Americas

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada RetrofitGFRCBuilding ScienceCommissioning

Unlocking value in a Brutalist box: whole-envelope thinking and commissioning at the Glenbow

Dale Wannamaker & Timothy Wong

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada Curtain wallArchitectureDesignVancouver

Ten façades, one question: how do you protect an idea all the way to completion?

Venelin Kokalov

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada Embodied carbonAluminiumSustainabilityVancouver

Sustainability from every angle: why chasing recycled content is a zero-sum game

Jordi Marasse

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada Fire safetyCladdingBuilding ScienceCombustibility

Playing with fire: why fire safety has to shape the façade from the first sketch

Peter Senez, David Goyne, Claire Yuan, Graham Finch & James Johnson

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada VancouverMass timberBuilding SciencePanelization

A skin with no floor lines: layering a mass-timber façade to move like feathers

Brad Carmichael

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada Curtain wallSupply chainNet ZeroFibreglass

Zero-tariff, net-zero: how a locally-made fibreglass façade de-risked the Red Deer courthouse

Peter Dushenski

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada ArchitectureVancouverMass timberIndigenous Design

Making culture material: how Indigenous stories are being translated into façade and form

Avery Guthrie, Ouri Scott & Thomas Oster

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada SustainabilityBuilding ScienceStep CodeEnergy

The 70% you decide before the energy model: why building shape governs façade performance

Ali Zadeh

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada Urban designArchitectureVancouverMass timber

Façades as urban catalysts: an architect’s view of the skin that shapes a city

James Cheng

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada DurabilityFenestrationBuilding ScienceStep Code

Kicking the can: why fenestration durability has to be a day-one conversation

Anton VanDyk

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada Curtain wallArchitectureVancouverEngineering

Crafting intricate forms: engineering the twisting fins of Burrard Gateway Tower 2

Mahsa Adib

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada GlassMaterialsVisualizationRendering

A clear vision of the future: predicting how glass will really look, before it’s built

Ravneet Saini & Martin Durivage

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada GlassBiophilic designColourVancouver

Beyond transparency: how colour in glass can bring a building to life

Bryce Given

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada MaterialsAluminiumParametricComposite Panels

From aerospace to façade: honeycomb panels and a World Cup stadium clad by algorithm

Mourad El Garci

ZWOF Vancouver 2026 Canada GlassCurved GlassMaterialsFabrication

Bending glass to shape: multi-curved architectural glass and a Zaha Hadid megaproject

Bob Zhang

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States USAPrototypingHistoric preservationTaliesin WestFabric roofs

Preserving Wright's experiment: redesigning Taliesin West's roof for another generation

John Anderson

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States Embodied carbonAluminiumUSATraceabilityCircular design

Sustainable facades need more than recycled content

Jordi Marasse

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States USAColourResidential façadesGridSolar depth

Extreme consistency: making grid, depth and colour do the work at Ray Phoenix

Nicholas Hofstede

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States Solar shadingDesign assistParametric designUSAView quality

Optimising shade without sacrificing the view

Chris O'Hara

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States USAPublic realmLow-rise facadesMaterial choicesPreconstruction

Low-rise facades are city-making decisions, not material selections

Diane Jacobs, Sin Hei Kwok, Peter W. Rutti & Cassie Saba

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States Solar shadingDesign assistUSALife sciencesHealthcare facades

Critical envelopes, civic buildings: why life-science facades need whole-system thinking

John Meredith, Alex Korter, Xandon Keating, James Hatch & Joe Lisiewski II

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States Solar controlUSAPublic realmHuman comfortPost-occupancy

Measure comfort, not just heat: putting the human condition back into facade performance

Rachel Green Rasmussen

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States USADurabilityPowder coatingsFEVELifecycle cost

Durability is a sustainability strategy: the lifecycle case for FEVE powder coatings

Donald Lawson

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States Curved GlassUSAQuality controlTempered glassOptical quality

Curved glass quality is an optical problem, not just a geometry problem

Bob Zhang

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States USAPublic realmPrefabricationTransit-oriented developmentDesert shade

Spend the facade budget on depth: Central Station as civic desert infrastructure

Steve Valev

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States Solar controlUSAPublic realmAdaptive reuseDesert design

Beyond shade: designing desert facades as environmental infrastructure

Jay Silverberg & Martha DePlazaola Abbott

ZWOF Phoenix 2026 United States Air barriers2024 IECCBuilding enclosureAirtightness testingThermal bridging

