Unitised Façades

Unitised façades are curtain walling built as complete, factory-assembled panels that are craned into position and fixed floor by floor, and BDF Architectural supplies and installs unitised aluminium façade systems for commercial and high-rise developments, working for main contractors, developers and architects. We install unitised curtain walling across London and the South East and supply UK-wide.

Unitised work suits our operation because the assembly happens in the factory: profiles are processed, fabricated, glazed and checked in our 60,000 sq ft West Drayton facility, then packed and despatched in the sequence the site needs them, floor by floor or zone by zone. Moving that work off site reduces installation time and work at height, and gives consistent quality across the whole building envelope.

The choice between unitised and stick curtain walling is mostly about programme and access. A stick system is assembled on site from mullions, transoms and glass, which suits low- and mid-rise buildings and keeps unit cost down. A unitised system usually costs more to engineer and make but closes the building in faster, which is why it is used on high-rise and time-critical buildings. Panels can combine vision glass, spandrel and louvre panels in one thermally broken aluminium system, designed to the curtain walling product standard BS EN 13830.

A unitised package normally runs from technical review and design development, with calculations for the panels and slab-edge brackets, through fabrication drawings, samples and any performance mock-up the specification calls for, to assembly and glazing in West Drayton, delivery in installation sequence, installation, inspection and handover records. Where the solid parts of the building are clad rather than glazed, we can take the aluminium rainscreen cladding in the same package, so the junctions between the two are designed by one team. Our guide What is a unitised façade? explains stack joints, cranage and how cost and programme compare with stick systems.

Unitised façades need information early: the panel setting-out, floor-to-floor heights, slab edge and bracket details, crane and hoist access and the installation sequence. To price, send drawings, the performance specification, the fire strategy and the programme, and we will review the panel strategy with you.