WO2016049684A1

WO2016049684A1 - A facade attachment system for a building

Info

Publication number: WO2016049684A1
Application number: PCT/AU2015/000595
Authority: WO
Inventors: George Argyrou; Peter Gerard JOHNSTON; Ross William SMITH
Original assignee: Hickory Design Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2014-09-30
Filing date: 2015-09-30
Publication date: 2016-04-07
Also published as: CN106193390A; AU2015327746A1

Abstract

A facade system for a building comprising: a sub sill (40) adapted to be fixed to a lower end of an upper level (22) of a building, the sub sill supporting a lower end of an infill material (14) and having a first alignment portion (42); a gutter piece (50) adapted to be fixed at an upper end of a lower level (20) of the building, and having a second alignment portion (52); and a seal (60) located between the first and second alignment portions when the sub sill is in alignment with the gutter piece.

Description

A Facade Attachment System for a Building

The present invention relates to a system for attaching a facade to the exterior of a building.

Background

Building facades as outer coverings on buildings are designed to be non-structural and to provide a barrier between the building interior and the outside of a building. In multi- level or high-rise constructions a curtain wall system is frequently used to mount the non-structural facade to the exterior perimeter of a building. A curtain wall system is designed to mount adjacent panels, whether vertically adjacent or horizontally adjacent, side by side to cover and obscure structural beams and columns behind the facade and thereby provide a uniform and continuous surface.

As a facade wall is non-structural any lightweight material can be used. Glass panels are the most commonly used facade infill. Other material used as fagade walls, also referred to as curtain walls, include metal panels, stone veneer and composite material panels. In a curtain wall system the infill material forming the facade , e.g. glass, is hung from a bracket system mounted along an exterior edge of an upper floor slab so that the curtain wall appears to hang from the ceiling of any given building level. More commonly found on domestic building sites are window wall systems where the glass panels are mounted to be supported at their lower ends into window sills that are fixed by screws or otherwise to the outer edge of a floor or subwall.

Curtain wall systems can provide an attractive facade to multi-level buildings having a large facade surface. It is recognised that the process of mounting facade walls, such as curtain walls, can become involved and extensive measures are taken to ensure adequate sealing between the panels to prevent the entry of moisture past the facade and into the building interior. Accordingly, it has been known to fit complex sealing systems at the attachment points of a facade to a building and the mounting process is usually completed by caulking gaps between facade panels, which can be time consuming and expensive. It is desired to have a facade system that can be efficiently used to mount a facade to a building. Summary of the Invention

In accordance with the invention there is provided a facade attachment system for a building comprising:

a sub sill adapted to be fixed to a lower end of an upper level of a building, the sub sill supporting a lower end of an infill material and having a first alignment portion; a gutter piece adapted to be fixed at an upper end of a lower level of the building, and having a second alignment portion; and

a seal located between the first and second alignment portions when the sub sill is in alignment with the gutter piece.

The seal may be attached to one or the other of the sub sill or gutter piece, while the other of the sub sill or gutter piece abuts the seal. The sill is adapted to be pressed between the sub sill and gutter piece and is preferably structured to allow play in tolerance in the alignment of the sub sill and gutter piece. In one embodiment the seal is closed in cross section to define an internal volume. For example, the seal maybe a bulb seal. An internal wall structure may be provided inside of the seal's internal volume to provide strength and controlled collapse of the seal when pressed. Where the seal is attached to the sub sill, the seal may be keyed into a channel in the sub sill.

The second alignment portion may be complementary in its structure to the first alignment portion. In other words, the first and second alignment portions could be designed to broadly interact to roughly align in a generally vertical direction so that the fagade infill material is substantially vertically in line with a fagade infill material of the lower level. In one embodiment, one alignment portion may be received in the other alignment portion, for example by having a channel in one of the alignment portions to receive an upstanding lip of the other alignment portions.

The facade system comprising a sub sill and corresponding gutter piece which are designed to abut and provides a system that can be modularly used and connected to mount the facade system of a lower level to that of an upper level. This can be particularly useful in the construction of modular buildings whereby modular units are attached side by side and one atop the other to form a greater structure.

