Special mesh

The Belgian family company FACQ has been a specialist in bathrooms, heating and renewable energies since 1880. As a wholesaler, the company addresses both installers and private customers.

Façade cladding made of HAVER Architectural Mesh acts as sun shading
The stainless steel mesh cladding from Haver & Boecker is interrupted horizontally over its entire length by an elliptical elongated shape. In front of the glass façade on the south side of the building, the metal mesh cladding acts as an effective privacy- and sun protection screen. From the very beginning, special requirements were made on it. On the one hand, the facade cladding should appear transparent from the inside but opaque from the outside, on the other hand it should offer perfect sun protection with a very low g-value. Haver & Boecker fully meets the customer`s requirements with the stainless steel wire mesh LARGO-TWIST, developed especially for sun protection.

Excellent shading values
Due to the semi-transparent geometry, HAVER Architectural Mesh is very well suitable for external sun protection. By providing efficient shading and a transparency at the same time, architectural wire mesh improves indoor comfort and energy efficiency of the rooms.
The used stainless steel mesh LARGO-TWIST 2045 is characterized by its tilted horizontal flat wires, which offer good sun protection. With an open area of 38%, the mesh type creates a homogeneous appearance with low transparency and extensive light reflections. At the same time, it allows an unobstructed view out of the building.

With a sunlight incident angle of 60° and a double glazing window, most of the architectural mesh types used for sun protection effect a reduction of solar energy input between 40 % and 70 %. In interaction with a solar control glazing, they reach at the same angle of incidence a g-value among 0.1 to 0.18. The LARGO-TWIST 2045 sun shading mesh clearly exceeds these shading values. Confirmed by independent tests, LARGO-TWIST 2045 reduces the entry of sunlight at this angle by more than 90 %. In combination with solar control glazing, it is a g-value of 0.02.

Everything from a single source
Haver & Boecker took over the assembly of the 3,200 m² mesh façade. In total 182 façade elements, with a width of 2.98 m and a length of up to 7.71 m, were attached to the substructure using flat tension profiles, clevis screws and pressure springs. The architectural team of Haver & Boecker was a competent partner at the customer's side from consultation and planning phase, through mesh production and delivery, up to installation of the wire mesh elements.

PhotoCopyright © Bart Vercammen  www.studiovercammen.be

HAVER Architectural Mesh as a privacy screen in front of a façade. HAVER & BOECKER developed the new architectural mesh specification LARGO-TWIST 2045 which creates a homogenous appearance with reduced transparency and extensive brilliance.

A total of 1.350 m² architectural wire mesh made of stainless steel were used for this façade cladding. Haver & Boecker supplied ready-to-install panels.

The new courthouse at Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe, France, has fundamentally changed the judicial life of the island. Previously the services of the Supreme Court were spread over several locations - now they are concentrated in a single court building comprising three courtrooms.

"Apart from the technical constraints underlying the acute function of the services, each court building inevitably poses a challenge to the architecture," said the architect. The new building planned by Ignacio Prego Architects is a contemporary reinterpretation of the profound symbolism of the judicial area. Located in the heart of the city, the building is designed to reconcile the citizens with the authority of justice. The result is a low, highly glazed building that faces people with a transparent and open appearance, giving them confidence. With its traditionally wide and thick walls, the Palace of Justice symbolises strength and power, while at the same time its additional façade design – in contrast to usual authoritarian codes of judicial architecture – evokes openness and transparency. Due the glazed façade surfaces facing the street, the Palace of Justice also shows transparency in its function.

Sun protection made of HAVER Architectural Mesh with varying open areas
Heavy rainfall and constantly high temperatures characterize the tropical climate of Pointe-à-Pitre. Trade winds, high humidity and particularly intense sunlight pose a great challenge for the building design. Therefore, the selection of materials and the air conditioning of the building were important aspects in the design of the Palace of Justice.

HAVER Architectural Wire Mesh type LARGO-NOVA 2032 VARIO (with varying apertures) covers the street side of the glass façade. This weave type is made from crimped flat wires and vertical round wires, creating a flat and homogeneous appearance with low transparency. With a precisely adjusted open area of 40 % LARGO-NOVA 2032 VARIO filters sunlight and contributes to a cool but bright room climate. In addition to the passive control of the light intensity, this stainless steel wire mesh allows the reduction of energy consumption.

To create the desired open character of the building, the wire mesh cladding has to provide a high level of transparency, whilst at the same time provide sun protection. In order to achieve this, the open area is increased significantly in a 1.5 m high horizontal area (band) which runs over the width of the entire façade. The mesh in this part of the façade has an open area of 70 % instead of 40 %.

As well as providing a good view from inside to outside, the mesh façade also ensures intimacy for the interior spaces vis-à-vis the busyness of the surrounding streets. In addition to its function as privacy and sun protection, the stainless steel mesh façade protects the glazed surfaces against shocks in the event of violent hurricanes.

