CURTAIN WALL SYSTEM Ar. C.N.

Vaishnavi
 CURTAIN WALLS

 With skeleton-frame construction, exterior walls need carr y no

load other than their own weight, and therefore their principal
function is to keep wind and weather out of the building —
hence the name cur tain wall.

 Non-bearing walls may be suppor ted on the structural frame

of a building, on supplementary framing (girts or studs, for
example) in turn suppor ted on the structural frame of a
building, or on the floors.

 Wind forces acting on the glass are carried by the framing

back to the carrier system , and the weight of the glass by the
transoms of the cur tain wall .
 Glass cur tain walls were famous due to the large scale
manufacturing of the glass during the early 20th
centur y(1920s and 1930s).

 The structural frames – Mullions and Transom are generally

made of zinc coated steel, aluminum.

 The complication of joining the many sections necessar y for

this form of window panel wall system and the attendant
difficulties of making weather tight seals to the many joints
have, by and large, led to the abandonment of window wall
glazing systems.
 SYSTEM T YPES

•In the Stick system, mullions (sticks) are fabricated in the shop and installed and glazed in the
field. Sticks are placed between floors vertically to support individual components such as
Stick System horizontal mullions, glazing and spandrels. Loads are transferred to the building through
connections at the floors or columns.

•For large or labor-intensive projects, Unit Panel systems may be a cost-effective alternative to the
Unit Panel System Stick system. In the Unit Panel system, panels are fabricated and assembled at the shop and
may be glazed there as well. The panels are then taken to the field where they are attached to a
building structure.

Unit and Mullion •Similar to the Stick system, mullions are the first tube to be installed in the Unit and Mullion
System system. Spandrel and glazing are inserted into the Stick system as a complete unit.

Column Cover and •While Column Cover and Spandrel systems are similar to Unit and Mullion systems, they differ in
Spandrel System that the building frame is emphasized with column covers which act as sticks.

Point Loaded •In this system, the vertical framing member can be comprised of stick, cable, or another custom
Structural Glazing structure behind the glass. Glass is supported by a system of four-point brackets and the joints
System are sealed with silicone
 ISSUES TO CONSIDER WHEN USING
CURTAIN WALL
 Air infiltration and deflection
 Non-deflection related stress
 Thermal conductivity
 Loads
 Weather
 Seismic and blast forces
 Fire safety
 Finally, note that cur tain wall systems typically cost more
than standard window systems. These costs must be reviewed
in conjunction with the need to address special design
considerations such as support framing, glazing types, interior
vs. exterior systems, shading devices, applied finishes, special
in-fill materials, etc.
STICK
SYSTEM
UNIT
SYSTEM
UNIT AND
MULLION
SYSTEM
COLUMN
COVER AND
SPANDREL
SYSTEM
POINT
LOADED
STRUCTURAL
GLAZING
SYSTEM
 Fixing glazed panels

Flush silicone sealed joint curtain wall

 Structural silicone bonded glazing panels

Prefabricated flush face curtain wall.

Point-fixed glass on base
supported steelwork
Trusses and fins (4 m height and above)
Point fixed glass, top hung with wind trusses
Point fixed glass on cable system

Glass fin stiffened systems

 single bracket spider

paired
bracket
Angled brackets spider
Paired pins
a Stick system curtain walling;

Different construction techniques for stick.

a Mullions installed then transoms.
b Mullions and transoms installed sequentially.
c Ladder frames installed then intermediate
transoms
Unitized curtain wall systems Panelized curtain wall systems Spandrel ribbon curtain
wall systems

Structural sealant glazing Bolted structural glazing Patch structural glazing