In one embodiment of the invention the sub sill supports an infill support having a channel into which an infill material is directly mounted. The infill support may include a cover forming the window sill exposed adjacent the internal side of the infill material.

The sub sill may be fixed to the underside of a floor structure by way of a facade bracket. The sub sill may include a recess for receiving the facade bracket and a relief which is clamped to the facade bracket using a serrated clamp and retainer. The facade bracket is generally mounted to a structural beam or other structural support. In the case of a modular building the bracket is mechanically fixed or welded to the modular structure at floor level, such as a floor perimeter/ring beam. In the case of a conventional, non-modular building the bracket is attached via a cast in plate into the concrete floor.

The first alignment portion is complementary to the second alignment portion and may include one or more channels for receiving one or more seals. The second alignment portion accordingly has a complementary profile to the first alignment portion, which may include an upstanding wall that protrudes into the seal

The sub sill and gutter piece are preferably extrusions that may be cut to desired lengths and the extrusions may be made of plastics or metal, such as aluminium, or a composite material.

In accordance with the invention there is also provided a method of mounting an infill material in a facade attachment system supported by an upper and lower level including:

fixing a sub sill to an underside of an upper level, wherein the sub sill supports an infill mount for receiving the infill material;

fixing a gutter piece to an upper side of a lower level wherein the underside of the upper level and upper side of the lower level are in proximity;

bringing the upper level and lower levels together whereby the sub sill abuts the gutter through an intermediate seal; and

installing the infill material in the infill mount.

In accordance with the invention there is still further provided a method of mounting an infill in a facade attachment system supported by an upper and lower building module including:

installing the infill material between a sub sill and a gutter piece, wherein the sub sill supports a mount for receiving a lower end of the infill material and the gutter piece supports an upper end of the infill material;

mounting the upper building module onto a lower level defined by the lower building module;

fixing the sub sill to an underside of an upper level defined by the upper building module; and

fixing the gutter piece to an upper portion of the lower building module, wherein the underside of the upper building module and upper portion of the lower building module are in proximity. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the upper and lower levels are of a building that is modularly connected. Preferably, the building comprises modular units vertically interconnected to form a multi-level building. The sub sill can be mounted to the floor beam of an upper level while the gutter piece can be mounted to a roof beam of a lower level. The facade attachment system is mostly contained within the cavity created between a lower level roof beam and an upper level floor beam when an upper level is mounted on top of a lower level.

Brief Description of the Drawings In order that the invention may be more clearly ascertained, an embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a facade mounted across a building using a facade attachment system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical side sectional view of Figure 1 illustrating the facade attachment system mounted to the exterior of the building; Figure 3 is an enlarged view of Detail C in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken at section A-A of Figure 2; and

Figures 5a and 5b are photographs illustrating respectively a seal not pressed and pressed between components of the facade attachment system.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiment Described herein and illustrated in the drawings is a facade attachment system 10 for attaching, or mounting, a facade 12 to a building. The system 10 will be herein interchangeably referred to as a 'facade attachment system' and more conveniently as a 'facade system'.

Figure 1 illustrates a front view of an exterior surface of a building in which a facade 12, comprising an infill material 14, which in this case constitutes glass panels, mounted to a building using the facade attachment system 10. In this presently described embodiment the building is constructed from a number of modular units 15 structurally connected side by side and one a top of the other. The exterior facade of the building comprising the modular units is finished with a facade to create a uniform and continuous exterior surface of the building. It is understood that while in the presently described embodiment the building is constructed from a number of structurally connected modular units, the facade system may be used to mount a facade on to a building constructed in situ and as a single construction. Figure 1 illustrates a plurality of facade panels, also referred to as infill material 14, separated horizontally by transoms 17 and separated vertically by mullions 18. Also illustrated in Figure 1 is a sunshade silhouette 19 extending outwardly of the facade. Figure 2a is a side section view of Figure 1. Figure 3 is an enlarged view of Figure 2 illustrating in more detail the facade system 10 behind the facade 12 used to mount the facade to a building. Figure 2 illustrates the facade 12 spanning vertically floor to floor between a lower level 20 and an upper level 22. Specifically, Figure 2 illustrates lower floor level 21 a supported on a lower floor beam 24a (where the floor is a concrete floor, timber floor or other type of flooring) and an upper floor beam 24b supporting the upper floor level 21 b.

