Patent Application
20230010030
The present invention relates to a facade element to be fastened to a building structure, with other such facade elements, to assemble one of the facades of the building. The invention relates more specifically to a facade element comprising an assembly of sandwich panels fastened to a metal framework.
The present invention also relates to a building facade comprising several such facade elements, and to a process for assembling such a building facade.
The use of prefabricated modules, such as concrete stairs, facade elements or partition wall elements, is becoming more and more frequent in the field of building construction. Fabricating such modules in advance, in dedicated factories, enables a better control of the manufacturing process than when such modules are produced in situ, on the building site. And it enables a faster construction of the building itself.
It is known for instance to build first a main building structure, that defines the various floors of the building, and then to mount facade elements between the different floors of this structure. These facade elements, that are some kinds of wall panel modules, constitute the lateral envelope of the building.
Document GB 2481126, for instance, describes such wall panel modules, to be fastened on a building structure, between two floors of the building. Each of these panel modules comprises several sandwiched panels arranged side by side and fastened to a metallic structure. In this document, two adjacent panel modules of a same facade are mounted side-by-side, in close contact with each other. The junction between these two panel modules is achieved by interlocking the two panels, along their respective lateral (vertical) edges, using complementary male/female locking means. The facade described in this document comprises lower panel modules (assembled side by side as explained above), and upper panel modules positioned above them. This facade comprises also an EPDM membrane (a membrane made of an Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer rubber), extending on the lower edge of an upper panel module, and folded down on an outside face of an underneath lower panel module.
But this membrane does not provide sufficient waterproofing of the facade, and rain or runoffs water can still infiltrate the facade elements or oozes on the inner side of the facade.
Besides, this way to assemble laterally adjacent panel modules, tightly, so that they interlock with each other, is very restrictive from a mechanical point of view and requires a very precise positioning of the panel modules onto the building structure they equip.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facade element comprising:
the facade element further comprising:
The facade element according to the invention may also have the optional features listed below, considered individually or in combination:
A second subject of the invention consists of a building facade, comprising at least four facade elements such as the one described above, namely a first, a second, a third and a fourth facade element fastened to a building structure,
The building facade according to the invention may also have the optional features listed below, considered individually or in combination:
A third subject of the invention consists of a process for the assembling of a building facade, the facade comprising a first, a second, a third and a fourth facade element such as the one described above, the process comprising:
The invention concerns, more specifically, a process for the assembling of a building facade, comprising the following steps:
The process according to the invention may also have the optional features listed below, considered individually or in combination:
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be described in greater detail in the following description.
The invention will be better understood by reading the following description, which is provided purely for purposes of explanation and is in no way intended to be restrictive, with reference to:
The main structure of the building comprises its inner, loadbearing structure, and the floors of the building. As represented in
The facade element 1A is configured to be fastened to one or more floors of the building. In the embodiments described below, it is configured more precisely to be placed between two successive floors 14, 14′ of the building, in order to close the building laterally.
Different facade elements of this kind can be fastened to the main structure 15 of the building, side by side, to form one of the external walls of the building (that is to say to form one of the facade of the building), or at least to form a part of one of these external walls. The facade element according to the invention, for instance the one of
As will be explained below, the facade element is provided with specific waterproofing elements that enable to join different facade elements of a same facade together in a watertight and convenient manner, even if substantial vertical and lateral gaps are maintained between these facade elements.
Such gaps make the assembling of the facade easier than the assembling of a gap-less structure (as it provides a greater freedom regarding the positioning of the facade elements on the building) and enable to accommodate slight deformations of the main structure of the building. And maintaining substantial gaps between adjacent facade elements, rather than minimal ones, makes the filing of such gaps with isolating material easier.
The facade element 1A of
A building facade 10 comprising several such facade elements, and a process for assembling such a building facade will be described then, with reference to
Facade Element
The facade element 1A comprises a metal framework 2A, and an assembly 3A of sandwich panels 40A fastened to the metal framework 2A. The metal framework 2A provides a structure to hold the sandwich panels 40A, and to fasten the facade element 1A to the main structure of the building.
The metal framework 2A comprises at least two longitudinal metallic sections, namely an upper metallic section 22A and a lower metallic section 21A, and two transverse metallic sections, namely a left metallic section 23A and a right metallic section 24A. These different sections 21A, 22A, 23A, 24A are assembled all together, for instance welded together, so as to form a substantially rectangular framework.
