Curtain wall

A curtain wall is a non-load-bearing exterior wall attached to a building’s structural frame. It encloses interior space and resists weather while transferring its own weight and environmental loads to the frame.

Mullion: A vertical or horizontal structural member that divides and supports panels in a window or curtain wall. Mullions form the framework that carries curtain-wall panels and transfers loads to anchors.
Building envelope: The physical boundary separating a building’s interior from its exterior environment. Curtain walls are one kind of building-envelope assembly.
Insulating glass: A glazing unit made of multiple panes separated by a sealed space or gas-filled cavity. It reduces heat transfer through glazed curtain-wall areas.
Crystal Palace: A glass-and-iron exhibition building designed by Joseph Paxton for London’s Great Exhibition of 1851. Its prefabricated iron-and-glass construction anticipated later lightweight glazed façades.
Glass skyscraper: A tall building whose exterior façade is predominantly glazed. Curtain walls made the glass skyscraper a widespread architectural type.
Pressure plate: A metal bar mechanically fastened over glazing edges to hold them against a curtain-wall frame. It clamps glazing in a common captured curtain-wall system.
Window wall: A glazed exterior wall system installed between floor slabs rather than hung continuously outside them. Its slab-edge installation distinguishes it from a curtain wall.
Low-emissivity coating: A thin coating that reduces radiative heat transfer through glass while transmitting selected wavelengths. It helps curtain-wall glazing control heat flow and solar gain.
Reliance Building: A Chicago skyscraper completed in 1895, noted for its extensive glass façade and steel frame. It demonstrates how skeletal framing enabled large areas of exterior glazing.
Daylighting: The use of natural light to illuminate building interiors. Curtain walls can bring daylight deep into occupied spaces.

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