Our Research and Products
At VS-A, we are not only facade architects and engineers; we also research and design products to enhance everyday life. We have patterned a dozen designs and projects. Below are some of our research and our sister companies that can apply to architecture and facade.
UBLO
UBLO is a window that uses a lid to open a precut aperture in glass. Windows are essential elements in building construction, playing a crucial role in the quality of interior spaces. Today's windows are thick, heavy, and complex to ensure sufficient views and ventilation, insulation, sealing, and safety.
To enable operation of a window, a separate operable frame is necessary, leading to safety concerns with the need for locks, handrails, and insect screens. These additions obstruct views, and the use of more frames reduces insulation performance.
UBLO eliminates the need for extra frames, offering a seamless opening and closing experience while ensuring security. UBLO’s lack of an operable frame means a filter blocking pests and dust is only needed for UBLO’s aperture, creating a clear view. To enjoy the experience of having a window, only one aperture is needed.
Paperclip Panel Fixing
The use of metal thread for fixing façade components has been borrowed from its typical use in mounting smaller elements; tiles, mirrors, ornamental pieces etc.
We started using the paperclip method with traditional curtain-wall frames, with widths that could be reduced by almost 50%. The architectural benefit is both visibly apparent and offers a striking appearance.
Step by step, project by project, test by test, we learned how to design these ‘paperclips’ with increasingly tried and tested optimizations. In each instance we consistently balanced functionality with aesthetic and budget.
Coat-ing
Older building stock was designed at a time when energy was cheap and abundant, but today it suffers from poor insulation, leading to high operating costs for occupants. Replacing these buildings with new construction is expensive and significantly increases the carbon footprint. Therefore, the rehabilitation of existing buildings is the most logical, economical, and ecological solution applicable to housing, administrative buildings, and offices, whether public or private. To reduce operating costs, you must:
Reduce thermal losses through the building envelope.
Reduce heat losses due to ventilation.
Improve the performance of existing installations and equipment.
Adapt lifestyles.
Improving the thermal insulation of facades is crucial. Coating offers an effective solution for insulating facades, walls, and bay windows, thus complementing the services of other providers. Ultimately, coating aims to provide solutions to the four points mentioned.
Tensioned Mullions
When you start looking for a very transparent façade, you quickly realize that the key point relies on the design of the frames. Most of the time transoms can be removed, but what about the mullions?
Can we use Steel mullions like the TGI Lille Project? glass support fins? clamped or point-fixed glasses assembles on tensioned cables?
Apart from the Glass Veil, the only efficient solution we found was to design a stick curtain-wall with tensioned mullions. This is the solution we used for Centre Prouvé