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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
AUGUST
2015
PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS
Globally, clients are becoming
more demanding concerning the
solutions they want from their
buildings and façades.
They want better-performing, more
aesthetically pleasing façades and these
requirements have to be delivered quickly
and cost-effectively.
Steve Daniels, Aurecon’s façade service
leader, has an extensive track record in
façade management and consulting. He has
come across many challenging projects over
the course of 25 years and has worked on
some of the worlds’ great façades including
the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, Swiss Re
and City Hall in London, and the Burj Khalifa
in Dubai. Daniels discusses some of the things
that need to be considered to get the best out
of your façades engineer.
A façade is one of the key influencers that
determine the value, commercial success
and project risk of a building, but it’s also
one of the most common sources of building
failure. Up to 25% of the entire building cost
is attributed to the cost of the façade, it is
therefore vital that architects and clients do
their research on who they are partnering
with to deliver their façade.
Few people realise how complex a façade
system can be. In a typical 30 storey building,
Getting the most value from your
It is the façade of a building that brings an architect’s vision
to life, however a building’s skin not only contributes to
architectural expression, it also plays a large role in the
performance of the building as a whole.
for example, there will be approximately
18 000 m
2
of façade. This will consist of
approximately 3 000 panels, with each panel
having approximately 300 parts that are
constructed from various materials.
“This example adds up to nearly a
million parts for the façade alone, so it’s no
wonder that things can go wrong if proper
control isn’t in place,” comments Daniels.
“Some of the diverse conditions that a façade
needs to accommodate include wind speeds
that can go above 100 km/h, temperature
differences, and associated thermal expan-
sion of up to 80 °C, plus they must resist rain,
humidity, mould and even seismic activity
and lightning.
“Besides being designed for all of the
above external conditions, a façade on a tall
building also needs to be able to accommo-
date a structure that moves and deflects all of
this while continuing to look good. In short,
it is a complex machine and should not be
trusted to inexperience,” cautions Daniels.
“Within the boundaries of the fees avail-
able, façade engineers need to be smart with
the solutions they offer. It’s our job to find the
technologies and systems to make the client
requirements possible. As a very minimum,
we must offer safe, buildable, durable solu-
tions that fit into the client’s budget,” he says.
Sometimes delivering optimum service means
delivering difficult messages to our clients. As
with any type of highly technical engineering
solution, you get what you pay for when it
comes to façade design and installation.
“Façade engineers need to be brought
in at the early stages of a project in order
to understand what the client’s aspirations
are and what they can afford, so that the
engineers can assess different solutions and
determine what performance requirements
are needed for the façade. In this way, the
project proceeds smoothly with all parties
fully informed,” says Daniels.
Daniels believes that a façade engineer’s
obligations extend much further than deliv-
ering a technical service. “An engineer must
understand the entire development process
and the fact that delaying a building project
will have financial implications for our client.
We therefore have an obligation to provide
good technical advice and keep a project
moving forward.
“Ensure that the façade engineer you
partner with has appropriate experience,
understands your project’s aspirations and
understands how a project is developed. No
client will ever be thankful for achieving a small,
non-critical technical win if the result is that the
project is delivered late,” adds Daniels.
Steve Daniels, Aurecon’s façade service leader.
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FAÇADE ENGINEER