The distance between the upper and lower floor levels 21 a, 21 b illustrated in Figure 2 is disproportionately illustrated in order to show in greater detail the zone or cavity 25 created between the lower and upper levels 20, 22.

Where the lower end of the lower level begins at lower floor beam 24a, the upper end of the lower level 20 is defined by roof beam 27 (the roof beam of the upper level is not illustrated). Immediately below roof beam 27 is a ceiling 28 of the lower level 20, generally formed from a planar sheet or board, such as plasterboard or timber panels. The infill material 14 as illustrated in the drawings is a double glazing indicated by the parallel glass panels 30 separated by air gap 31 .

A mullion angle bracket 33 is mounted to roof beam 27, either directly or indirectly through intermediate brackets bolted to the roof beam 27. Roof beam 27 bears any wind load reaction of the facade. Mullion angle bracket 33 is either directly attached to the facade mullions 18, or an intermediary offset mullion is placed between the gutter piece and an upper transom 17. Mullion angle bracket 33 also supports a back pan 34, which is a strip or sheet mounted behind the glass facade to fill and/or insulate cavity 25.

The facade system 10 is adapted to mount the infill material 14 to the exterior 35 of a building where the building comprises at least one lower level 20 and one upper level 22. The facade system provides a facade having the appearance of a curtain wall system but, unlike curtain wall systems, supports the infill material 14 at a lower end/bottom edge thereof. More specifically, the facade system supports an infill material 14 by mounting the infill material at approximately level to the finished floor level 21 a, 21 b. Accordingly, the facade attachment system stands proud of the ceiling height of the lower level in order to extend approximately level to the floor level above.

Infill material 14 mounted at the upper level 22 is positioned to appear as a continuous surface with infill material 14 of the lower level 20. Through the facade system 10 the lower level and upper level infills are able to be guided and aligned so that the top edge 37 of the infill material 14 of the lower level 20 is in line with the bottom edge 38 of the infill material 14 of the upper level 22. The facade system 10 achieves this by providing a sub sill 40 that is adapted to be fixed to a lower end of the upper level 22 of a building, where the sub sill supports the lower end, or bottom edge 38, of an infill material. The facade system also has a second component in the form of a gutter piece 50 that is adapted to be fixed at an upper end of the lower level 20 of the building.

The sub sill of the upper level 22 and the gutter piece 50 of the lower level 20 are adapted to come into close proximity with each other and align so as to nestle conforming profiles of the sub sill and gutter piece with only a small gap therebetween that is filled by a seal and thereby close the gap between the aligned corresponding profiles.

Accordingly the sub sill has a first alignment portion 42 while the gutter piece 50 has a second alignment portion 52. The first and second alignment portions 42, 52 are adapted to be in close proximity to each other or make contact by interfacing/nestling and where between them a seal 60 is provided. The seal 60 ensures that the alignment between the first and second portions, and hence the sub sill 40 and gutter piece 50, is a sealing abutment that will substantially prevent or mitigate the transfer of moisture from the building exterior 35 to a building interior 36.

The two-part component arrangement of the facade system 10 whereby a sub sill is provided on one level and a gutter piece on another level, and where the sub sill and gutter piece are adapted to come into contact with the seal therebetween, means that the system can be modularly used to mount a facade between a lower level and a upper level that may not necessarily be constructed as part of a single structure. In other words the facade system 10 is particularly useful in the construction of modular buildings whereby the modular units 15 are either partially or fully constructed off site, and may even be finished to final specifications off site before being brought on site, modularly mounted and attached side by side and one on top of the other to form a greater building structure.

