Material efficiency and a lightweight design are increasingly demanded to fulfil the architect desires for maximum transparent, homogeneous viewing and dematerialized facades. This motivates for innovative façade developments by employing lightweight thin glass-plastic-composite panels as glazing. The sandwich panels consist of thin glass and a transparent polymeric interlayer core. This highly reduces the glazing’s self-weight compared to conventional glass and provides high structural composite performance. Furthermore, the polymeric core allows for integrated mechanical connections with minimum mounting surface that go beyond conventional joining connections.
These properties enable for new unobtrusive fixings in facade application, accelerate the use of bonding technology in façade construction due to minimal permanent loads and pave the way for a filigree substructure design in high-transparent facades.
The great potential for dematerialization and transparent façade design was investigated in a joint research project between KRD Coatings, Priedemann Fassadenberatung und TU Dresden. The innovative concept NEERO-Façade deploys the low self-weight and integrated connection design to develop a holistic lightweight and high transparent secondary skin façade. This paper describes the conceptual design and research process of NEERO-Façade including the development of an integrated façade fixing and the filigree substructure design. Furthermore, different façade case studies demonstrate the diverse design possibilities with the new material combination and quantify the self-weight reduction.
