Building Envelopes and Facades

Composites bring considerable benefits to architecture and are gaining momentum in high-profile commercial and residential building applications. At 20 percent of the weight of stone or concrete cladding, a composite exterior can significantly reduce building dead load, which translates to a smaller foundation, smaller crane requirements, and more manageable seismic design. Innovative, lightweight composite cladding not only creates cost savings through the entire project, but also offers design flexibility that feeds an architect’s creativity—unusual forms that are not feasible with traditional materials can be easily fabricated from composites.