Building envelope / façades finished with glass such as windows or glass used extensively to wrap up the building perimeter is called structural glazing. The function of the glazing is to provide safety and weather projection of the occupants. The glazing system must be able to engineered for structural requirements to perform safety and functional performances.

Partially Factory finished, transported to site and erected to building façade with fixings and brackets. Involves considerable work at the site,

Glass units are factory made and fixed to frameworks installed at site.

Pros

• Moderate cost
• Small factory setup
• Lower skills needed

Cons

• Lot of site sealant application
• Workmanship issues
• Difficult to get quality

All works are done at the site, frames are machined at the factory and brought to the site as knockdown conditions. Glass panels are installed to frames with pressure plates and gaskets.

Requires a lot of site-based works.

Pros

• Low cost
• Smaller factory
• Lower skills needed
• Readily available
• Fit to small applications

Cons

• Too much site works
• Workmanship issues
• Difficult to get quality

Provide highly transparent façade with less frames or structural members,. Adopted for large spaces, airports, lobbies etc,. Large panels are used to minimise the visual disturbances.

The system provides visually appealing characters and yet robust.

Difference between Glazing Vs Cladding

Aim of glazing to provide weather proofed skin to the building perimeter, however cladding is intent to provide cosmetic / architecturally treatment to the external wall.

Cladding doesn’t provide weather proofed skin, generally used with the some kind of sub-strate behind cladding.

Generally referred to glazing connecting several floors such as commercial buildings or high-end residential towers etc, This concept is widely used for all modern building constructions to provide high-quality finishes and give good architectural impressions,.

Key structural aspects of Glazing system

Wind loads are primary driver of the designs which has following challenges

• Geometry
• Peak pressures
• Unpredictable- some cases
• Non linear
• Dynamic
• Wind Tunnelling

Structural Frame

What is structural framing?

Structural Framings are the structures having the combination of Mullion, Transom, Sill & Head to resist thelateral wind and Dead loads.

How is structural framing done?

In Facade Structural Frame,

• The glasses are supported by transom/Sill& Head.
• The transoms are connected in to vertical mullion.
• The vertical mullion is connected to the floor brackets.

The floor brackets are fixed to the RCC by post fixing anchors

Key design principle

• Direct load transfer
• Structurally efficient
• Allow movement / rotations
• Ease of fixing
• Simplicity in detailing
• Ability to interface cleanly with main building