Semi Unitised Curtain Wall System

A curtain wall system is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non structural utilized only to keep the weather out and the occupants in.

Semi unitised curtain wall system. In this set the vertical mullions are attached first to the floor slabs and the horizontals are attached to the vertical mullions to resemble a grid. On the other hand stick built curtain walls are installed piece by piece. In this system the mullions are separately installed prior to the assembly of the pre assembled framed panels which are placed between the mullions. The vast majority of low to mid rise curtain walls are installed in this way.

In other words the differences mainly lie in their method of installation. Its basic structural principle is to fabricate other curtain wall components with the exception of main keels to assemble them into unitized panel and then deliver to site to be fixed on main keel. Aluminium profiles are used to form the frame which is normally one storey high. A semi unitized curtain wall glazing system is a type of structural glazing where the primary structural framing components are erected individually as an erector set.

If your project doesn t suit most of the criteria for a unitized system your other option is to use a stick built system. Long pieces of aluminum hence the name stick are inserted between floors vertically and horizontally between vertical members to support and transfer the load of the glass back to structure. Elegance 52 sg is a semi unitised system with factory prepared structurally glazed frames stepped or non stepped glazed units secured into each aperture of the curtain wall for a flush glazed appearance. When glass is used as the curtain wall an advantage is that natural light can penetrate deeper within the building.

Unitised curtain walls and stick built systems are the two main classifications of curtain wall systems. Semi unitized curtain walls are more economically viable on smaller projects or larger projects that require many wall conditions. Unitised systems are made of large units and erected on the building facade. Semi unitised curtain wall systems uses the same framework as a stick system into which pre fabricated and glazed frames are installed.

Since the curtain wall is non structural it can be made of lightweight materials thereby reducing construction costs. The system is typically based on the use of spanning vertical and occasional horizontal components that receive the pre assembled pre glazed vision and spandrel panels. In unitised construction on the other hand the curtain wall is composed of large units that are assembled in the factory shipped to the site and erected on the building.