forward. My first job was on an Orchid Farm in New Zealand, designing and building systems to simplify and automate the picking of delicate blooms. An internship at a small Architectural Practice in England, and with a small contracting company in Osaka, Japan, cemented my desire to further my interest in design in the field of architecture. Following graduation from the University of Dundee, I worked in Edinburgh for 15 years, working on hospitality, commercial and retail developments across Scotland and the North East, before relocating to Dubai in 2012. Over the past 10 years, I have led NORR’s multi-disciplinary teams on a variety of developments in the hospitality, residential and commercial sectors with NORR.
• Please talk about your projects featuring very innovative and different kinds of façade and fenestration designs.
Working closely with our façade engineering consultant, AESG, we chose to use ‘cold bending’ technology to achieve the subtle curve required in each unitised glass panel. The technology is simple, in principle. One corner of the panel can be bent away from the flat plain, up to 30mm. The more extreme the bend, the more stress put
on the glass, resulting in higher costs, and a greater risk of failure.
From a baseline design requiring approximately 30% of panels requiring to be bent to 10 mm or more, the resultant design has just 18% of panels requiring a bend of 10mm or more, with the remaining 82% of panels bending at 10mm or less.
The building does not, fundamentally, appear any different from the design vision. However, the detailed collaboration between architecture and engineering has resulted in a clean, efficient solution, complemented by cold-bending technology.
• How do you go about choosing materials for façade and cladding?
Material selection is the result of a number of factors. Materials are selected considering the proposed façade systems, to combine the aesthetic, long-term durability, maintenance regime, value, and cost. With a long-term presence in the UAE, the selection of locally-sourced products and technologies from a fast-maturing local market improves the environmental impact of our choices, reducing ‘material miles’ wherever possible. The use of new materials and technologies is not a matter of fashion, but the careful consideration of emerging technologies, providing ever-increasing technical performance.
• What do you think is the role of the façade in the sustainability enhancement of a building?
Sustainability does, of course, require a holistic approach to design, with contributions from all disciplines, from the macro – urban planning, infrastructure, and community - through to the coordinated approach and systems that develop the ‘building as a machine for living in.
The façade is the first line of defence. A shield between the internal and external environments. It is through exploring the visual and physical permeability of façades that creates opportunities to improve the performance of a building, through both active and passive sustainability measures, to improve the internal environment in terms of user experience, and energy levels required to sustain them. As an example, U-values and Shading coefficients of glazing systems are considered in parallel with light transmittance and reflectance values, to achieve an optimum balance
between thermal performance, and natural light quality for the building occupants.
The thermal performance of all aspects of the façade is critical to achieving energy efficiency, avoiding the traditional warm bridging weak points at slab edges, balconies and projections.
• How do you see the architectural industry in the Middle East? What are the challenges and opportunities?
The local and regional design codes are improving year on year. The Middle East, and the UAE in particular, has the ability to catch up with international standards and surpass them with time. I believe a lot can be learned from regions faced with extremely cold climates –Scandinavia for example. The challenges of dealing with extreme temperatures, whether hot or cold, are largely the same. Fully thermally broken systems and triple glazing are the norms in many countries, and I think we should expect them to make an appearance here, along with more sophisticated external wall build-ups, moving away from insulated masonry block and their inherent reliance on workmanship.
The UAE has seen recent experimentation in 3D-printed systems and buildings on a small scale. The expansion of modular construction, 3D printing, and automated
installation techniques have the opportunity to increase construction quality and speed, whilst reducing reliance on low-skilled labour.
• Please tell us about a few of your favourite projects you were involved in. Please share their façade & fenestration design details. One of our more challenging façade designs offered the opportunity to push the boundaries of structural
glazing. The Sky Slide at The Address Skyview is an ‘all glass’ slide, providing an adrenaline-pumping ride from Level 53 to Level 52 of the Address Skyview in Dubai.
A mock-up of the slide was built and tested by users of every height and weight. The slide angle, run-out length, and surface treatment were adjusted to validate the design, prior to construction. Multi-laminated glass
panels, built from individual sheets in excess of 14m sourced from Germany were created and held together using the structural sealant. Staggered lamination in the sidewalls creates a physical seat for the sliding plane.
