Design and Prototyping of a Curtain Wall System With Wooden Load-bearing Structure and Glass Infill Panels

The sector of architectural envelope is at the moment one of the most developed, both in terms of technological innovation and design experimentation. The whole construction industry knows that the curtain wall performances are essential to reduce the impact of buildings in the environment, in terms of greenhouse gases emissions and energy consumption. At the same time, a positive trend for the buildings with wooden load-bearing structure has developed and it is proved by a growing number of projects in geographic areas where historically no-one used this material. The wood is highly appreciated in the field of construction industry because of its good mechanical resistance, its good thermal insulation and sound-proof, the ease it can be worked, the tactile heat that transmits and the message of environmental eco-friendly improvements it can be associated with. After a meticulous observation of these trends, the Università Iuav di Venezia has decided to develop a specific research project: it has prefigured that a work in synergy between the two sectors can offer a fertile ground to develop technical and planning know-how. The aim is to develop prototypes of innovative curtain walls with wooden load-bearing structure and glass infill panels. A market survey has shown that wood curtain walls are almost absent, that’s the reason why it has been chosen to analyse and develop this kind of product with the partnership of Simco Tecnocovering (nowadays Simeon S.r.l.), an Italian company specialized in aluminium curtain wall systems. It has been decided to set aluminium systems with wooden envelopes and a mixture of aluminium and wooden structures made by the most important competitors against a façade system only made of wood. The paper presents the final results of the research, underlining the problems observed and the solutions that have been found.