Air leakage is a systems problem: designing now for 2024 IECC verification

Brian Davie

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada Design assistDesign-buildCanadaMetal CladdingBMO Centre

Design assist keeps expressive facades buildable

Robert Clement

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada Thermal bridgingCanadaFacade systemsNet-zero buildingsCold climate

Cold-climate net zero starts at the facade

Peter Dushenski

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada CanadaAirtightnessFacade testingAir leakageEnergy codes

Airtightness has to be measured

Mira Saba

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada CanadaBalcony glazingRetractable glassOutdoor livingClimate buffer

Glazed balconies create an intermediate climate

Mike Vanderveen

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada CanadaComplex GeometryCivic architectureMass timberSports facades

Cycling geometry shapes a civic enclosure

Michael Henderson & Michael Dub

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada Adaptive reuseCanadaMuseum façadesDaylightingCultural buildings

Glenbow uses recladding to reopen the museum

Kyle Auch

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada CanadaPublic architectureDaylightingCultural facadesMaterial craft

Cultural facades need selective transparency

Kevin Bridgman & Tyler Hall

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada RetrofitAdaptive reuseCanadaBuilding ScienceHeritage facades

Adaptive reuse begins with existing-building evidence

Joshua Taron, Christopher Zahaluk, David Leonard, Maxim Olshevsky & Steve Wirzba

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada Embodied carbonCanadaCircularityOperational carbonAluminium facades

Circular facades need whole-life accounting

Jordi Marasse

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada CanadaDurabilityMaterial efficiencySustainable facadesThermal continuity

Facade design links energy and material efficiency

Jeff Ker

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada CanadaPrefabricationOff-site constructionAirtightnessMass timber

Off-site facades move quality upstream

Christian Flores & Paul Carter

ZWOF Calgary 2026 Canada Design assistMock-upsFacade procurementDesign-buildCanada

Facade procurement must protect design responsibility

Anine Eschberger Wortmann, Léo Lejeune, Kelly Coles & Joel Schwartz

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Washington DCFacade geometryGlazingSolar reflectivityNeighbour impacts

Designing out dangerous solar reflections

Vicente Montes

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Adaptive reuseWashington DCDurabilitySustainable facadesSteel windows

Sustainable façades start with long service

Robert Miller

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Washington DCHistoric preservationStone conservationTemporary worksCivic façades

Modernising heritage without erasing it

Rence Gill, Johann Mordhorst, Amanda Edwards & Morgan Reynolds

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Washington DCPrefabricationPanelised façadesFRP compositesDesign for manufacture

Prefabrication turns façade design into production

Reginald Truxon, Dean Mouritzen & Andy Loff

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Washington DCCavity barriersCurtain wall fire safetyPerimeter containmentSpandrels

Curtain-wall fire safety needs continuity

Peter Schmitt

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Washington DCStainless steelRainscreen attachmentsThermal bridgesCorrosion

Stainless steel strengthens rainscreen performance

Natasha Appel

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Embodied carbonWashington DCLaboratory façadesExternal shadingUnitised curtain wall

A laboratory façade tuned to climate

Michelle Lee & Roman Schieber

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Adaptive reuseWashington DCLife science façadesLaboratoriesOccupant health

Healthy laboratories need differentiated envelopes

Matt O'Malley, John Barbara, Tyler Grimshaw & Daniel Lucenti

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Computational designWashington DCGRC panelsPanelisationDesign rationalisation

Computational design rationalises complex GRC

Deniz E. Arslan & Timothy Logan

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Curtain wallWashington DCRainscreensUltracompact stoneMaterial lifecycle

Stone façades through a lifecycle lens

Dean White

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Washington DCFire testingNFPA 285ASTM E2307Exterior walls

Fire testing has to assess assemblies

Daniel A. Martin

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Washington DCHistoric preservationMuseum façadesDaylight controlStone cladding

Preserving an icon through envelope renewal

Colin MacKillop

ZWOF Washington DC 2026 United States Building enclosureOffice-to-residentialAdaptive reuseCondition assessmentWashington DC

Conversion feasibility starts at the enclosure

Amanda Stacy

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Embodied carbonRetrofitInsulating glassEnergy codesVacuum insulated glass

Less is more insulating: the case for vacuum insulated glass

Justin D’Alessandro

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Ultracompact stoneRainscreenSintered StoneVentilated facadeCircular economy

Pressed and fired: the case for ultracompact stone on the façade

Dean White

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Adaptive reuseHistoric preservationMasonry restorationArt decoLandmarks

