Curtain Walling is a method of cladding a building using prefabricated materials that are brought to site and simply hung off the main structure. Often these skins are either profile steel sheeting, such as is seen on light industrial buildings, or glazed panels, such as on tall office buildings.
The process is very simple to do, and can be a very fast solution to cladding a building. The panels are not load bearing and can come in a range of sizes from a couple of metres square to, effectively, a whole, intact wall. An angled section on the back of panels simply hangs off the steel or concrete frame of the building and is fixed by a slot bolt which allows for left- and right-ward movement through heat change but keeps the panel fastened to the structure.
Glazed panels have columns and horizontal rails (as with standard windows’ mullions and transoms) as well as a ‘spandrel panel’ that is an insulated panel below the glazing.
Curtain walls also often have ‘thermal brakes’ at the joints between panels to prevent heat passing through the structure into the atmosphere, with associated problems of condensation, heat loss and stress on the building materials. Insulation is also usually built into the panels before they arrive on site.