The ‘square tube’ slide structure provides a fully airconditioned environment, extending the internal environment in free space, 220m above the ground.
The tube is supported solely at each end, through bespoke designed and engineered stainless steel fittings, designed to accept the thermal and structural movement of the system.
• What are the changes you see in façade design over the years?
There has been a significant increase in the range of technologies available to designers. Whilst the standard systems continue to evolve by ever-decreasing increments – improved energy efficiency, insulation values, and specialist coatings – new opportunities are evolving through prototypes and into the market.
The size, in terms of length, overall area, and performance, provided by glass manufacturers is increasing significantly, as described in the Skyview slide, enabling statement façades.
Modular construction gives designers the opportunity to design a comprehensive façade, incorporating structure, solid panels, and glazing, in a myriad of materials, fully constructed in factory conditions. Modular construction has moved on from bathroom pods to including full hotel rooms, apartments, and villas. ‘Plug & Play’ MEP systems and connecting structure results in fast, safe, construction, with modular construction starting to make its presence felt in mid to high rise development.
Technical fabrics, like ETFE, are now commonplace with pressure-balanced cells to better respond to significant temperature gradients.
Carbon fibre is increasingly an option for mullions, with a moulding approach that allows more complex forms than the traditionally extruded aluminium systems, both for aesthetics, and to pick up structural load paths.
Active solar shading systems, responding automatically to external weather conditions, reduce solar gain and increase user comfort.
3D printing offers the opportunity to create bespoke façade elements with little to no material wastage, and avoid the cost penalty of non-repetitive elements constructed more traditionally.
• Please explain the role of design systems in fire-safe buildings?
True fire engineering is a holistic process, coordinating all aspects of a building, both passive and active. A passive response incorporates building layout and configuration, escape routes and stairs, and sound material selection. Active systems, such as fire alarms, sprinklers, suppression systems & evacuation protocols, complement the passive design approach to provide a comprehensively fire-safe building. The thoughtful approach to the passive aspects of design has the opportunity to mitigate the complexity of active systems, and to provide a safe, balanced response to the risk of fire.
• One piece of advice you would like to give to aspiring architects?
An architect’s training should encompass far more than the content of a degree course. One piece of advice? Get your hands dirty! Spend time on site. Mix concrete, lay bricks, and do some joinery at home. Labour for a skilled craftsman. An understanding of what the lines on the paper really mean will vastly improve your understanding of how things go together, and the constraints and opportunities that different materials offer.
The Modern Rustic House is a unique living space that combines modern convenience with the beauty and harmony of nature. The design philosophy focuses on capturing the spiritual energy of the natural world and incorporating it into every aspect of the house. The play of sunlight, color schemes inspired by the sun, and the use of wood and greenery create a seamless connection between indoors and outdoors. The furniture and decor choices further enhance the rustic charm of the dwelling, with warm ochre hues and artisanal touches. The result is a tranquil and connected space that reminds residents of their place in the natural world. The Modern Rustic House offers a sanctuary where the rhythms of nature can be embraced, providing a place to relax, rejuvenate, and reconnect with oneself.
Step into the enchanting world of mashrabiya, a timeless vernacular architectural wonder that adorns the second or higher floors of buildings, casting an intricate latticed spell over internal courtyards. Like a delicate balcony or oriel window, the mashrabiya is a small opening that beckons you to a world of beauty and functionality, leaving you awe-inspired at every turn.
Architecturally, these lattice works are marvels of ingenuity, ingeniously serving multiple purposes that go beyond mere aesthetics. One of their foremost functions is to control the flow of air, ensuring a gentle breeze permeates the space within. Beyond that, they are masters at reducing the temperature of the air, creating a cool oasis amidst the scorching sun. But it does not end there - the mashrabiya also plays a role in increasing the humidity of the air, adding an element of comfort to the atmosphere within.
A harmonious blend of privacy and openness is yet another captivating aspect of the mashrabiya. The lattice work ranges from simple geometric shapes to breathtakingly ornate patterns, offering glimpses of the outside world while cloaking the interior in a sense of seclusion. Each region boasts its own unique design, be it the mesmerising hexagonal patterns or the elegant Kanaysi or Church balusters, assembled vertically in graceful symmetry.