This substantially rectangular framework may be reinforced by additional metallic sections, either parallel to the transverse sections or to the longitudinal sections mentioned above. These additional metallic sections are fixed, for instance welded, to the main, peripheral sections 21A, 22A, 23A, 24A of the metal framework 2A. In the case of
As represented in the figures, the metallic sections of the framework are tubular profiles with a substantially rectangular or square cross section. But other kinds of metallic sections could also be used, to build the metal framework of the facade element. For instance, this metal framework could be built from metallic sections with a cross section in the shape of an “I” or in the shape of an “H” (like “IPE” beams—that is “European standard universal I beams with parallel flanges” for example).
It should be noted that “inner” and “outer” as used in this application refer to the position of the facade element 1A on the building. So, the outer metallic sheet 42A is facing the outside of the building and the inner metallic sheet 41A is facing the inside of the building, when the facade element 1 is in position on the building.
The insulation material 43A can be any material providing some insulation to the panel 40A. It can be, by way of non-restricting examples, polyurethane foam, polyisocyanurate foam, phenolic foam, mineral wool. According to a variant of the invention, the insulation material is a composite comprising a lower layer of mineral wool and an upper layer of foamed material.
The inner and outer metallic sheets 41A and 42A can be made of steel, aluminum, copper or zinc. They are preferably made of previously galvanized and/or pre-coated steel to protect them against corrosion. Their thickness is low compared to their other dimensions. Generally speaking, for each of these sheets, the sheet thickness is 400 to 4000 times lower than its width.
The inner and outer metallic sheets 41A and 42A of the sandwich panel 40A will preferably have been previously formed with the aid of any known forming method, including, by way of non-restricting examples, bending, forming, stamping and molding.
The forming mentioned above could lead among other things to the formation of ribs, stiffeners or grooves on the surface of one or both of these metallic sheets. Throughout the text, a rib is understood to mean a projection formed on the surface of the sheet. The rib may have a trapezoidal shape or a rectangular, corrugated, sinusoidal or even omega shape, for example. It includes a top central part and two lateral wings. A stiffener is a rib of limited height, generally 10 to 30 times lower than a rib. Throughout the text, a groove is understood to mean a recess formed on the surface of the panel. The groove can have shapes similar to the ones offered for ribs. Ribs, stiffeners or grooves are generally placed in parallel to longitudinal edges of the sheet notably to render the sheet more rigid.
In the example of
The outer metallic sheet 41A is joined to the inner metallic sheet 42A by a first longitudinal edge 44A, and, on an opposite side of the first longitudinal edge 44A, by a second longitudinal edge 45A. Each of these longitudinal edges extends longitudinally, along the panel 40A.
The sandwich panels 40A of the facade element 1A are assembled side-by-side, parallel to each other, onto the metal framework 2A. Each of these sandwich panels 40A interlocks with at least one adjacent sandwich panel 40A, along at least a part of one of its longitudinal edges 44A, 45A. More precisely, for each couple of adjacent sandwich panels 40A, the first longitudinal edge 44A of one of these two panels interlocks with the second longitudinal edge 45A of the other of these two adjacent panels. They interlock with each other in a watertight/airtight manner.
In the example of
As represented in
Alternatively, like in
Each sandwich panel 40A of the facade element 1A is fastened to the metal framework 2A, for instance by screws (e.g.: self-drilling screws) passing through the panel 40A to engage with the metallic framework 2A.
The assembly of sandwich panels 40A of the facade element 1A is delimited by an outer face 31A, an inner face 32A, a lower edge 33A, an upper edge 34A, a left edge 35A and a right edge 36A (see
The metal framework 2A is located on the inner side of the assembly of sandwich panels 40A, opposite to its outer face 31A.
It should be noted that the terms “lower”, “upper”, “above”, “below”, “lowest”, “highest”, “top”, “bottom”, “left”, “right” . . . as used in this application refer to the positions and orientations of the different parts of the facade element when the latter is positioned vertically on a building structure, and fastened on this building structure (in its final position). More particularly, the terms “left” and “right” refer to the positions and orientations of the different parts of the facade element when the facade element, fastened on this building structure, is seen from the outside of the building.
Besides, in this application, the outer face 31A, inner face 32A, lower edge 33A, upper edge 34A, left edge 35A and right edge 36A of the assembly of sandwich panels 40A are also referred to, indifferently, as the outer face 31A, inner face 32A, lower edge 33A, etc. . . . of the corresponding facade element.
