faceted facade panels

acma composites challenge:
faceted facade panels
david varner + david graham
The faceted facade panel type aggregates a single geometry into an opaque wall condition that transitions into thin,
horizontal louvers. Forming a rain screen and solar shading device, the panel composition may be applied to the
exterior of a building or serve as interior partitions. Fabricated from the cheap and energy efficient method of cnc wire
cutting, the molds that form the composite panels are lightweight and re-usable allowing for repeatable iterations.
x/3 x/3 x/3
x/3 x/3 x/3
Early tiling studies were conducted to analyze
geometries between classical and modern
aggregations, as well as differentiation of
panel material type. The following examples
represent repeatable tiling techniques that
minimize tile uniqueness and cost of fabrication.
x√3
6
60°
x
Eye Film Institute | Delugan Meissl
Amsterdam, Netherlands
aluminum panel
direction rotates 60° CW
6.6.6 tesselation
tiling diagrams
3
Ono Wall Tile| Dex Industries
Atlanta, GA
high performance concrete
basketweave brick
cairo pattern overlay
Irregular Tesselations
Convex Uniform Tiling
cairo pentagonal tiling
archimedean lattice
rhombille tiling
archimedean lattice
60°
120°
120°
Yu-un Guesthouse | Tadao Ando, Olafur Eliasson
Tokyo, Japan
platinum-glazed ceramic tiles
4
The prime tile type is produced from a rectangular prism subtracted by a faceted
surface. Tiling permutations follow simple
translation, rotation, and reflection transformations.
panel geometry development
5
The prime tile is reflected to create a new tile
unit that is repeated along a row. Each
subsequent row shifts by one tile to create a
multi-faceted aesthetic. The solid tile is
imaged as a wall panel while the faceted
surface is extracted to form a thin panel to be
used a horizontal louver. A transition tile is
created to link the solid tile to the surface
tile.
panel geometry development
6
An early prototype expressing the shift from
solid tiles to surface tiles, opaqueness to
transparency.
wall to louver condition
7
In order to produce formwork for the fiberglass application, the cnc hot wire cutter was
used with eps foam as the medium.
composite panel
foam formwork
female mold
exploded mold
wire cutting geometry
production tool
8
The cnc hot wire sends an electric current
across a titanium wire in order for it to slice
through expanded polystyrene (eps) foam.
The machine takes a .dxf input and addresses
two colored profiles as the front and back
geometries that pair with the front and back
trolleys. The trolleys of the machine move
independently across an x and y axis, allowing
the wire to cut complex shapes in a small
amount of time with a small amount of power.
cnc hot wire
front geometry
00:10
00:20
00:30
00:40
00:50
01:00
back geometry
.dxf geometry
exported to CNC
wire cutter
9
combined .dxf
The front trolley follows the front profile while
the back trolley follows the back profile. Both
trolleys are fully syncronized on the x and y
axis at the start point and end point. From
the start point, the trolleys lead-into the foam
and begin to cut its primary geometry. The
trolleys then traverse in order to re-sync
before making the boundary cut of the shape.
At the end of the cut, both trolleys lead-out to
a common end point.
wire cutter sequence
1
start point
2
lead-in
3
facet cut
4
traverse
5
boundary cut
6
lead-out to end point
front profile
back profile
10
The first foam cut prototypes focused on an
earlier hexagonal form. These tests used
aluminum foil and wood glue as a mold
release.
two coats of wood glue to protect foam from
resin component of fiberglass application, no
foil used, two layers of mold release used
early prototypes
foam cut assembly
aluminum foil attached with spray adhesive
one layer of fiberglass applied
one layer of fiberglass applied
fiberglass attached to glued surface
two coats of wood glue became thick enough
to peel off fiberglass, although tidious
11
The second batch of prototypes focused on
different surface finishes for the fiberglass.
spray adhesive and saran warp
wood glue and acetate
wood glue and aluminum foil with one coat
of mold release compound
wood glue and aluminum foil with two coats
of mold release compound
easy to de-mold, fast application
clean and smooth surface finish, easy to
de-mold
relatively smooth surface
easy to de-mold, relatively smooth surface
bumpy surface, saran wrap rips off
difficult to cut, shape, and glue acetate
have to let glue dry before applying foil, foil
easily rips up
time consuming to apply multiple coats.
early prototypes
12
The third batch focused on sandwich panels,
with a piece of balsa wood between two
layers of fiberglass. The structural stability of
these products were great while the balsa
wood provided a fine aesthetic.
bare foam with spray fixed aluminum foil, two
layers of mold release (becomes standard)
early prototypes
balsa wood cut to match facets (one with
laser cut perforations and one without), two
layers of fiberglass per unit
surface quality and structural integrity were
outstanding, no clear difference in strength
between the two tests
13
The assembly of this prototype required
seven unique foam shapes, all derived from
the prime tile type.
desired geometry derived from tile unit
female foam mold
composite panel
fiberglass
balsa wood
fiberglass
foam mold with
aluminum foil and
mold release
early prototypes
14
The fourth prototype became the predecessor for the final design solution. It features
the prime tile type morphing into a horizontal louver of the same geometry.
individually cut foam segments glued together
early prototypes
aluminum foil spray fixed to mold, two coats
of mold release
perforated balsa wood cut in placed in
between layers of fiberglass
final product has exceptional surface quality
and strength
15
The design solution was derived from this
axonometric wall assembly composing of two
opaque walls flanking a horizontal louvered
section that overlooks a glass facade.
building integrated system
17
Opaque walls hold their own structure while
the louvered sections are clipped onto the
structural mullions of the glazing system.
building integrated system
18
prototype parts a and b
foam mold
19
prototype part c
foam mold
20
The final design takes two shifted opaque
panel walls and unites them with thin horizontal louvers. The walls provide a rainscreen for the interior space and may embed
foam insulation. The louvered portion covers
a window assembly and is directly attached
to the mullions via metal clips.
final design solution
16