A curtain wall system is the outer wall of a building that is non-structural, meaning it doesn’t contribute to the overall protective structure of a building but can assist in a load-bearing capacity. It’s typically used to keep the weather off the main walls.

Because the curtain wall is non-structural, it can be made of lightweight materials such as aluminium and glass. The frame hangs down from the main structure and is anchored down to slabs within the building itself, making its construction relatively simple in home environments.

Curtain walling is more commonly used in high-rise buildings and office blocks and is often referred to as a façade. Glass facades are used to create distinctive pieces of architecture within major cities all over the world. It’s their ability to create impressive and expansive elevations of glass that’s led to their use within residential properties.

Curtain walling allows architects to design whole elevations made predominantly of aluminium and glass, and the curtain walling itself can house bi-folding, sliding doors, windows, and other aluminium panels.

Curtain walling is a popular choice to create a grand feature within the entrance to a home, which is why we offer a range of front doors designed to be installed into our curtain walling systems.

Third-party products can be installed into our curtain walling as well, and we’ll provide the sizes and technical information should you want to install a third-party product into a curtain wall screen instead of one from Express Bi-Folding Doors.

To get a quote, simply e-mail your plans or drawings with its location postcode to sales@expressbifolds.co.uk and one of our sales executives will be able to calculate an accurate quotation for you.

Yes, as the demand for large glass in residential homes grows, we’re being asked to supply bigger and bigger windows. Our sales executives and technical departments have years of experience, so we’ll advise on the most suitable products for your project, including when and where aluminium curtain walling would be best suited for your project.

No, we specialise in low-rise curtain walling for residential developments.

Curtain wall systems emerged in the 19th century with the development of large glass panels and became more common from the 1930s onwards when aluminium was made available as a construction material for the first time.

The depth of the structural box that gives the curtain walling its strength is determined by the size of the screen and the site location, but the typical sightlines when looking through or at the glazed screen are only 50 mm.

The box depth is location and design specific. Providing architects’ drawings and the postcode allows us to check the wind load (pa) ratings of the area, which in turn tells us the IXX value requirements.

This information then dictates the depth of the box required for structural strength. The boxes range from 100 mm – 230 mm. Mid-point steels that allow us to tie back to also have a dramatic effect on reducing the box depth, so you may want to consider working these into your build if you’re looking for a slimmer finish internally.

One of the key visual features of curtain wall screens is the glazing appearance and slim sightlines. Sightlines are defined as the visual profile of the vertical and horizontal mullions.

The sightlines are the width of the aluminium profiles as you look at the curtain wall screen from either the inside or the outside and determine how uninterrupted your view will be.

We fix our wall window brackets around the curtain wall screen in order to tie it to the building via the steel structural supports that are put in place by your builder.

As these areas are bespoke and do have different design parameters based on site location and requirements, it’s hard to be very specific. However, in single frames (not separated by structural steelwork) we work under 6.5 metres in height.

We generally keep to glass sizes that can be handled manually or using mechanical lifting equipment when required. For more information, please contact our team, or better yet, e-mail your plans to sales@expressbifolds.co.uk and we can advise accordingly.