Here, the edges 33A, 34A, 35A, 36A of the facade element 1A are substantially plane. They are more particularly deprived of fastening means like the rail or lid mentioned above. Such plane edges may be obtained by cutting up longitudinally the sandwich panels located most on the periphery of the facade element 1A.
Remarkably, the facade element 1A further comprises an upper waterproofing membrane 4A that covers up the upper edge 34A of the assembly of sandwich panels 40A (see
As can be seen in
The upper waterproofing membrane 4A, that covers up the upper edge 34A of the assembly of sandwich panels from side to side, prevents efficiently water from seeping into the insulation material 43A of the sandwich panels 40A.
Besides, as it will explained below (when describing a facade 10 obtained by assembling different facade elements of this kind), thanks to the membrane overhangs 41A, 42A mentioned above, two adjacent facade elements can be joined together in a watertight manner, while maintaining a lateral (horizontal) gap between them, which makes the assembling of the facade easier than for a gap-less structure (as it provides a greater freedom regarding the positioning of the facade elements on the building).
Here, the upper waterproofing membrane 4A, is made in one piece. It is flexible and waterproof. It may be made of a waterproof elastomeric material, such as Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer rubber (usually referred to as “EPDM”). The upper waterproofing membrane 4A may have a thickness comprised between 0.3 and 2 millimeters.
The left upper overhang 41A may extend, beyond the left edge 35A of the assembly of sandwich panels 40A, over a length comprised between 1 and 7 centimeters, for instance greater than 3 centimeters. The right upper overhang 42A may extend also, beyond the right edge 36 of the assembly of sandwich panels 40, over a length comprised between 1 and 7 centimeters, for instance greater than 3 centimeters. Here, the left and right upper overhangs 41A, 42A have the same length I.
To fix the upper waterproofing membrane 4A on the assembly of sandwich panels 40A, a part of the upper waterproofing membrane 4A may be pressed against the inner face 32A of the assembly by the upper metallic section 22A of the metal framework 2A. In other words, the upper waterproofing membrane 4A may be sandwiched between the upper metallic section 22A and the inner face 32A of the assembly of sandwiched panels 40A, all along the upper metallic section 22A. Fixing the membrane on the assembly of sandwiched panels in this way is fast, convenient, and cost-effective.
The upper waterproofing membrane 4A is further fixed on the assembly of sandwich panels 40A by gluing: the upper waterproofing membrane 4A is glued both on the upper part of the outer face 31A, and on the upper part of the inner face 32A of the facade element 1A.
The facade element 1A comprises also a lower waterproofing membrane 5A, that extends along the lower edge 33A of the assembly of sandwich panels 40A, on the inner face 32A of this assembly. As can be seen in
Here, the lower waterproofing membrane 5A is made in one piece. In other words, here, the flap 53A and the left and right lower overhangs 51A and 52A designate different parts (extending beyond different edges of the assembly) of the same waterproofing membrane 5A or, in other words, of the same waterproof and flexible sheet.
The lower waterproofing membrane 5A is flexible and waterproof. It may be made of a waterproof elastomeric material, such as Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer rubber (usually referred to as “EPDM”). It may be of a material similar or identical to the one of the upper waterproofing membrane 34A. The lower waterproofing membrane 35A may have, like the upper waterproofing membrane, a thickness comprised between 0.3 and 2 millimeters.
To fix the lower waterproofing membrane 5A on the assembly of sandwich panels 40A, a part of the lower waterproofing membrane 5A may be pressed against the inner face 32A of the assembly by the lower metallic section 21A of the metal framework 2A. In other words, the lower waterproofing membrane 5A may be sandwiched between the lower metallic section 21A and the inner face 32A of the assembly of sandwiched panels 40A. The lower waterproofing membrane 5A is further fixed on the assembly of sandwich panels 40A by gluing it against the lower part of the inner face 31A of the sandwich panel.
The flap 53A extends beyond the lower edge 33A of the assembly of sandwich panels, over a distance d higher than or equal to the thickness t of the lower edge 33A of the assembly of sandwich panels.
In other words, the ratio between the distance d of the flap 53A and the thickness t of the lower edge 33A of the assembly of sandwich panels is higher than 1. Preferably this ratio is lower than 3.
The thickness t of the lower edge 33A of the assembly of sandwich panels is preferably greater than or equal to 4.0 cm. The thickness t is preferably lower than or equal to 30.0 cm. The thickness t is more preferably comprised between 7.0 cm and 25.0 cm.