A century, matched: restoring the Waldorf Astoria's envelope

Frank Mahan, Jonathan Taylor, Kevin Kim & Victoria Ponce de Leon

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Embodied carbonMass timberCircularityCultural buildingsWeathering steel

Timber, weathering steel and a spirit of place: the Springsteen archive

Zach Craun

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Curtain wallWindowsEnergy codesThermal performanceVacuum insulated glass

Slowing the heat: how a window's thermal performance is measured and won

Gary Tongco

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Façade engineeringDesign assistConstructabilityGFRCMetal panel

Skin-deep efficiency: rationalising three façades for the fabricator

Manan Raval & Jun Schick Lee

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Structural glassAdaptive reuseGlass fabricationNatural ventilationDaylighting

Poetic intent, physical reality: a life in structural glass

Hugh Dutton

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Curtain wallPhotovoltaic facadesEnergy generationNFPA 285BIPV

Beyond the watts: wrapping a tower core in photovoltaic glass

Diego Cuevas, Carmelo Guido Galante, Leo Henke & Yan Torres

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Curtain wallFire-rated glazingLife safetyBallistic glazingSteel framing

Rated, but you'd never know: steel fire and security systems evolved

Ben Haigh

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Curved GlassGlass fabricationFacade geometryTempered glassGlass technology

From flat to fantastic: free-form tempered glass without a mould

Derek Losi

ZWOF New York 2025 United States DaylightingGlare controlFritLouversPublic buildings

Layers of light: how façades shape daylight for people

Lee Brandt, Christopher Steffens, Jennifer Sage & Miguel Angel Maldonado

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Laminated glassInterlayersGlazingResilienceFlood barriers

Holding back the water, transparently: laminated glass for flood control

Alberto Alarcon

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Adaptive reuseTerracottaHistoric preservationBrickUHPC

Lace and turrets: two contemporary façades in historic New York

David Kubik & Todd Poisson

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Thermal bridgingStainless steelBrickMasonry supportFacade detailing

Holding up the brick: a stainless approach to masonry support

Sean Og Coyle

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Embodied carbonTerracottaMaterial innovationCircularityRainscreen

Load-bearing again: reinventing terra cotta for the low-carbon façade

Andrew Pries

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Embodied carbonCurtain wallSteel façadesFacade systemsFire resistance

Steel over aluminium: the case for a hybrid curtain wall

Eric Claeys

ZWOF New York 2025 United States High-riseCurtain wallFacade expressionNatural ventilationOperable windows

Making the curtain wall breathe: hiding, and showing, the window

Hugh Trumbull

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Design technologyDaylightingGame enginesPerformance simulationCFD

From renderings to real time: running façade decisions through a game engine

John Ivanoff

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Façade engineeringHistoric preservationLimestone rainscreenMuseumsSkylights

Made to look load-bearing: the Frick's limestone expansion

Paul Granger & Tali Mejicovsky

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Curtain wallFabricationVirtual realityWindowsDesign technology

Deciding the façade before it is built: a virtual-reality case study

Tobiasz Staszak

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Construction outlookLocal Law 11InfrastructureWorkforceNew York

A $219 billion building cycle, and why it runs through the façade

Carlo A. Scissura

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Curtain wallQuality controlCladdingTestingGFRC

A ceramic look in cast concrete: the GFRC façade at 600 West 125th

Joseph Madaghiele & Melissa Wong

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Embodied carbonPhotovoltaic facadesEnergy generationPolicySustainability

Beyond the envelope: façades that generate power, and policy

Luis Palacio

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Curtain wallCurved GlassCeramic fritAnti-reflective glassPrototyping

From wind tunnel to window: automotive parallels in a façade

Jamison Guest & Nathan McRae

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Artificial intelligenceComputational designDigital twinsEnergy modellingAutomation

From concept to operation: AI's place in the built environment

Alfonso Oliva, Dan Reynolds, Veronica Quintero, Andres Roncal & Emir Pekdemir

ZWOF New York 2025 United States Office buildingsCurtain wallEnergy performanceDesign assistWorkplace

Buildings for people: rethinking the office tower at 70 Hudson Yards

Hagen Scutt, Rok Lee, Michael Lin, Breen Mahony & Andrew Black

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil BrasilAdensamento urbanoFachadas ativasVento pedonalPlano Diretor de São Paulo

O adensamento muda a envoltória na escala da rua

Alexandre Daud, Marcelo Ignatios, Marcelo Nudel & Rubens Czeresnia Taragona

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil BrasilProjeto de fachadasBranding arquitetônicoIdentidade do edifícioMateriais compósitos

