Contemporary

Façades formed by double walls may suffer from condensation of water on the cold side of the insulation. This problem is difficult to solve when the aim is to preserve the water vapour diffusivity of the entire enclosure. The outer wall will hardly dissipate water vapour before it condenses. HArquitectes solved the problem in this house in Sant Cugat by means of regular microventilations, which escape from the traditional image of a cavity wall. Rainwater tightness is entrusted to the characteristics of the outer ceramic layer. 

Renzo Piano provides several examples of interesting ceramic façades, despite the problems that some of them may have suffered over time.

The façade of the Sant Jordi student residence building is characterized by the continuity of the zinc sheet. This sheet covers the opaque wall and the windows; in this second case as an outer shutter.

The façade escapes from verticality with a discreet, but sufficient, gesture.

St Giles is one of the latest projects by Renzo Piano’s studio that has a dry fixed ceramic façade. In this case, the architects resorted to unitized panels for its construction.

The building that B01 Architects built for Carburos Metálicos in Barcelona's Carrer d'Aragó, and some of the works of Catalan architects Tous i Fargas, illustrate the need, at that time, of developing industrialized construction systems for the blind area of the facade. The aim was to build a blind façade with a technology similar to that used by the glass and aluminium industry for glazed envelopes.

Saint Paul's Crossing building is a good example of using various façade solutions for a continuous glass skin.

In a city full of iconic buildings, Grimshaw studio sought to make an impression using colour.

Beyond chromatic issues, what we are interested in emphasizing here is the complexity of the unitized panel formed by a double sheet and anchored in its upper third, at a certain distance from the top.

The façade of Broadwalk House stands out for having exploited the potential of prefabricated concrete panels to the maximum.

The architects’ challenge in the NIDO building was to combine residential use with the image of a high tower in the centre of London, whilst ensuring the right level of comfort.