Sub sill 40 is adapted to be positioned at about the end of lower floor level 21 a or 21 b so as to mount the infill material 14 at a point spaced outwardly from the end of the floor level such that the infill material, and resulting facade 12, appears to hang off the end of the building, similar to a curtain wall. Sub sill 40 is mounted towards or at or beyond the floor level through a facade bracket 43 which is an angled bracket that is mounted at one end to a lower floor beam 24a or 24b at a vertical side of the bracket, and angles to a horizontal side which supports sub sill 40. Sub sill 40 includes a recess 41 for receiving an end 44 of the facade bracket and a relief 45 on the sub sill 40 interacts to be clamped to the facade bracket 43 using a serrated clamp and retainer 46 which is bolted through the facade bracket 43. The serrated retainer 46 allows adjustment of the sub sill inwardly and outwardly of the building to ensure proper horizontal alignment of the facade above and below.

Generally, the sub sill is mounted through the facade bracket to a structural support, such as a floor beam or floor bearer, but the bracket may be shaped or otherwise extruded/constructed to include its own mounting bracket to mount directly to a structural support.

The sub sill 40 supports the infill material 14 either directly, for example by way of an infill mount provided on the sub sill, or as illustrated in the embodiment of the drawings, indirectly through a separate component: an infill support 55. The infill support 55 includes an infill mount 56 into which the infill material 14 can be directly mounted by conventional means depending on the material of the infill. For example when using glass as the infill material the bottom edge 38 is manoeuvred into the infill mount 56 and attached therein using adhesive and/or mechanical fasteners and weatherproofed by way of seals (eg. silicon seals) and foam backing rods. A window sill cover extrusion 57 clips on to the infill support to provide a finished window sill 62 on the interior side of the infill material 14. Infill support 55 is constructed to complementarily clip on to sub sill 40 by way of a snap fit or is otherwise attached to the sub sill by way of adhesives and/or mechanical fasteners, such as screws.

At an underside of the sub sill is the first alignment portion 42 that is adapted to face the gutter piece 50. The first alignment portion may include any structure that broadly complements a corresponding structure on the gutter piece that forms the second alignment portion. Accordingly, the first and second alignment portions may include any type of nestling structure, or male/female inter-engaging arrangement that allow the sub sill and gutter piece to substantially align in proximity to each other. It is noted that the sub sill and gutter piece do not need to actually make contact but need only be generally aligned in order to substantially form a seal between them and to align the infills 14 supported by each to create a facade having the appearance of a continuous or at least substantially even surface.

The gutter piece 50 is supported at an upper end of a lower level 20 either directly or indirectly to a structural member of the upper end of the lower level, for example the roof beam 27 or mullions 18, and is mounted as a parapet to extend outwardly of the building exterior to give the appearance of hanging. The gutter piece as shown is attached to the mullions 18 through the mullion angle bracket 33.

In the specific embodiment illustrated, the first alignment portion of the sub sill is complementary to the second alignment portion of the gutter piece in that one portion interacts or can be received in the other portion. The sub sill includes one or two seal channels 47 for receiving one or more seals located between the sub sill 40 and gutter piece 50. In the embodiment shown, two seals 60 are provided. The second alignment portion 52 interacts with the seal channels 47 to force or squeeze the seals between the first and second alignments. In the embodiment shown the second alignment portion 52 is in the form of upstanding lips or walls 53. Figures 5a and 5b illustrate a sample form of the facade attachment system 10 and the interaction of the sub sill 40 and gutter piece 50 to force a bulb seal 60 therebetween in order to form a water tight seal between the sub sill and gutter piece at the bulb seal 60. The bulb seal can seal the sub sill and gutter piece over a large range of positional variation (+/- 14mm in all directions). By enclosing the bulb seal on three sides with the seal channels 47, the bulb can control collapse in a water tight manner. As illustrated in Figures 5a and 5b, the bulb seals may comprise an internal structure of internal walls 71 that assist in controlling the collapse of each bulb seal between the channel 47 and upstanding lip 53. In the sample illustrated, the bulb seal on the left of Figures 5a and 5b has a cross structure of internal walls 71 , compared to the single parting wall 71 of on the right bulb seal of the figures. Furthermore, the lip 53 terminates in a foot having two acute edges 72 that engage the seal to provide an even pushing force against the seal which results in a symmetrical, even collapse and a water tight seal.

