The secondary structure is usually connected at the top or the upper floor slabs. The concept can be used for both horizontal and vertical glass formats by adjusting the underlying framework.
The advantages of a suspended facade
The vertical components of the system can be made very slender because they do not need to be dimensioned for compression or for buckling forces when they are extruded. Wind loads can be absorbed by horizontal façade mullions with fewer divisions and thereby facilitate smaller dimensions for tall facades. Because the foundations and floors of a building are subjected to different deformations according to span widths and engineering solutions, a suspended façade being detached from the building can minimize the risk of settling and deformation problems.
When used in solutions incorporating a protruding ground floor and where the problem of supporting the weight of the façade has to be solved, the transfer of weight to the top allows for slender and distinct bottom edge fittings to be used. Using the bearing construction of the existing roof results in a great amount of flexibility and allows a large number of variations to be available depending on the geometric design.
Important to remember
When using a suspended construction the top fastening must be rigid and formed when the façade is put up. Formation should take place during assembly so as to be compensated when pre-tensioning the facade. The fastening points must not be affected by long-term deformations or seasonal movement, which could result in the pretension being eradicated from the façade. During the pretension phase, bottom fastenings have to withstand fairly heavy loads that are thereafter reduced to a normal load inline with to post-glazing calculations.