Curtain Wall Design-assist
Curtain wall systems are ever present in today’s commercial construction marketplace. Whether creating new architectural expressions or rehabilitating architecturally significant historic buildings, from stick-built to unitized, “off-the shelf” commodity to custom bespoke systems, utilizing insulating glass units or opaque spandrel panels, simple flat or complex geometry; it seems the sky is the limit with curtain wall design today.
The architectural design of curtain walls must be developed alongside increasing demand for high-performing, energy efficient solutions. Technological advancements in curtain wall design tools, materials, prototyping, and fabrication techniques offer new avenues for achieving these lofty design and performance goals. However, budgets are limited, materials are expensive, design and construction schedules are constrained, and global supply chain logistics continue to apply pressure to projects. These and other factors present unique challenges and exciting opportunities for projects—all of which must be carefully balanced in order to successfully achieve the architectural vision and meet performance requirements, while staying within the owner’s budget and schedule.
Design-assist is a popular procurement method for curtain wall systems in today’s commercial market, intended to help resolve these challenges, particularly for custom curtain walls with unique performance requirements and/or unique material configurations. Understanding the fundamentals of the design-assist process, roles and responsibilities of the various parties, timeline for important decision making, and navigating the process to avoid potential pitfalls are keys for maximizing the value that design-assist can offer projects.
Publisher
Construction Specifier