From a total of 412m² of stainless steel wire mesh, Haver & Boecker manufactured 24 mesh panels with edge protection profiles on the vertical sides. A particular challenge in the production of the mesh panels was to maintain the exact position of the varying meshes on every mesh element, as well as on the width of the complete façade. The 2.38 m wide and 6.05 m long mesh panels were tensioned and fastened over the entire height of the façade using the fastening system of tension profiles and clevis bolts. This system requires a solid substructure on the upper and lower end of the façade to absorb the resulting loads. After Haver & Boecker provided installation instructions, the customer took over the installation of the complete mesh façade.


Photos: ©Luc Boegly, ©Laure Vasconi

To realize this HAVER & BOECKER designed a wire mesh with a changing transparency within one mesh panel. LARGO-NOVA 2032 has an open area of 40% and therefore meets the requirements for the areas between the windows. In front of the windows, the distance between the horizontal flat wires was increased to achieve the requested view from the inside. Here the open area is 72%.

Wire mesh with varying openings offer architects and planners a large scope for design; individual structures can easily be generated. The facade at the St. Antoine Hospital for example has a distinctive horizontal structure.

HAVER & BOECKER supplied ready-to-install elements, despite the different openings only one panel in the height of the building. The change in the openings was conducted at the same location for each panel creating an overall homogenous facade. The gaps between the mesh panels are almost not visible.

HAVER Architectural Mesh combines functionality and outstanding design in an attractive way. Due to its semi-transparent geometry, metal mesh is well suitable as external sun protection. It combines sun protection with excellent use of daylight, natural ventilation and good transparency from the inside.

For the restoration of the TCO head office the architects from Ground Architectes chose a façade cladding made of HAVER Architectural Mesh. The used stainless steel mesh should on the one hand visually enhance the façade; on the other hand it should ensure effective sun protection for the office building.

From a wide range of architectural mesh types the architects chose the stainless steel wire mesh LARGO-NOVA 2032. Especially for this project it was woven with varying mesh widths. In the area of the windows the 24 m long wire mesh elements have a lager open area than in the other sectors.

Haver & Boecker produced out of 1,500 m² stainless steel wire mesh 126 ready to install architectural mesh elements.

The new Climat Planète Research Center building is located near the CERMO building on the campus of the Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) in Saint-Martin d'Hères, France. With the construction of Climat Planète Research Center, the architectural firm Serero Architectes created a building for climate research with laboratories, a data center and a space for numerical calculations and virtual process simulations.

In the planning of the new climate research center, Serero Architectes focused on energy efficiency and sustainability in addition to a distinctive exterior appearance. Now, the Climat Planète Research Center is the first building on campus with a positive energy footprint.

HAVER Architectural Mesh contributes to energy balance and sustainability
The sun protection façade made of HAVER Architectural Mesh contributes to the positive energy balance of the Climat Planète Research Center. Used as a sun protection façade, it shades the glass connection between the two parts of the building and helps to reduce additional energy consumption for air conditioning and lighting.

The façade cladding of the east and west façades is realized with HAVER Architectural Mesh LARGO-NOVA 2032. The LARGO-NOVA mesh is made up of crimped flat wires and vertical round wires that create a flat and homogeneous appearance with low transparency. With an open area of 40%, the stainless steel mesh contributes significantly to the shading of the premises and effectively reduces solar energy input into the building. In return, the semi-transparent wire mesh creates a pleasant natural light inside the building, reducing the additional energy required for artificial lighting. In addition to its function, the sun protection façade impresses with its timeless design. The stainless steel mesh from Haver & Boecker is maintenance-free, corrosion-resistant and can be recycled at the end of a long service life.

For the wire mesh cladding of the three-story facade, a total of 269 m² of HAVER Architectural Mesh LARGO-NOVA 2032 was supplied in 10.7 m long and 3 m wide ready-to-install mesh elements including the corresponding mounting solution.

Photo © Didier Boy de la Tour

Located on the western side of the central historic Alter Markt, just behind the Town Hall in Cologne lies the new subway station “Rathaus”. This is one of the first new stations to open on the North-South city railway.

There are two entrances to the subway station: one at the Alter Markt and the other at the Red House. Pedestrians’ first steps lead them into the circular intermediate level of the subway station. Once inside, they can move via two entrances down to platform level.

The futuristic design of the intermediate level has contrasting red and blue surfaces with silver ceilings and walls. The artfully designed ceiling features architectural mesh MONTANA 1961 manufactured by HAVER & BOECKER.

MONTANA is a stainless steel woven wire mesh that has a distinctive three-dimensional appearance formed using a special process. The resulting unique structure provides increased surface area making it the perfect choice for use in enhancing sound absorption systems.

Every single mesh element was custom-made by HAVER & BOECKER and integrated into the ceiling structure. In total 50 elements of MONTANA 1961 were used to create this spectacular circular ceiling. In addition 20 mesh elements of weave type DOGLA-TRIO 1032 were used for other ceiling elements.

Photo Credits: Chris Nickerson, Sphere Photography