Branding arquitetônico dura quando desempenho e identidade se alinham

Saulo Suassuna Filho

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil Engenharia de fachadasOtimização geométricaProjeto paramétricoVidro curvoAnálise estrutural

Otimização geométrica funciona quando a análise edita o projeto

Frederico Fontana

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil BrasilEdifícios de alto desempenhoProjeto passivoDesempenho de edifíciosZero energy

Alto desempenho é um processo, não uma estética

Guido Petinelli

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil BrasilSegundas pelesCobogósSombreamento solarProjeto ambiental

A segunda pele volta como ferramenta climática

Mariana Simas, Rafael Lazzarini, Claudia Araujo & Marcella Carone

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil BrasilRetrofit de fachadasReaproveitamento adaptativoLuz naturalFachadas leves

Reaproveitamento adaptativo dá nova lógica de fachada a estruturas existentes

José Luiz Lemos

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil BrasilCarbono incorporadoColagem estruturalSelantes de siliconeSustentabilidade de fachadas

Silicone carbono neutro muda a equação de carbono da fachada

Emir Debastiani

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil BrasilRetrofit de fachadasRenovação de edifíciosVida útilReaproveitamento

Retrofit de fachadas começa pelo diagnóstico, não pela substituição

Crescêncio Petrucci

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil Steel façadesFacade fabricationHigh-span façadesCable façadesSpecial façades

High-span façades need a structural language of their own

Leo Liu

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil InterlayersBrasilVidro laminadoSegurança do vidroDurabilidade de fachadas

O desempenho do vidro laminado depende do sistema completo

Marcos Aceti

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil BrasilControle solarProjeto de fachadasExperiência urbanaInovação em materiais

Fachadas conectam contexto, desempenho e valor

Douglas Tolaine

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil BrasilConsultoria de fachadasIndustrializaçãoControle solarEnsaios de fachada

Consultoria de fachadas transforma complexidade em sistemas executáveis

Igor Alvim

ZWOF São Paulo 2025 Brazil Senna TowerFachadas de edifícios altosEngenharia de ventoEngenharia de fachadasBrasil

Senna Tower: transformando a jornada do herói em uma envoltória superalta

Stéphane Domeneghini

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States Solar shadingUSAFacade identityArchitectural narrativeLandscape integration

Facade pattern can carry performance and narrative

Yan Krymsky

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States USAMinimal glazingJumbo glassThermal comfortSliding systems

Minimal glazing depends on hidden engineering

Werner Jager

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States USAFire-rated glazingFacade systemsSteel curtain wallsLow-carbon steel

Steel curtain walls balance slenderness and fire safety

Thomas Miller

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States USAAdaptive reuseHistoric preservationOffice conversionHousing

The envelope decides conversion potential

Olivier Sommerhalder, D. Rocky Rockefeller, Ken Bernstein & Jeffrey A. Caldwell

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States USAMaterial efficiencyArchitectural restraintPrecast facadesExposed structure

Restraint lets structure shape the facade

Olin McKenzie

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States Fire safetyUSAWildfire resilienceMultifamily facadesRisk design

Wildfire resilience starts at the facade

Nathan Wittasek, Nathan Bishop, Tom Silva & Colin Mangham

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States Façade engineeringThermal bridgingUSAStainless steelRainscreen attachments

Rainscreen performance starts behind the cladding

Natasha Appel

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States USARainscreensDurabilityStone claddingLarge-format panels

Large-format stone changes the facade assembly

Mark Matusow

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States USAQuality assuranceFacade testingEnclosure consultingDetailing

Reliable facades depend on verification

Joseph Schettino

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States Solar shadingCurtain wallHigh-rise facadesUSAOffice design

Orientation makes transparency work at Century City Center

John Gralewski & Todd Thongeiam

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States USANatural ventilationDaylightingTransit facadesClimate resilience

Selective enclosure lowers transit energy demand

Isabelle Paparo & Maya White-Turre

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States USAFacade performanceWhole-life carbonResiliencePeak loads

Whole-life thinking reframes facade performance

Gijs Libourel

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States Embodied carbonCurtain wallUSAStructural siliconeGlazing systems

Structural silicone can reduce facade metal

Frank Zhong

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States USAMixed-use facadesIndoor-outdoor designNatural ventilationLos Angeles

Habitat turns the facade into landscape

Dana Getman

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States Curved GlassUSAQuality controlGlass fabricationFacade geometry

Curved glass needs one controlled process

Bob Zhang

ZWOF Los Angeles 2026 United States Embodied carbonUSATerracottaRainscreensMaterial innovation

Terracotta moves beyond decorative cladding

Andrew Pries