Lightweight facades are becoming more and more popular in today's building and architectural worlds, and for two key reasons: aesthetics and sustainability.
Peter Walker, director at Circa Architecture in Tasmania, says developments in lightweight facades and their performance have made them a popular option for buildings, both new and old.
“Due to the increased performance of these types of systems, I envisage that they will start to be used more and more for re-cladding or adding new skins to existing buildings.
“There have been a number of recent projects where, either for heritage or economic reasons, existing buildings have been given new high performance skins that increase the efficiency and life expectancy of the building,” says Walker.
The Chinese lantern facade appears to hover over the existing building at Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
“In heritage circumstances, these allow new uses to be explored while retaining an understanding of the existing heritage fabric.”
This can be seen in a project completed by Circa Architecture in 2004. Hobart’s IXL Atrium hosts a range of events including design and art installations as well as cocktail and dinner events. For this project, a lightweight timber and glass atrium space was developed between existing heritage buildings to create this new enclosed north facing courtyard.
“In this instance it was important that the facade, in this case the roof, let in as much light as possible so that the space could be used to passively heat the hotel spaces which occupied the masonry heritage building behind,” says Walker.
He adds that while in the past a significant challenge for architects was finding transparent cladding that can deal with shaped forms, this is no longer an issue because of improvements in connection and joining systems. These developments, combined with Australia’s push towards sustainable design, will only enhance the popularity of lightweight facades, he says.
Fabritecture specialises in the design and construction of tensile fabric architecture, creating structures for use in applications from sporting stadiums, convention centres, recreation and entertainment venues to hotels, resorts, hospitals, museums and universities.
Like Walker, Fabritecture’s marketing co-ordinator Amanda Shone believes that aesthetics and sustainability are two of the main reasons why lightweight facades are popping up all over the country.
“A majority of the components of lightweight facades are recyclable and have a very low carbon footprint. Structures can be re-used or changed, allowing buildings to be re-branded or re-imaged. They are also easy to clean, making them low maintenance and environmentally friendly, and there is energy saving potential for a building when these fabrics are used as a sunscreen or secondary facade,” says Shone.
This is because the second skin allows more natural light to enter the building, which also means more heat is entering, reducing the building's reliance on artificial heating. By providing a semi-permeable membrane, they also allow the building to breathe.
There is almost no limitation to how a facade structure can look, with companies like Fabritecture offering fabrics in 27 different colours, transparent from the inside to the outside and with an array of digital printing options.
This flexibility proved useful when Fabritecture supplied an integrated facade to Luna Park’s Big Top in Sydney.
“As part of a redevelopment project for Luna Park, fabric facades were added to the Big Top Structure, adding to the overall aesthetic look and feel of the circus structure. The fabric wraps around pre-cast concrete walls from the roof down the eave to create a colourful facade for the main circus tent, as well as creating a protected and usable area underneath,” Shone explains.
Rowan Murray, general manager of Ronstan Tensile Architecture, which creates high tensile cables and rods to support lightweight facades, believes fabrics are the latest big development in the industry. He says fabrics are being used throughout Europe to rejuvenate and re-skin existing buildings, but also to improve their thermal performance.
“Ronstan believes that sustainability will continue to drive facade development. We believe that the need for thermal efficiency of buildings will continue to demand more efficient systems for the suspension of passive solar elements on building facades, whether they are used to suspend mesh, metal panels, glass or even timber,” says Murray.
The cables and rods that Ronstan provides are used to support a facade in place of heavy steel members, putting the ‘light’ into lightweight.
A good example of Ronstan’s work is the Q4 office building at Smales Farm Technology Park on Auckland’s north shore. Designed by Peddle Thorp Architects, the building comprises large expanses of glass, allowing views of the surrounding regions, but requiring a cleverly balanced approach to thermal performance. Specialised glass limits heat transference from inside to out, and a second skin in the form of a louvre system of timber and cable panels limits heat gain.
“The timber was positioned on structural cables which provide maximum strength and minimum diameter supports. The Q4 facade is a fantastic example of a tensioned facade that responds to its context with an aesthetic and effective passive solar design,” says Murray.
In another example closer to home, the facade of 103-105 Lonsdale Street in Melbourne was created with the building's heritage listing and close proximity to Chinatown in mind. A bright and dramatic Chinese lantern appears to shroud the two storey addition to the building, cable supported and hovering above the existing structure.
“For the lantern illusion to succeed the facade element needed to appear as light as possible. Cables pre-tensioned between cranked beams replaced heavy horizontal steel members and provided the essential structure onto which mesh panels were clamped.
“The result is a facade of unique lightness and transparency,” says Murray. “The woven mesh filter cleverly hides the regular form of the building, which is wrapped in a second skin to provide the protection and uniquely identify with the surrounding area.”