Thanks to the wide width d of the flap 53A, when assembling a facade 10 made of several such facade elements, the flap 53A can be arranged so that it extends from the bottom of the inner face of an upper facade element 1C, to the upper part of the outer face of a lower facade element 1A, thus making the junction between these two facade elements 1A, 1C waterproof. Besides, as explained in detail below (when describing such a facade), a flap arranged in this way, allows water, that could have infiltrated the facade, to be efficiently discharged to the outside.
The left lower overhang 51A may extend beyond the left edge 35A of the assembly of sandwich panels 40A over a length comprised between 1 and 7 centimeters, for instance greater than 3 centimeters. The right lower overhang 52A may extend also, beyond the right edge 36A of the assembly of sandwich panels 40A, over a length comprised between 1 and 7 centimeters, typically greater than 3 centimeters. Here, the left and right lower overhangs 51A and 52A have the same length I (which is also the same as the length of the left and right upper overhangs 41A and 42A).
The overhangs 51A, 52A of the lower waterproofing membrane 5A enable two adjacent facade elements to be joined together, in a watertight manner, while maintaining a lateral (horizontal) gap between them, as explained above about the upper overhangs 41A, 42A.
The facade element 1A may be provided also with a side waterproofing membrane 9 fixed, for instance glued, on the inner face 32A of the facade element 1A and extending either on the right side of the facade element 1, beyond its right edge 36A, or on the left side of the facade element 1, beyond its left edge 35A (see
The side waterproofing membrane 9 is substantially rectangular. It extends beyond the right edge 36A (or, alternatively, beyond the left edge) of the facade element, over a length that is greater than the length I of the overhangs 41A, 42A, 51A, 52A, as the side waterproofing membrane 9 is configured to extend up to another adjacent facade element, across the gap maintained between them (see, e.g.,
The side waterproofing membrane 9 covers up a part of the upper waterproofing membrane 4A, so that they overlap with each other (see
The side waterproofing membrane 9 covers up also a part of the lower waterproofing membrane 5A, in a similar manner. The side waterproofing membrane 9 may be glued over a part of the lower waterproofing membrane 5A that extends above the lower metallic section 21A, and that is located on the right side or, alternatively, on the left side of the facade element 1A. In this regard, it should be noted that the lower waterproofing membrane 5A extends above the lower metallic section 21A, towards the upper edge of the facade element, over 2 centimeters at least, preferably over more than 4 centimeters.
The side waterproofing membrane 9 is preferably fixed on the facade element 1A before positioning and fastening the facade element 1A to a building structure (for instance, during the factory assembling of the facade element). It is indeed more convenient and enables a better assembling precision than fixing this side membrane after the facade element had been fastened to the building structure (as some elements of the building structure, like inner walls or pillars, may obstruct the installation of this side membrane). In this case, the side waterproofing membrane 9 may be glued along its entire length on the facade element 1A, its upper and lower parts being thus glued over the upper and lower waterproofing membranes 4A, 5A (as explained above). But the side waterproofing membrane 9 may also be glued on the facade element 1A only along a part of its length, without gluing its upper and lower parts so that other waterproofing membranes can be inserted between the side waterproofing membrane 9 and the upper or lower waterproofing membranes 4A, 5A, during the process of assembling of the building facade.
As represented in
Building Facade
The facade element 1A of
This facade 10 comprises at least (
In this embodiment, the four facade elements 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D are identical, or essentially identical to the facade element 1A of
This exemplary embodiment will allow one to understand the specific technique employed, according to the invention, to join together different facade elements of a same facade, in a watertight manner. As the skilled person will appreciate, this technique can be applied to build facades having a number of facade elements different than four (in particular higher than four), or to build facades made of facade elements different from the one represented in
In this embodiment, the second facade element 1B is positioned on the right of the first facade element 1A. So, the right edge 36A of the first facade element 1A faces the left edge 35B of the second facade element 1B, these two edges 36A, 35B being parallel to each other (see
The third facade element 1C is positioned above the first facade element 1A. The lower edge 33C of the third facade element 1C faces the upper edge 34A of the first facade element 1A, these two edges being parallel to each other.
The fourth facade element 1D is positioned above the second facade element 1B, and on the right of the third facade element 1C. The lower edge 33D of the fourth facade element faces the upper edge 34B of the second facade element 1B, these two edges 33D, 34B being parallel to each other. And the left edge 35D of the fourth facade element 1D faces the right edge 36C of the third facade element 1C, these two edges 35D, 36C being parallel to each other.
