TABLE OF CONTENTS Curtain walls are portions of the building envelope that hold glazing and exterior cladding. Curtain walls are lightweight, are non-load-bearing, and typically hang like a curtain from the building's structural frame. Most curtain walls use modular panels and frames that fit into grid cells making them much more flexible than conventional walls and punched fenestrations.
Curtain walls are the most complicated object in Architectural Desktop. In fact, I'd advise you to not make a curtain wall object directly unless its design is very simple, indeed. Instead, the process of making curtain walls is best approached by reducing the overarching design into a series of modules acting as infill to be inserted into the framework of a curtain wall. This chapter takes a tutorial approach; you'll proceed by designing many types of infill styles that will ultimately replace or override cells in a complex curtain wall's grids.
Before you dive into the specifics of making infill, it is important to first sketch the curtain wall you have in mind, so you'll know what infill is needed and how it fits into the big picture. We will start this chapter by developing a conceptual sketch for a particular curtain wall. Then we'll use the rest of the chapter to develop the sketch into a curtain wall model. This chapter's topics include:
Sketching a Curtain Wall
Working with AEC Polygon Styles
Designing Curtain Wall Units
Creating Door/Window Assemblies
Working with Curtain Walls
Many building projects use curtain walls to enclose...
