Integrate the best building envelope construction methods, materials science, and structural principles in your work using this book as a resource to help you... With more than seventy significant case studies located in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia from prehistory to the present, this book illuminates the theory and techniques of assembling exteriors. Six chapters organized by wall types, from hand-set monolithic walls to digitally fabricated curtain walls, each have a material focus section to help you understand their intrinsic properties so that you can decide which will best keep the weather out of your building. Examples from the ancient world, including the Pyramids and the Great Wall, through a range of renowned modern architects, such as Studio Gang, Sauerbruch Hutton, Herzog and deMeuron, and Rafael Moneo, illustrate how significant works in the history of architecture explored innovative use of materials – stone, brick, concrete, glass, and aluminium. Along the way, principles of construction from masonry and basic framing through ever more sophisticated envelope systems address classic problems presented by gravity, wind, rain, and sun with studies of lateral forces, building movements and materials that bridge the gaps in between them.

A comprehensive guide to the design and execution of sophisticated exterior building enclosures Focused on the design process for architects and related professionals, this book addresses the design and execution of sophisticated exterior building enclosures for a number of commercial building types and in a variety of building materials. It focuses on the design process by delineating enclosure basics, the participants (owners, architects, engineers, consultants) and their roles and responsibilities through collaboration, and tracking the design process through construction. This comprehensive handbook covers all of the factors that affect the design of a building enclosure, including function, visual aesthetics, performance requirements, and many other criteria. In-depth case studies of projects of various scales, types, and climate conditions illustrate the successful implementation of exterior wall enclosure solutions in brick masonry, stone, architectural concrete, glass, and metals. This unique and indispensable guide: Defines the functions, physical requirements, design principles, and types of exterior building enclosures Identifies the participants in the design and construction process and specifies their roles and responsibilities Presents a step-by-step process for the design of exterior enclosures, from defining goals and developing concepts through creating construction documents Reviews the construction process from bidding and negotiation through the paper phase to the "brick and mortar" stage Provides details on the properties of exterior enclosure materials, including structural considerations, weather protection, fire safety, and more Covers a variety of materials, including brick masonry, natural stone masonry, architectural concrete, metal framing and glass, and all-glass enclosures Written by the technical director of the San Francisco office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Exterior Building Enclosures is an indispensable resource for architects, engineers, facade consultants, and green design consultants working on commercial building projects.

This book discusses a new method for the design and engineering of complex façades. Based on the file-to-factory concept, the method combines parametric design approaches and additive manufacturing. Parametric design and additive manufacturing are both growing trends that open up new possibilities. Parametric design approaches change how planners / designers perceive building details. Further, new engineering concepts are needed to cope with the increasing complexity of architectural geometries due to the rapid developments in areas such as façade systems, modeling software and digital manufacturing techniques.

Recovery in construction is still on track. Business confidence is increasing – but still not yet secure. Following the 18% fall in tender prices between 2008 and 2013, price levels are beginning to recover some lost ground, particularly in the residential sector and with London based projects. It is important to make sure tenders are competitive, whilst minimising your risk as input material prices and labour rates continue to rise and tender prices are forecast to increase an average of 4.5% over the next 3 years, reaching the pre 2008 recession levels in 2017. Spon's Architect's and Builders' Price Book, compiled by AECOM, still provides the most accurate, detailed and professionally relevant construction price information for the UK. Its unique Tender Index, updated through the year, gives an ongoing reality check and allows you to adjust for changing market conditions. Although it suits a wide range of project sizes, this is the only price book which sets out a detailed cost base for contracts exceeding £3,500,000 in value. Use the access code inside the front cover of the book to get set up with internet access to this 2015 edition until the end of December 2015. We now provide SPON’S Online, a versatile and powerful online data viewing package. Major changes have been made to this 140th edition: As well as an overhaul of prices, over new items have been added. These include: New cost models for Business Parks and Data Centres An expanded range of Kingspan roof and wall claddings New ASSA ABBLOY sectional overhead doors, including rapid opening and fabric New ASSA ABBLOY industrial dock levellers and shelters An increased range of Altro safety flooring and resin flooring systems New Altro Whiterock hygiene doorsets

The external facades of a building are more than a protective mantle, or an intelligent skin regulating temperature and light, they also determine its very appearance. By unusual choices of materials and the use of complex technology, facades have become increasingly significant in recent years. External surfaces are being perceived as an integral part of the building and are therefore being designed as such. This volume focuses on the wide-ranging aspects of facade design, from the selection and use of materials to the advanced technical possibilities now open to the architect. A wide array of carefully selected international examples show the theory in the practice. All plans, details, and large scale sections of the facades have been researched with the high degree of competence typical of the editorial staff from the review Detail. Expert authors provide the essential information needed to plan and design facades and elucidate on the latest developments in technology and materials.

Few parts of a building work harder than its envelope (also known as its facade). The envelope is the part of the building most visible from the outside--so it should be visually appealing--but it can also have the biggest effect on the well-being and safety of its occupants--so the envelope should be help heat and cool the building, allow light into it, and provide necessary structure. Too often, a building's envelope is more aesthetically striking than functional, or vice versa. A great building envelope, though, architecturally integrates all of its elements.

Architects write a lot, especially now when conceptual aspects have become central in the advanced reflections and narrative forms increasingly intersect the quest of design practices far an ultimate legitimation. In the growing mass of the publishing offer, these keywords try to highlight recurrent issues, tracking synthetic paths of orientation between different critical positions, with particular attention to what happens in the neighbouring fields of the arts and sciences.