Ventilation and passive cooling are taken to the next level with the incorporation of a water jar, affectionately known as a qullah, inside the mashrabiya. As the cool water infuses the air, an oasis-like ambiance envelopes the space, transforming it into a sanctuary of respite.
The mastery of craftsmanship extends even further as some mashrabiyas are lined with stained glass, creating a mesmerising interplay of light and color. While many remain closed, some offer a delightful surprise by being designed as movable windows, artfully sliding open to reveal their hidden treasures. Not only do they enhance the upper floor rooms by expanding the floor plan, but they also grant you access to an independent balcony, transporting you to a world outside, embraced by scenic wonders like a river, a cliff, or a picturesque farm.
As you trace your fingers along the lattice, you’ll find the mashrabiya embodies the soul of traditional elegance, a testament to the timeless ingenuity of skilled artisans. Every intricate pattern weaves together a story of heritage and culture, whispering tales of generations past.
Welcome to a world where the mashrabiya reigns supreme - a harmonious symphony of design and functionality, where the past meets the present, and the ordinary transcends into the extraordinary. Immerse yourself in the enchanting dance of light and shadow, as the mashrabiya becomes not just a window but a portal to a world of wonder.
• Project Name: (Rhythms of Nature)
• Location: Siwa oasis, Egypt
• Architect: Marwa Abla
• Materials used for facade & fenestration: The Modern Rustic style uses wood, rustic materials, and vintage wood for more blend into nature
• Commencement Date & Completion Date: October 2021January 2022
Arada and the American College of Sharjah (AUS) have teamed up to plan a progression of façade models for the cladding of a substation at the Aljada megaproject in Muweileh. Supported by Arada, the Tough qualities plan studio was an organization among scholastic and industry accomplices that gave understudies a significant opportunity for growth in regard to compositional work, including idea configuration, site examination, plan improvement, and coordination with experts.
Shown by Academic administrator of Engineering Jason Carlow, a gathering of 18 understudies in their
last year of studies at AUS’ School of Design, Workmanship, and Plan (CAAD) explored and planned imaginative and carefully point-bypoint cladding frameworks for the current substation, which is worked by Sharjah Power, Water and Gas Authority (SEWA). The understudies evaluated true advantages in a progression of classes taken under the direction of AUS employees and Arada’s plan and imaginative groups, an assertion from Arada noted.
Plans presented by the understudies for the façade, which has an edge of 369m and a level of 12m, adjusted worldwide structural prescribed procedures to neighborhood
conditions, giving a large number of approaches. These included adaptable plans to consider contrasting ecological circumstances or openness to the sun, the practical utilization of reused development materials, as well as the plan of more profound exteriors intended to coordinate designs or proposition convincing building spaces. As a component of the venture, understudies embraced field excursions to processing plants and structures in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as inviting Evan Levelle, Head of UK-based façade consultancy Front, who both introduced his own work and checked on their advancement, the assertion added.
In a major architectural triumph, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) has unveiled its selection of Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos (NSA), a distinguished Spanish architectural firm, to craft a cutting-edge transformation for the museum. The project’s focal point will be a breathtaking “dramatic floating square extension,” catapulting the institution into a new era of innovation and artistry.
After an intense six-month international competition, which drew a remarkable 154 entries from across the globe, Madrid-based studio NSA, led by the accomplished architects Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano, emerged as the triumphant design visionaries. The duo’s proposal epitomizes a
harmonious fusion of tradition and modernity, poised to revolutionize the connection between art, environment, and community.
The heart of NSA’s concept rests upon the revival of the original structure conceived by American architect Edward Larrabee Barnes in 1984. Their ingenious design, realized through monolithic square volumes, pays homage to the building’s history
while propelling it into a vibrant future. A crowning achievement of their vision is the addition of an ethereal contemporary art gallery, gracefully poised on the roof like a floating marvel.
With meticulous attention to detail, the new design redefines the museum’s external expression of art. The exterior LED-generated artwork, seamlessly integrated into a perforated surface, becomes a conduit for artistic communication, bridging the gap between the museum’s interior and the world beyond. Passersby are treated to enchanting glimpses of the art within, thanks to the transparent glazing along the north facade overlooking Klyde Warren Park and the Harwood Street facades at street level.