Gutter piece 50 includes a downwardly facing channel 58 that attaches to a frame head 74, which defines the upper frame mount of the infill material. The top edge 37 of an infill material is mounted into the frame head 74 using attachment means such as structural silicon or a captive bead that snaps into the frame head 74 as well as into the mullions 18 and window sill 62 to hold the infill material in place. The seals 60 located between the sub sill 40 and gutter piece 50 can be attached to one or the other of the sub sill or gutter piece and in the drawings are illustrated as being attached to the sub sill 40 while abutting the gutter piece 50. Specifically, the seal includes a keyed edge 61 that is adapted to interact and slide from one end into a keyed channel 48 of the sub sill. Seal 60 is thereby mechanically attached to the underside of the sub sill and namely to the first alignment portion 42.

The seal allows an amount of play and suitable tolerance between the sub sill and gutter piece components. This allows for the sub sill and gutter piece to be aligned without precision but with speed and efficiency. The play in tolerance afforded by the seal can be achieved through the seal structure allowing for movement of the seal and variation in the distance between the first and second alignment portion. In the embodiment illustrated, this is achieved by having a bulb seal made of rubber where the seal is closed in cross section to define an internal volume. Alignment of the first and second alignment portions on either side of the seal the seal can shift to accommodate variations in spacing and alignment between the sub sill and gutter piece, and hence between the mounts supporting the sub sill and gutter piece and/or variations in spacing between the modular units defining the upper and lower levels 22, 20.

The seal is preferably made of rubber. The sub sill and gutter piece are preferably extrusions made of plastics, metal or a composite material that can be cut to desired lengths. The sub sill and gutter piece may be formed as a single extrusion or may be formed in parts that are clipped or otherwise fastened together to form a complete sub sill and gutter piece.

Figure 4 illustrates a plan view of horizontally adjacent infill panels 14 mounted with the facade attachment system. Figure 4 particularly illustrates the side by side interface between two adjacent modular building units 15. Side by side mounting makes use of mullions 18 that are formed in part to align together and be directly or indirectly brought into an interlocking engagement between structures supporting horizontally adjacent infill 14. The mullions 18 interlock with composite mullion sections 75 that are fastened to the building structure/modular building units. The composite mullion sections 75 form the vertical frames holding the vertical sides of the infill panels 14.

A split mullion joiner 77, which is illustrated as an extruded "T" section locates between the mullions 18 of adjacent modular building units 15 to provide an intermediate piece spanning and joining mullions 18, and thereby the sides of building units 15. A number of module joiner seals 78 are provided between each mullion 18 and the split mullion joiner 77 in order to seal the join between the mullions but to also allow play of movement at the join between adjacent building units. The joiner seals 78 shown are closed seals having an internal volume, such as bulb seals, which have the advantage of allowing reasonable variations in spacing between the split mullion joiner 77 and the mullions 18 whilst providing adequate sealing.

A mullion weather seal 70 at an outermost face of the facade provides an initial or primary point of seal against moisture entering from the building exterior 35. Located and captured in between the mullions at the building interior 36 is a foam block 79 (closed cell) extending the length of the mullions that acts as a final point of sealing, and may not be required where the primary seals function successfully. In use, a facade comprising infill material 14 can be in the form of, for example, glass panels, that are mounted to an exterior face 35 of a building at an upper and lower level by using the facade system 10.

In the case where the building is constructed on site as a single structure, once the lower and upper levels 20, 22 are constructed the sub sill is fixed to an underside of the upper level and specifically through a facade bracket 43, or otherwise directly or indirectly, connected to a lower floor beam 24a. The gutter piece 50 is fixed to an upper portion of a lower level 20, and specifically to a structural member of an upper portion of a lower level. Fixing the gutter piece to a structural member, such as a roof beam 27, may be by direct fixing or indirect fixing through one or more brackets.