The four facade elements 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D are slightly spaced apart from each other: the assemblies of sandwich panels of these different facade elements do not come into contact with each other.
More precisely, the right edges 36A, 36C of the left facade elements 1A and 1C are separated from the left edges 35B, 35D of the right facade elements 1B and 1D, respectively, by a lateral gap g (see
Maintaining such a lateral spacing between adjacent facade elements (i.e.: having this lateral gap g) makes the assembling of the facade easier than the assembling a gap-less structure, as it provides a greater freedom regarding the positioning of the facade elements on the building (in other words, it allows higher, less stringent mechanical tolerances than with a gap-less structure). Besides, having a gap that wide makes the filling of the gap with insulating material easier, and enables the waterproofing membranes of the various facade elements to overlap with each other over a wide area, at the junction between adjacent facade elements.
The lower edges 33C, 33D of the upper facade elements 1C, 1D are separated from the upper edges 34A, 34B of the lower facade elements 1A, 1B by a vertical gap g′ (see
The junction and waterproofing between laterally adjacent facade elements (that is to say between the first and second facade elements 1A, 1B, or between the third and fourth facade elements 1C, 1D) will be presented first.
The junction and waterproofing between facade elements placed one above the other (for instance between the first and third facade elements 1A and 1C) will be presented in a second step.
As represented in
The waterproofing upper membranes 4A and 4B are thus joined to each other, in a watertight manner, in spite of the lateral gap g, to form a kind of continuous, longer membrane extending along the facade 10.
The lateral gap g between the first and second facade elements 1A, 1B is closed, on the inner side of the facade, by a first side waterproofing membrane, namely by the side waterproofing membrane 9 that has been described above, (which has been preferably fixed on the first facade element 1A during its factory assembling, prior to its positioning on the building). The first side waterproofing membrane 9 is fixed to the right edge of the first facade element 1A as described above, when presenting the facade element 1A itself. On the other side of the lateral gap, the first side waterproofing membrane 9 is fixed to the second facade element 1B. The first side waterproofing membrane 9 is more precisely glued on the inner face 32B of the second facade element, in the vicinity of its left edge 35B. The top of the first side waterproofing membrane 9 overlaps with a part of the upper waterproofing membrane 4B of the second facade element 1B, just like it overlaps with a part of the upper waterproofing membrane 4A of the first facade element 1A (this last overlapping having been described above when presenting the facade element 1A). And, similarly, the bottom of the first side waterproofing membrane 9 overlaps with a part of the lower waterproofing membrane 5B of the second facade element 1B.
Here, the lateral gap between the adjacent facade elements 1A and 1B is filed with an insulating material 17, for instance with some mineral wool (see
The lateral gap is closed, on the outer side of the facade, by a profiled member 11 extending from the outer face 31A of the first facade element to the outer face 31B of the second facade element (see
Like for the first and second facade elements, the right upper overhang 41C of the third facade element 1C and the left upper overhang 41D of the fourth facade element 1D overlap at least partially each other. Here, they overlap completely each other. They are in close contact with each other. Here, they are even preferably glued to each other.
As represented in
More precisely, the right lower overhang 52C of the third facade element 1C and the left lower overhang 51D of the fourth facade element 1D overlap each other (here, they overlap completely each other). These two overhangs 52C, 51D are in close contact with each other. They are glued together (the glue 16 employed to glue them together is represented in
Like for the first and second facade elements 1A, 1B, the lateral gap between the third and fourth facade elements 1C, 1D is closed, on the inner side of the facade, with a second side waterproofing membrane 9′, identical (or at least similar) to the first side waterproofing membrane 9.
The second side waterproofing membrane 9′ is attached, here glued, on the inner faces 32C, 32D of both the third and fourth facade elements 1C, 1D (see
Consequently, when the side waterproofing membrane 9′ is fixed on the right edge 36C of the facade element 1C during its factory assembling, the left lower overhang 51D of the fourth facade element 1D overlaps the right lower overhang 52C of the third facade element 1C. Symmetrically, when the side waterproofing membrane 9′ is fixed on the left edge 35D of the facade element 1D during its factory assembling, the right lower overhang 52C of the third facade element 1C overlaps the left lower overhang 51D of the fourth facade element 1D.
