Facade

The facade is where a building meets the outside world. The front facade facing the main entrance usually gets the most attention, yet side and rear elevations carry just as much of the building’s integrity. A facade is at once a visual layer that gives the building its identity and a technical skin that keeps out rain, wind, sun and noise. In Turkish it is called cephe.

Two jobs at once

Visually, a facade is read through its ratio of solid to void, the rhythm of its windows, its materials and its proportions. Technically, it is where thermal insulation, waterproofing, daylight, ventilation and solar control are resolved. Facade types range from rendered masonry to glazed curtain walls, and from ventilated rainscreens to double-skin systems. The right choice depends on climate, use and budget.

What good facade design considers

• Facades that respond to orientation work better; a south and a west elevation should not be treated alike.
• When material junctions and movement joints are planned early, a facade ages gracefully.
• Every window is checked against the furniture layout and use of the room behind it.

Facades are the most requested subject in architectural visualisation. An exterior render with the right sun angle, believable material reflections and real context shapes an investor’s or buyer’s first judgement of a building. Villa exterior designs show this clearly.