Ventilated Façades

Ventilated façades allow for thermal insulation, energy conservation, lightness and architectural prestige. From the outside, a ventilated façade appears like any covered wall; the difference lies in the fact that the covering is mounted on a substructure anchored to the perimetral brickwork of the building.

There is a layer of thermal insulation and a ventilation canal between the wall and the covering.
The position of the insulated layer, on the outside with respect to the wall, permits significant energy savings during the winter season by limiting heat dispersion. During the summer, an ascending hot air current is generated inside the ventilation canal by a “chimney effect”. The presence of ventilation holes close to the lower part of the wall, where the building covering terminates, allows hot air to escape through the upper holes, while cooler air is drawn into the canal through the lower holes. Subsequently, the ventilation canal must be just the right dimension for this process to occur.

The ventilated wall system, dating back to Roman times, has been used especially in northern Europe throughout the 1900s. Today, it has been improved by new materials for wall covering and original techniques of panel assembly.

The substructure, which supports the covering panels, may be composed of a series of posts and beams in metal or wood, while the panels may have concealed fasteners or in full view.

The covering of a ventilated façade protects the brickwork and the insulated layer from atmospheric conditions, thus shielding the exterior of the building while reducing maintenance costs. In addition, a ventilated façade can be added to pre-existing buildings, providing architectural and energy requalification at the same time.

New covering materials which have become popular over the last few years include titanium, stainless steel and glass, fulfilling increasing demands for transparency and lightness.
In order to construct a façade covering in glass panels, one must keep in mind that transparency allows solar rays to enter the interspace, therefore the possibility of creating an undesirable greenhouse effect exists.

Today, due to the latest innovations on thermally insulated glass, capable of filtering solar radiation, it can be considered an admissible operation. The transparency of the top layer of the ventilated façade is necessary in cases when the glass covering does not only cover parts of opaque walls but also transparent areas.

One of the most interesting examples is the Kindergarten in Carminweg (Vienna), designed by architect Elsa Prochazka in 1994. Here, glass panels are transparent and opaque, in brown and milk white, alternating in a geometric design over the entire façade.
Another example is the Snam Quinto Palazzo in San Donato Milanese, constructed in 1985, designed by Studio Gabetti & Isola. It has two façades: an aluminum one inside and a thermal chamber outside with an absorbent outer crystal panel treated with special varnish for a green effect, with low reflection level and an impact-proof inner panel.
During the winter, the space between the two façades is used for the functioning of the heating system; during the summer it becomes a filter zone for natural ventilation. Air circulation takes place inside the spaces between the raised pavement and the faux ceiling.