Alternatively, the second side waterproofing membrane 9′ is attached on the inner faces 32C, 32D without being attached to the upper and lower waterproofing membranes 4C, 4D, 5C, 5D. In that case, there is no restriction on how the lower overhangs overlap each other.
On the outer side of the facade, the lateral gap between the third and fourth facade elements 4C, 4D is closed by a profiled member 11 extending from the outer face 31C of the third facade element to the outer face 31D of the fourth facade element (like the lateral gap between the first and second facade element). This lateral gap too is filed with an insulating material, for instance with some mineral wool.
Now that the waterproofing between laterally adjacent facade elements has been described, the junction and waterproofing between facade elements placed one above the other can be presented.
This later waterproofing is achieved, inter alia, by means of the two lower waterproofing membranes 5C and 5D of the upper facade elements 1C and 1D.
When installing the upper facade element 1C on the building structure, one folds the lower waterproofing membrane 5C to bring the flap 53C of this membrane close to the lower edge 33C of this facade element (to maintain the flap 53C in this position, the lower end of the flap may be temporarily fixed to the outer face of the facade element 1C using adhesive tape, for instance, see
So, once the facade 10 is assembled, the flap 53C of the lower waterproofing membrane 5C extends from the inside of the facade, to its outside. The flap 53C extends more precisely from the inner face 32C of the third facade element 1C, to the outer face 31A of the first facade element 1A (the lower waterproofing membrane 5C having then the shape of a kind of stair step, or the shape of a kind of slide directed downwards, and towards the outside of the facade). This configuration allows water, that could have infiltrated the facade, to be efficiently discharged to the outside.
Besides, the flap 53C is put in contact with a part of the upper waterproofing membrane 4A of the first facade element, all along this membrane 4A, and covers up this part of the upper waterproofing membrane 4A, thus joining the third facade element 1C and the first facade element 1A in a particularly watertight manner. More precisely:
overlap completely each other (they are superimposed on each other over their entire respective extent) and are glued together.
Joining the lower waterproofing membrane 5C with the upper waterproofing membrane 4A in this way, on the outer side of the facade (by gluing them together), is much more convenient than joining them on the inner side of the facade. Indeed, on the inner side of the facade, the concrete slab 14′ to which the first and third facade elements 1A, 1C are fastened prevents access to the gap that separates these two facade elements (see
To further protect the facade 10 from rain and runoffs, a longitudinal, rain protective profiled lid 7C is fastened to a bottom part of the outer face 31C of the third facade element 1C (see
The rain protective profiled lid 7C extends longitudinally along the lower edge 33C of the third facade element 1C. This rain protective profiled lid is fastened, for instance by means of screws, to the bottom part of the outer face 31C and it extends outwardly and downwardly from the outer face 31C, beyond the lower edge 33C of the third facade element 1C. The rain protective profiled lid 7C thus prevents rainwater from entering the space that extends between the lower facade element 1A and the upper facade element 1C.
As represented in
The rain protective profiled lid 7C may be obtained, like here, by bending and stamping, from a metallic sheet. The rain protective profiled lid 7C may comprise successive sheet portions (each portion being substantially plane), namely:
an overhanging portion 71C, extending from the bottom part of the outer face 31C, towards the outside of the building, substantially horizontally;
a folded portion 72C, extending downwardly, substantially vertically, from the outer end of the overhanging portion 71C to a lower, free end of the rain protective profiled lid 7C.
As represented in
Here, each fire deflector 8C comprises:
The fixing bracket 80C is fastened, for instance bolted, to the mounting angle 18C.
The lower, free end of the second portion 82C of the fire deflector 8C is preferably supported by a folded rim made at the lower, free end of the folded portion 72C of the rain protective profiled lid 7C. Each of the upper facade elements 1C, 1D is preferably isolated, along its entire length (that is to say all along its lower edge), from its lower counterpart 1A, 1B, by one or more of these fire deflectors 8C, 8D. Each of these fire deflectors may extend all along the corresponding facade element, or along just a part of this facade element (in this last case, several fire deflectors are provided to each facade element, to isolate the two facade elements from each other over their entire length).
As represented in
In addition to such compressible strips, the facade elements could be provided with other additional equipment, fixed on the outer side of the facade element considered, such as outer claddings.
As explained above, the rain protective profiled lid 7C participates to the waterproofing of the facade. The protection of the building against rain and runoff water is thus achieved by means of two different barriers:
The first barrier is not airtight: it allows air communication between the outside and the space between the lower facade element 1A and the upper facade element 1C. And these two barriers are slightly spaced from each other.
