Metal ventilated façade

A façade clad in metal sheets or cassettes — aluminium, steel, titanium-zinc or copper — hooked onto a subframe, with a ventilated air cavity in front of the insulation. Light and crisp, it is the skin of contemporary and industrial buildings: the metal screen shields from rain and sun, the air behind sheds moisture and heat, and the panels, dry-hooked, are mounted and removed fast.

The metal ventilated façade is an «advanced screen» (rainscreen) cladding like the stone one, but with metal panels: folded cassettes, planks or sheets hooked onto a subframe, with an air cavity between cladding and insulation. Light and precise, it gives the building a continuous, modular skin with a strong material character.

Metal is waterproof and reflects much of the solar radiation; it stops the driving rain, while the little that enters the joints drains down the cavity without touching the insulation. The air flowing behind, by the stack effect, carries off moisture and heat: the metal, which heats up a lot in the sun, gives much of that heat to the air instead of the wall, improving summer comfort.

Sheets are light but expand a lot with temperature: a metal façade lives on the control of movement. Panels are hooked with systems that let the metal slide (slots, fixed and sliding points), the joints stay open, and rigid restraint is avoided so the sheets do not bow or tear at the fixings. The lightness reduces the loads on structure and anchors.

Aluminium, stainless steel and titanium-zinc are very durable and low-maintenance; copper and zinc develop a protective patina that is also their aesthetic signature. The critical point is fire: the cavity and the build-up materials must be chosen and compartmented so they do not become a path for flame spread up the façade, with non-combustible insulation and barriers at the floors.