We do judge a book by its covers!! This despite our contrary wisdom on the subject – no pun intended. Of course, its many a times in our evolutionary advantage to do so – hence first impressions count. Buildings are no exception especially in an age where cities are defined by their skylines and countries compete for the pride of having the tallest and grandest ones. Needless to say, façade is the elegant exterior component of a building that helps to define its unique architectural aesthetics.
Consequently, the facade industry has been buzzing with creativity and action over the last decade. There has been a very clear shift in the look of the skylines of cities and prestigious hospitals, corporate parks, educational institutes and even bungalows. The buildings look hipper, smarter and modern. Not only do they look better but they also last longer too! This is the result of the cumulative effort of the façade industry that has done deep research to introduce intelligent façade materials along with state-of-the-art engineered fitting systems.
The usage of modern façade material and system is exhaustive and interesting. We see dynamic facades that move with the direction of wind, green façade that look like tall Amazonian jungles, energy efficient facades that are empanelled with solar systems to generate energy for the building, ventilated facades that create an air circulation system to control HVAC and eventually green buildings that are planned to reduce negative impacts on our climate and natural environment.
The list of innovative façade materials is rapidly growing to cater to the evolving needs of the customer spurred by fierce competition in this innovative space. Elegant copper and zinc, robust metals like aluminium, stainless steel and iron, paper, glass, wood, clay, sand and even stone are treated under controlled factory conditions and treatment methodologies, to create modern façade materials that take into account all that the owners of hospitals and other buildings are asking for.
Traditional facades came with its long list of problems of leakage, fading, fungus formation, warping, chipping, overheating and increased bothersome energy consumption. They were subject to local weather conditions like excessive rain, sun or storm. The vulnerability to environmental conditions leads to exorbitant recurrent maintenance costs arising from repeated use of labour, scaffolding, project management and unexpected ageing of buildings.
Modern Façade materials are blessed with as high as 30 years of warranty. This simply means that for 30 years or more, they need no repair, maintenance or any attention. The building remains as fresh as new even after 30 years! Remarkable properties like self-cleaning, zero water absorption, no dust absorption, resistant to extremes of weather conditions, warrantied for decolouration and fading, bending and warping make the materials worth every penny spent on them.
Marble, granite, stone and bricks were the conventional choice of façade material of hospitals, however the heaviness of the material, porosity, perils of wet cladding of heavy material on high rises, high rate of logistics and material management gradually made the way for engineered façade materials. The modern substitute materials look and feel the same, are lighter, non-porous and can be fitted with warrantied fitting systems on high-rises
Façade materials have little or no value without appropriate fixing systems. Façade material manufacturers have aligned themselves with companies that specialize in installation of these novel and tricky material. Specialized installers are much in demand as they provide solutions with valued engineering, precise AutoCAD drawings and deep knowhow of the back support of the façade materials. The well evolved fitting systems are supported with structural calculations that take into consideration wind and seismic load, strength of the existing building, load transfer of the modern façade on to the existing building, keeping in mind the properties and SOP of the façade material. The fixing systems and its components are backed by scientific calculations and the framework is designed by pure concepts of engineering and calculations. As a result, ventilated façade, second skin, dry cladding and chemical cladding systems have replaced cement, mortar and weak mechanical fixing. These benefits now amply justify the extra cost and it’s a no brainer that the return on investment is guarantee.
Hospitals need a sound exterior for many reasons. For hospital projects its important to have a no maintenance façade. It is virtually impossible to allow shut down of a hospital for any maintenance purpose. The footfall in a hospital is constant and failure of façade material can cause enormous losses. HVAC costs can be controlled drastically in centrally air-conditioned hospitals with a dry clad ventilated façade. Hence the involvement in selecting the most befitting façade material with a suitable customized fitting system has become the prime imperative task for hospitals.
Here are some tips for the hospital industry for election of façade material and of the fitting system:
1. The façade material should be a warrantied material for at least 10 years.
2. The material and fitting system should help in lowering HVAC costs.
3. The fitting system should keep in mind the SOP of the specific façade material.
4. The porch, skylight, fire escape, ducts of the hospital are equally important features and their design and material selection should be done as a palette.
4. An expert in façade planning and execution should be involved in the project so that all terminations, bends, structural calculations, joineries and finer details are looked into giving a very neat and professional façade with minimal failures and stress.
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To top it off or proverbially the icing on the cake is the added aesthetics of the hospital buildings which can not only be pleasing to the eye but also be uplifting the spirit – especially in an environment such as hospitals where one only visits during distressful situations. We are entering an era where good engineering is converging with the art world to create worlds of wonder where we would have the privilege of abiding
TIPS FOR FACADE MATERIAL SELECTION FOR HOSPITALS
1. The façade material should be a warrantied material for at least 10 years.
2. The material and fitting system should help in lowering HVAC costs.
3. The fitting system should keep in mind the SOP of the specific façade material.
4. The porch, skylight, fire escape, ducts of the hospital are equally important features and their design and material selection should be done as a palette.
5. An expert in façade planning and execution should be involved in the project so that all terminations, bends, structural calculations, joineries and finer details are looked into giving a very neat and professional façade with minimal failures and stress.
​Dial 100 Project in Lucknow using shades of 20mm thick cooling terracotta tiles of size 1ft x 3 ft. The office is a high-tech computer zone and windows were minimal. To break the monotony of a large dead façade, three colours of beige were customized to create a pleasant mosaic look. The robust mechanical fitting system was in aluminium with no silicon or EPDM, further ensuring the longevity of the facade. Use of a ventilated façade system of installation ensured a drop of 3 degree in the temperature in the interiors of the building