Indeed, the vertical gap g′ is high enough that the fire deflector 8C does not come into contact with the lower facade element 1A. The fire deflector 8C is thus spaced apart from the upper edge 34A of the first facade element.
The space thus provided between these elements plays the role of a pressure balancing chamber, enabling to balance the pressure of air on the inner side of the facade, and the pressure of air on the outer side of the facade.
The junction and waterproofing between the second facade element 1B and the fourth facade element 1D is identical, or at least similar to what has be presented just above for junction of the first facade element 1A with the third facade element 1C.
The kind of junction node, where the four facade elements 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D are joined to each other, is set up so that the waterproofing membranes 4A, 4B, 5C, and 5D overlap in a tile-like arrangement. As presented on
Regarding the first and second side waterproofing membranes 9 and 9′, their upper and lower parts cover up the upper, and lower waterproofing membranes respectively, as already described.
This overall tile-like arrangement contributes to an efficient waterproofing of the node in question.
This tile-like arrangement is the one implemented when the side waterproofing membrane 9 is fixed on the right edge 36A of the first facade element 1A during its factory assembling (before fastening the facade elements to the building structure) and is fixed partially on the upper and lower waterproofing membranes (glued over a part of the upper and over a part of the lower waterproofing membranes, for instance). This tile-like arrangement is thus the one implemented when the side waterproofing membrane 9 is prefixed along its entire length on the inner side 32A of the facade element 1A. In this case, it is this tile-like arrangement that is implemented because the left upper overhang 41B could not be arranged over the right upper overhang 42A. Indeed, this would require inserting the left upper overhang 41B between the right upper overhang 42A and the side waterproofing membrane 9 while these two last membranes are glued together. Similarly, the right lower overhang 52C could not be arranged over the left lower overhang 51D, as the side waterproofing membrane 9 is glued, over its entire length, on the right side of the facade element 1A. In an alternative embodiment, the detailed sequence of this tiling can be different:
This tile-like arrangement is the one implemented when the side waterproofing membrane 9 is fixed on the left edge 35 of the first facade element 1 during its factory assembling and is fixed partially on the upper and lower waterproofing membranes (glued over a part of the upper and over a part of the lower waterproofing membranes, for instance).
When the side waterproofing membrane 9 is not fixed on the upper and lower waterproofing membranes or not fixed on one edge of the first facade element 1 during its factory assembling, other tile-like arrangements than the ones described above can be implemented. In particular, the two tile-like arrangements described above can be mixed. In this case, the different waterproofing membranes may overlap each other so that:
These last two tile-like arrangement enable a very efficient waterproofing of the junction between the four facade elements 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, as a left to right alternance is observed each time a membrane is added over the others.
The facade elements 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D are fastened to the building structure by means of their respective metal frameworks, more specifically by mean of their lower 21A, 21B, 21C, 21D and upper 22A, 22B, 22C, 22D metallic sections.
The concrete slabs 14, 14′ of the building are equipped with mounting plates 13, fastened to the slab, that protrudes from these slabs 14, 14′, towards the outside of the building (
Process for Assembling a Building Facade
A way to assemble facade elements, like the one of
A building facade made of facade elements according to the invention, like the one of
The lowest floor to be provided with facade elements, for instance the ground floor, is first equipped, at least partially, with the facade elements to be fastened between this lowest floor and the floor above (to provide the ground floor with an external wall). Once the lowest floor has be provided with at least two laterally adjacent facade elements, the assembling of the facade may continue on the floor above, by positioning and fastening to the building two or more upper facade elements each positioned above one of the facade elements of the floor below.
The lowest floor in question may be fully equipped with facade elements before starting to provide the floor above with facade elements. Or, alternatively, the assembling of facade elements on floor above may start when at least two adjacent facade elements have been installed on the lowest floor, even if the lowest floor is not fully equipped. In this case, the building of the facade may then continue in parallel on the lowest floor and on the floor above.
