Ukrasna fasada od Gredica - Funkcija I dekoracija

DIY rack facade

Well-known blinds are used today not only as an option for interior light-protective window construction. Of the long battens - lamellas - canvases of shutters, interior and furniture doors are often collected. However, in our case, a completely unusual facade system was laid in the project of the house. In places, close to the outer walls, in places at some distance from them, a kind of “monumental” blinds are arranged, consisting of pillars and massive battens attached to them. Such an original skin is made on one building facade.

In this design, the property of the lamella system is used not only to protect the premises from direct sunlight, but also to limit the luminous flux penetrating the building from the outside.

Function and decoration

The facades of the building are partially glazed. These are huge French floor-to-ceiling windows. The cottage stands not far from the road, and if it had not been for the rack structure over the external walls, all the interiors would be well visible from the street. The house would look especially defenseless in the evening, resembling a luminous aquarium. The easiest way out is the usual blinds, which are installed on the windows from the inside of the room. However, such a decision seemed very trivial to the architect. This would depersonalize the architecture of the building, make it look like millions of other (including office) modern buildings. In addition, the house is located on a fairly open and windy plot. The enclosing structure that can weaken the blows of the wind and, like a breakwater, take on the first force of gusts of rain and snowstorms will not be amiss for the glazed walls during the fall and winter season. In addition, the "blinds" muffle the roar of cars rushing along the road, playing the role of a kind of noise-proofing structure. The amount of daylight entering the premises through the trellis is quite sufficient and meets the established standards of insolation.

Wanting to give the cottage an overall look and harmony, the architect spread the barrier of lamellas not only on the glass, but also on all the dull surfaces of the two facades. For the installation of slats, a wooden frame is provided from vertically arranged (with a step of 1.5 m) bars of rectangular section 155 cm. Lattice closes converging at right angles the facades, rising to two floors. Beams were installed at a distance of 1.1 m from the walls, each on a separate foundation, and connected to the concrete facade with wooden rods from the same beam, using steel adapters and anchor screws. Wooden anchors were also strengthened with the same frame pressed to the wall plane.

For a long life

To create the construction, pine trapezoidal slats were used (4cm side facing the house, 2cm side to the street) 30mm thick. Of course, rectangular slats would have come up, but the "trapezoid" has its advantages. So, for example, consider from the street what is happening in the house, quite difficult, but from the premises you can freely admire the surroundings. In addition, rainwater drains faster from such rails and the snow does not linger. The step of their location is selected experimentally.

The entire wooden structure: racks, frame and slats, was pre-treated with a special antiseptic compound that protects the wood from aggressive environmental influences, then painted with dark blue paint of the same company. Several layers of varnish formed a coating resistant to ultraviolet rays and atmospheric rainfall and additionally protects the tree from aging. In the future, it will be necessary to periodically update it - apply one or two layers of the same undiluted varnish.

What are the options?

The slats are mounted horizontally on the crate, but in some cases, if architectural forms and facade styling allow, the lamellas are mounted in a vertical position. True, for this, in addition to the main load-bearing racks, an intermediate horizontal strapping will be needed, on which the rails will be nailed. With this version of the device facade "blinds" there is a blur effect: through them you can only look forward, and when viewed from the side or diagonally, your eyes immediately rest on a dense wooden palisade. However, enough light enters the premises.

A special case is the rails fixed so that it is possible to rotate them around the longitudinal axis. This design, equipped with adapters and rods, can have a manual drive and allows you to easily change the angle of rotation of the rails thereby regulating the illumination of interiors. Moreover, if you put the lamellas parallel to the facade, the windows will be closed by a solid wooden wall.