Category: Sun Protection

Brise soleil that compliments existing edifices

If you haven’t heard of glass louvres before just think to the fantastic city of Paris, famed for its artistic heritage and buildings such as the Louvre. This museum’s architecture is highly unique: the older edifice that stands on this site dates back to 1793, while its contemporary glass pyramid was officially opened in 1989. This is an unusual mixture of old and new, especially in a place such as Paris, where public space is normally conformist and conservative. This is why many people received the pyramid with displeasure – it was a shock to the eye and to the mind. But what the naysayer neglected to bear in mind was the highly practical nature of external louvres such as this one. Eventually, most extensions and additions to existing buildings end up ageing well; architects and urban planners have long researched the effects of new developments on the surrounding cityscape and on the inhabitants that use it. brise soleil take even less work to incorporate into old edifices; they can, at their most slimline, simply act like hard-wearing awnings that fold out and retract to provide more or less shade.

The idea of an architecture that responds to the changing times of the day as well as to the seasons is a truly progressive one. What’s more, responsive architecture can help companies make huge savings on energy because they almost always find themselves keeping the heating on lower, if at all, as well as keeping the climate control off a lot of the time. This is something we can all be glad of: it helps diminish our collective carbon footprint. And it is just generally a respectful stance to take in relation to human use of non-renewable reserves of coal, and oil and gas.

We have yet to think about one of the greatest benefits of these developments, however. External louvres are special because they help employees to feel at ease at work. We all know that pretty much the most crucial thing, with regards to deriving enjoyment from our work, is getting on with our colleagues. But after that our personal, physical comfort comes into the equation. Who has ever worked much while worrying about sweat patches, or while shivering? brise soleil can’t claim to totally fix your problems of course, but it is something, along with glass louvres, that requires more investment soon.

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Brise soleil and other features further sustainability

There are various architectural features that can be installed to make the best use of natural light, and, indeed, to provide the best protection from the sun’s heat and light. They can also contribute to the sustainability of a structure by optimising the flow of light and heat. Glass louvres, external louvres and brise soleil are all features that provide benefits on different buildings and in different conditions. Bespoke solutions are the only way to get the best out of the available light and heat.

A brise soleil is an architectural feature, usually attached over the side of a building and designed to provide a particular level of sun-shading and stop the face of the building from overheating in the hottest months of the year. The feature can also provide other benefits, such as an increased level of privacy for the building’s face, or reduced glare from early morning/late evening sunshine. In their concrete incarnation they were popularised by pioneer of modern architecture Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, otherwise known as Le Corbusier. However, they have taken countless forms over the years, including the huge, movable wings of the Milwaukee Art Museum, designed by Santiago Calatrava. When they are full extended, the iconic Milwaukee wings stand at 217 feet over the structure. In an original and subtle form, they are present in Jean Nouvel’s 1980 edifice, the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute) in Paris. These take the form of apertures in the glass wall panels, which open and close at each hour of the day.

On non-structural walls, glass louvres can be a way of providing light-shading by using lightweight materials at relatively low construction costs. External louvres can be used cleverly to resolve two issues at once: avoiding overheating during the hot summer months, when the sun beams down from a high angle, and harnessing the light of the winter sun.

So, depending on the building – the conditions that surround it, and the angles and temperatures of the sun on its faces – any of these features could be a viable solution. Glass louvres are a great solution to achieve internal day-lighting in a building, and are very cost-effective. The brise soleil is versatile, and can be extremely aesthetically pleasing and, if deployed intelligently, can make the structure look really state of the art. External louvres can be deployed in a multitude of different ways, and so they offer quite a scope for creative solutions.

Please visit http://www.maplesunscreening.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

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