Visible Grid Curtain Walling

Dortech Capped Curtain Walling

Curtain walling is a grid-form glazing system that gets its name from the fact it is none load bearing and is often hung from a building’s structure. Although this is not always the case, the curtain wall grid can also be dead-loaded. Dortech are approved fabricators of Schuco, Technal and Senior Architectural Systems Curtain Wall Systems. Each suppliers visible grid curtain wall suite works around three basic elements; 1) A back box which determines the rigidity and structural span capabilties of the system, 2) A pressure Plate which is mechanicaly tensioned to retain the glass and 3) A face cap to give a neat external finish. The face caps are available in a number of different designs from each of our suppliers. Most commonly they are supplied with a square or ‘aerofoil’ type design.

The major differences between these systems is in how they drain; they can either be zone/transom drained or mullion drained. For transom drained curtain wall systems drainage holes are routed out of each transom face cap to allow water to drain through the system. This mechnism is called ‘zone’ drainage as any water is drained out of the transom above each pane of glass. For mullion drained systems, water is channeled along the transoms and down the curtain wall systems mullions. This method is often the preffered application for medium to high rise glazed screens which can be difficult/costly to clean regularly i.e. it reduces the potential of water markings on the glass. Curtain wall screens can be faceted to varying degrees, raked and can be designed on either a positive of negative gradient providing sufficient structural support is provided. Dortech has a considerable amount of experience in designing, maunfacturing and installing the following visible grid,