These first, second, third and fourth facade elements 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D are identical, or at least similar to the ones that have been described above. They comprise openings (windows and/or entrance doors). Apart from their openings, these four facade elements 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D are identical to each other. These facade elements and their different parts will be referred to using the same reference signs as before (for instance, their respective upper waterproofing membranes will be referred to as 4A, 4B, 4C and 4C, as before). Each of these facade elements 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D is provided with the side waterproofing membrane 9, 9′ that has been described above. As represented in
As the skilled person will appreciate, the assembling technique described below, with reference to
The assembling process of
The second facade element 1B is then positioned on the right of the first facade element 1A (
The left upper overhang 41B of the upper waterproofing membrane 4B of the second facade element 1B is then placed over the right upper overhang 42A of the upper waterproofing membrane 4A of the first facade element 1A and glued to it (
Then, the first side waterproofing membrane 9, that comes already mounted (glued) on the inner face 32B of the second facade element 1B, on its left side, is deployed and glued against the inner face 32A of the first facade element 1A (on the right side of this face 32A), to close the back of the lateral gap between these two facade elements 1A, 1B in a watertight manner, as explained before (see also
The third facade element 1C is then positioned above the first facade element 1A, and fastened to the building structure 15, using the same fastening technique as before (
The third facade element 1C is positioned with the lower edge 33C of the third facade element 1C facing the upper edge 34A of the first facade element 1A, these two edges being parallel to each other, and being separated by the vertical gap g′ mentioned above. Here, the third facade element 1C is aligned vertically with the first facade element 1A: the left edge 35C of the third facade element 1C is located in the extension of the left edge 35A of the first facade element 1A, vertically above it (vertically aligned with it), and so it is for the left edges 36A, 36C of these two facade elements. As the skilled person may appreciate, the third facade element may alternatively be positioned over the first facade element while being laterally offset (in which case its left edge 35C is not aligned with the left edge 35A of the first facade element 1A).
The fourth facade element 1D is then positioned above the second facade element 1B and fastened to the building structure 15 using the same fastening technique as before (
The fourth facade element 1D is positioned with its lower edge 33D facing the upper edge 34B of the second facade element 1B, these two edges 33D, 34B being parallel to each other, separated by the vertical gap g′. The fourth facade element 1D is aligned vertically with the second facade element 1B. The fourth facade element 1D is positioned with its left edge 35D facing the right edge 36C of the third facade element, these two edges being parallel to each other, separated by the lateral gap g.
Then, the flap 53C of the lower waterproofing membrane 5C of the third facade element 1C (which was, until then, attached to the outer face of the third facade element 1C, using tape) is folded down onto the outer face 31A of the first facade element 1A (
Then, the left lower overhang 51D of the lower waterproofing membrane 5D of the fourth facade element 1D is placed over the right lower overhang 52C of the lower waterproofing membrane 5C of the third facade element 1C and glued to it (
The flap 53D of the lower waterproofing membrane 5D is then folded down onto the outer face 31B of the second facade element 1B (
Then, the second side waterproofing membrane 9′, that comes already mounted (glued) on the inner face 32D of the fourth facade element 1D, on its left side, is deployed and glued against the inner face 32C of the third facade element 1C (on the right side of this face 32C), to close the back of the lateral gap between these two facade elements 1C, 1D in a watertight manner.
The fire deflectors 8C, 8D are then inserted in the vertical gap that separates the upper facade elements 1C, 1D from the lower facade elements 1A, 1B (
The insulating material 17 is then inserted in the lateral gaps that separate the left facade elements 1A, 1C from the right facade elements 1B, 1D (
Afterwards, or simultaneously or before, the compressible strips 6D, 6C (see, e.g.,
The rain protective profiled lids 7C, 7D are then fastened on the outer faces 31C, 31D of the upper facade elements, along the lower end of these faces 31C, 31D (
As the skilled person will appreciate, the different steps described above could be executed in a different order.
For instance, the flap 53C of the lower waterproofing membrane 5C of the third facade element 1C could be deployed and fixed to the upper waterproofing membrane 4A of the first facade element 1A before fastening the fourth facade element on the building structure (instead of gluing these two membranes together after the fourth facade element had been fastened to the building structure). Similarly, the first side waterproofing membrane 9 could be fixed to the first facade element 1A after having positioned and fastened the two upper facade elements 1C, 1D, instead of doing it before.
Besides, in the exemplary assembling process described above, the first facade element 1A is first fastened to the building structure, and then, the second facade element 1B is positioned on the right side of the first facade element 1A and fastened to the building structure. But alternatively, the second facade element could also be fastened first to the building structure, the rest of the assembling process remaining unchanged.
It would also be possible to fasten the facade elements in the following order:
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2019/060236 | Nov 2019 | IB | international |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2020/061167 | 11/26/2020 | WO |
