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The United Nations Secretariat
Published in Clifton Fordham, Constructing Building Enclosures, 2020
In the canonical postwar modernist buildings, one prominent and highly visible innovation was the curtain wall. A curtain wall, as the term has been conventionally used since the 1950s, is an enclosure of glass suspended as a continuous surface outside the structural frame.1 Additional characteristics include thin profiled window frames, the repetitive use of the glass modules and a lack of masonry between glass sections. In the mid-twentieth century, the realization of a modern glass curtain wall first appeared in Wallace Harrison and Max Abramovitz’s United Nations Secretariat, for which design began early in 1947, and whose construction finished in 1950 (Figure 3.1). Upon its completion, and even before, the UN Secretariat was at the center of debates about modernism generally, and in particular about larger glass-walled buildings that depended on air conditioning for habitability.
Double-Skin Façade History, Part I
Published in Mary Ben Bonham, Bioclimatic Double-Skin Façades, 2019
The turn of the century marked the arrival of a number of glass curtain wall and double-skin ‘firsts.’ In these instances, the need for daylight was the driving force, more so than solar heat gain. Heat could be produced by steam or hot water, but the quality of electric lighting systems at the time was inadequate for tasks of industry and commerce. Iron and steel structural façades and building frames had enabled the shift from punched windows in load-bearing masonry walls to lightweight façades separated from the main building structure. Early curtain walls were fabricated from an array of materials, especially metal and glass.8 Larger and larger expanses of glass window area and the development of spandrel glass ultimately led to the all-glass curtain wall.
Tall buildings
Published in Hassan K. Al Nageim, T.J. MacGinley, Steel Structures, 2017
Hassan K. Al Nageim, T.J. MacGinley
Walls in steel-framed buildings may be classified as follows: Structural shear walls located in bays on the perimeter, around cores or in other suitable areas – these are of reinforced concrete or composite construction incorporating steel columns. All-steel braced bays with fireproof cladding serve the same purpose. These walls carry wind and vertical load.Non-load bearing permanent division and fire-resistant walls – these are constructed in brick and blockwork and are needed to protect lifts, stairs and to divide large areas into fireproof compartments.Movable partitions – these are for room division.Curtain walls – these include glazing, metal framing, metal or precast concrete cladding panels, insulation and interior panels. Typical details are shown in Figure 11.8(b).Cavity walls with outer leaf brick, inner leaf breeze block – these are common for medium-rise steel-framed buildings.
Life cycle cost analysis of a built-in guide-type robot for cleaning the facade of high-rise buildings
Published in Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, 2022
Dong-Jun Yeom, Ju-Hak Kim, Jun-Sang Kim, Young Suk Kim
Buildings with curtain walls as exterior finishing require them to be regularly cleaned for maintenance (Lee, J.G and Lee, D.J 2012). A survey has shown that such maintenance work is currently performed by workers aboard a gondola or using suspended scaffolding hanging from ropes connected to the roof. These methods may cause workplace accidents, such as falls and collisions with the façade (Seo et al. 2019; Nansai et al. 2017; Kim et al.). Particularly for high-rise buildings, accidents caused by gusts of wind have led to worker deaths at an alarmingly increasing rate (Moon et al. 2015). In recent years, researchers have recognized the risks involved with cleaning the façade of high-rise buildings and have conceived various technologies and devices to mitigate such risks (Nansai and Mohan 2016). In South Korea, a façade cleaning robot guided by built-in rails was developed and is being field-tested to reduce the risks and improve work productivity and quality (Lee et al. 2018; Moon et al. 2015, 2012). To ensure the commercial feasibility and applicability of the developed robot, a life cycle cost (LCC) analysis is required that considers actual working conditions (Zhao, Wu, and Liu 2021; Hu et al. 2021). In particular, a methodology is needed that allows major decision-makers, including the building owner, to analyze the convenience of including the developed robot from the planning stage. Several studies have conducted LCC analyses to assess the practical and sustainable use of different automation technologies in the construction industry (Zhao, Wu, and Liu 2021; Hu et al. 2021; Weng et al. 2020; Han et al. 2020; Yeom et al. 2017; Zwicker et al. 2016). Although the LCC analysis methodologies used in these studies do not differ significantly from one another, they are not readily applicable to the LCC analysis of the developed robot. Therefore, an LCC analysis model that conforms to the specific features of the robot, its operation procedures and the characteristics of the target working environment, needs to be devised.