The lower or underside of the upper level and the upper side of the lower level are in proximity to each other, one or the other of the sub sill or gutter piece will carry the seal so that when the sub sill and gutter piece are fixed in position the seal will bear between alignment portions of the corresponding sub sill and gutter piece components.

In the case of modular building construction the sub sill and gutter piece are fixed to their respective levels off site and at the time of construction of the modular units.

Accordingly, when the modular building units arrive on site the sub sill and gutter pieces are already attached in place whereby the sub sill also carries the two bulb seals 60. As an upper modular unit 15b is mounted on top of a lower modular unit 15a and the structural fasteners between the modular units are activated and attached, the sub sill 40 at a lower end of an upper modular unit is brought in to a close position with the gutter piece 50 at the upper end of a lower modular unit. Further alignment of the upper and lower modular units bring the sub sill 40 and gutter piece 50 in to sealing alignment through the seals located between them. Once the components of the facade system are fixed in place the infill material can then be installed between a sub sill 40 at a bottom edge 38 of the infill material and a gutter piece 50 at a top edge 37 of the infill.

In a reverse embodiment, the infill material could first be mounted between the sub sill and gutter piece off site and transported as an infill assembly to site. Once lower and upper levels of a building are erected the infill assembly is mounted to the building exterior by fixing the sub sill to a lower end of the upper level and fixing the gutter piece to an upper end of the lower level. This installation arrangement is particularly beneficial to the construction of a building using modular building units.

Once the infill material has been mounted in place further sealing of the facade system may be carried out, although is not necessary. The horizontal seals in the form of bulb seals 60 between the upper and lower levels provide adequate sealing horizontally. The weather seals 70 provided between vertically adjacent panels provide adequate sealing between panels mounted side by side. This means that further sealing, such as by caulking, which is time consuming and expensive, is not required. The facade system provides a fast, reliable and efficient method and system of mounting a facade to an exterior of a building, whether that building is constructed as a single structure or comprises an arrangement of modular units.

It should be understood that while a facade attachment system has been described herein in relation to the exterior facade of a building, it is understood that the facade system could be used to attach a facade internally of a building. In addition as an attachment system for internal facades, such as for atriums or multi-level walls, the system can be used for any facade that requires mounting an infill material above and/or adjacent another infill material. For example, the facade system could be used as a balustrade for balconies.

It should also be noted that the infill material mounted using the system need not be the same and could, for example comprise glass as a first infill material and metal sheeting as an adjacently positioned second infill material.

Claims

Claims:

1. A facade system for a building comprising:

a sub sill adapted to be fixed to a lower end of an upper level of a building, the sub sill supporting a lower end of a facade infill material and having a first alignment portion;

a gutter piece adapted to be fixed at an upper end of a lower level of the building, and having a second alignment portion; and

2. The facade system claimed in claim 1 , wherein seal is attached to one or the other of the sub sill or gutter piece, while the other of the sub sill or gutter piece abuts the seal.

3. The facade system claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the seal is structured to allow play in tolerance in the alignment of the sub sill and gutter piece.

4. The facade system claimed in claim 3, wherein the seal is structured to be a bulb seal.

5. The facade system claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second alignment portion is complementary in its structure to the first alignment portion.

6. The facade system claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first alignment portion includes one or more channels for receiving one or more seals

7. The facade system claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sub sill supports an infill support that has a channel into which an infill material can be mounted.

8. A method of mounting a facade infill material in a facade attachment system supported by an upper and lower level including:

installing the infill material in the infill mount.

9. The method claimed in claim 8, including vertically interconnecting modular building units to form a multi-level building comprising the upper and lower levels.

10. A method of mounting a facade infill in a facade attachment system supported by an upper and lower building module including:

fixing the gutter piece to an upper portion of the lower building module, wherein the underside of the upper building module and upper portion of the lower building module are in proximity.

1 1 . The method claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10, including mounting the sub sill to a floor beam of an upper level, and mounting the gutter piece to a roof beam of a lower level.

12. The method claimed in any one of claims 8 to 1 1 , including mostly containing the facade attachment system within a cavity created between a lower level roof beam of the lower level and an upper level floor beam of the upper level.