Sustainable. That’s perhaps the most spoken buzzword in architectural circles today. With climate change trending all social media, an increasing world population, resulting in limited resources being shared by a larger consumption pool and energy generation, increasing at a faster rate than its replenishment, developers and architects are entrusted, both logically and morally, With an important responsibility to ensure that the carbon footprint from their construction is either ideally zero or as close to this magic number as possible. So, what makes a building sustainable? At a very fundamental level - the materials used for its construction. Of course, its design and layout are the foundational philosophy that dictates its sustainable intent, but without the right choice of material, even the best design will yield little or no results Hence it becomes imperative that architects and consultants work with material suppliers at the very concept design stage to find the...

No doubt, façades are the most important building element from both the user's and the architect’s point of view. They are the most difficult to design too since the perception of iconic and technologically advanced facades is changing frequently. Designers are researching and experimenting with new and complex façade forms and patterns. The glass aluminium facades are bygones now as we see a lot more new materials in the market such as rusted iron panels, zinc, copper and steel, and even high-pressure laminates. Along with the materials that furnish the look and feel of a building, technologies applied to facades are also changing. Leading-edge technologies play a crucial role in terms of sustainability and operational cost-effectiveness. Truly successful facades do far more than merely project an iconic image, they play a vital role in driving or transforming building performance, engaging with the external environment, significantly enhancing durability, and reducing energy...

In the heart of Dubai, halfway between the world’s tallest building (Burj Khalifa) and the newly opened Dubai Water Canal, construction is coming to an end on yet another landmark for the city: The Opus by Zaha Hadid. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"] Street view of The Opus[/caption] The Opus is a mixed-use 20-story building – hotel, serviced apartments and offices –which resembles a glowing cube that floats above the ground and has a freeform void in its centre. The building consists of two concrete towers connected by a steel bridge on top and a large steel-supported atrium roof at the base, seamlessly cladded with glazed curtain walling. The external façades are built with transparent glazing with a mirror pattern, in contrast with the freeform inner “void” area which has dark blue glazing. Our job since the start of the project was to provide consultancy services on building envelope engineering. From...

Facade is the most striking feature in any structure. It gives us an instant impression of the design of that structure. One can sense the volume of space looking at the façade. But unfortunately, in most cases, people do not try to develop them, thereby leaving a dead look on the outside. Many developers do not allocate a fixed budget for the façade. Also, some designers do not incorporate façade design elements to the original space planning, thereby resulting in an unsuccessful product. If one goes through a proper design process, it will give a much better output not only to the internal space planning but also to the elevation of the structure. Thus, designers need to be careful not to take elevation design for granted and always integrate them with the original space planning. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="593"] Fig.1. Crushed stones and aggregates and can be used to create...

Zak World of Facades, 22nd April 2016, ITC Maratha Hotel, Mumbai After the stupendous success of the initial three seasons, the fourth season of the Zak World of Facades conference series kicked start in Mumbai on 22nd April at ITC Maratha, with an all-new emphasis on the National Building Code and an every pressing issue of the fire safety and the return on investment for facades. The one-day conference held at Hotel ITC Maratha, Mumbai, on 22nd April, saw a never-before gathering of some of the most prominent and appreciated names from the construction industry in India and abroad, sharing their expertise and experience in order to achieve the best façade execution practices. As the city’s buildings face some particular challenges with respect to providing sustainable accommodation and working abodes, façades play an irrefutable role in their functionality. Needless to say, this edition exhibited some of the finest facade products...

WFM: Please give us a brief introduction of your fim and a few of your recently completed important projects. Jonas Upton-Hansen: UHA is an international architecture and design studio based in London. The firm was founded in 2011 with an initial focus on luxury residential projects in London and grew rapidly to undertake larger-scale projects across Europe, Asia and the Americas including countries such as China, India, Mexico and Russia. Recent projects include a 20 million Sq ft mixed-use master plan in central Moscow on the historical ‘Hammer & Sickle’ steelworks; a 160m tall luxury office tower and hotel in downtown Mexico City and a corporate headquarters in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. In India, UHA is involved with a significant number of prestigious projects: in Gurgaon - the Michael Schumacher World Tower for Homestead; a series of projects for M3M Group including the St Andrew’s Tower, Escala Urbana Premium and Satya’s Element...

With the advent of Global Warming, energy efficiency and conservation have become paramount factors when designing a building. A typical building contributes to 40 per cent of the total power consumption today. As an interface between indoors and outdoors, the façade plays a significant role in the definition of a building’s energy efficiency. By employing a rear ventilated facade, an energy concept can be developed for each building that takes into account the heating and cooling requirements of the building along with the perfect light quality inside it. What Exactly is a Rear Ventilated Façade? The rear ventilated façade is a multi-layer building façade system consisting of a rainscreen cladding on the outer layer in combination with a frame, weather-resistant membrane, insulation, sub frame and a ventilated cavity. (Image 1) A differential between the temperature on the face system of the cladding panel and the air cavity temperature creates a...

Façade is the Architect’s opportunity to make a statement. Modern architecture has witnessed fascinating examples of visually enterprising facade statements. The architect’s vision is exemplified through the use of design and building elements that can lend a sense of uniqueness to a building almost akin to creating a special identity that sets the building apart from any other. In today’s world of technology and engineering advancement, the facades of buildings have found a unique place in terms of priority when it comes to construction. The mere aesthetics is not the only contributing factor that a façade can make towards the construction of the building, but also many functional aspects that can help this single element play a crucial role in the construction or post-construction stage. The façade, in a way, can be seen as a sort of “interface” between the inner and outer environs. By definition, good architecture implies an...