Growth and conservation: designing the City of London's 2040 skyline

The Square Mile has to grow relentlessly and safeguard two thousand years of townscape at once. The City of London Corporation's Tom Nancoll…

Tom Nancollas · City of London

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India

The living façade: when a building’s skin becomes a threshold, not a boundary

In the keynote, James Tan, the Singapore practice behind the Mandai Rainforest Resort, argued that architecture is ecology, and that the faç…

James Tan · WOW Architects

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Americas

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

John Anderson treats preservation at Taliesin West as continuity of ideas rather than frozen material. A new roof system uses digital survey…

John Anderson · 180 Degrees Design + Build

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Middle East, Africa, Turkey & CIS

TeamLab Phenomena: an envelope asked to keep changing

Tony Abi Gebrayel walks through TeamLab Phenomena on Saadiyat, a building whose envelope was asked to do the one thing façades are not suppo…

Tony Abi Gebrayel · MZ Architects

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Europe

Oriente Green Campus: keep, edit, add, a concrete ruin turned into a campus

John Bushell, Tiago Sallas and Miguel Barbas showed how an unpromising concrete structure became a vital tech campus in Lisbon. By preservin…

John Bushell, Tiago Sallas & Miguel Barbas · Kohn Pedersen Fox · Saraiva + Associados · Norfin

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Asia-Pacific

‘Design a place, not a building’: Harborside’s low-carbon façade

Gumji Kang walks through Harborside in Sydney’s Darling Harbour, a competition-winning reimagining of a tired 1980s shopping centre. From th…

Gumji Kang · Snøhetta

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From the stage

Topic

Edition

Country

City

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 Phoenix 2026 United States USAPublic realmLow-rise façadesMaterial choicesPreconstruction

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

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

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

262 Fifth Avenue: wrapping a tower core in photovoltaic glass

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

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 New York 2025 United States High-riseCurtain wallFaçade 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 Vancouver 2026 Canada GlassCurved glassMaterialsFabrication

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

Bob Zhang

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 New York 2025 United States Structural glassAdaptive reuseGlass fabricationNatural ventilationDaylighting

Poetic intent, physical reality: a life in structural glass

Hugh Dutton

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UK

ZWOF Manchester 2026 United Kingdom HeritageProjectsSustainabilityCarbon

Reimagining Tate Liverpool: opening up a heritage warehouse without trapping moisture

John Ross & Chiara Faliva

ZWOF Manchester 2026 United Kingdom ProjectsUKZWOF Man 26PlacemakingRegeneration

Shaping everyday wonder: regrowing Manchester

Lucy Head & Daniel Onions

ZWOF Manchester 2026 United Kingdom UKZWOF Man 26SustainabilityCarbonResilience

The power of ten: AHR's ten steps to a more resilient façade

Robert Hopkins

ZWOF Manchester 2026 United Kingdom ProjectsTerracottaUKZWOF Man 26Acoustics

Heritage at height: engineering a terracotta tower on Whitworth Street

Paul Crowther & Elena Giraldi

ZWOF Manchester 2026 United Kingdom Façade engineeringCurtain wallUKZWOF Man 26Movement

A façade that moves: engineering for deflection

Andrew Bird

ZWOF London 2025 United Kingdom Quality controlDurabilityPowder coatingSpecification

A coating specification is a durability system

Coby Armar

ZWOF London 2025 United Kingdom Laminated glassStructural glassTraceabilityInterlayers

Structural interlayers are also a carbon and traceability decision

Allan Gibson

ZWOF London 2025 United Kingdom EngineeringLow-carbonSystems thinkingKPF

When component innovation plateaus, systems thinking takes over

Shawn Duffy

ZWOF London 2025 United Kingdom Embodied carbonGlassEPDsBIPV

Glass data is becoming part of the design material

Moujehed Neffoussi

ZWOF London 2025 United Kingdom GlassCurved glassComplex geometryManufacturing

Curved glass moves beyond the mould

Joan Tarrús

ZWOF Manchester 2026 United Kingdom Building physicsUKZWOF Man 26SustainabilityAirtightness

Move the airtight line outside: condensation and air-tightness

Nick Backhouse

ZWOF London 2025 United Kingdom Tall buildingsHeritageProjectsUKZWOF Lon 25

Growth and conservation: designing the City of London's 2040 skyline

Tom Nancollas

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Europe

ZWOF Lisbon 2026 Portugal Embodied carbonRetrofitAdaptive reuseDecarbonisation

Transformar edifícios: porque a reabilitação, e não a demolição, é a chave da descarbonização

Liliana Soares, Cláudia Sousa Monteiro, André Caiado, Marcus Cerdeira & Rodrigo Félix

ZWOF Lisbon 2026 Portugal Closed-cavity façadeBuilding physicsSolar shadingGlass

Thermal behaviour in closed cavities: why a low g-value isn’t enough

Robert Weitlaner

ZWOF Lisbon 2026 Portugal ProjectsCladdingStructural engineeringStadiums

Engenharia da pele dos maiores estádios da Europa: Bernabéu, Everton e Camp Nou

Hugo Tavares

ZWOF Lisbon 2026 Portugal Fire safetyCladdingLow-carbonLightweight façade

Reinventar a pele do edifício: da fachada pesada à envolvente leve em gesso

João Telmo Gabriel

ZWOF Rome Italy ReuseTraceabilityCircularityRecyclingMaterial bank

Dalla città come miniera alla facciata come banca di materiali: cosa serve per rendere operativo il riuso

Camilla Rigamonti, Claudia Sacristán Pérez, Anna Maria Pacini, Michele Versaci, Matteo Cipollini, Renato Luciani & Roberto Galante

ZWOF Lisbon 2026 Portugal Fire safetyMaterialsAluminiumCladding

Liberdade para criar: o painel compósito de alumínio como ferramenta de desenho de fachada

Victor Fortanete

ZWOF Rotterdam 2026 Netherlands NetherlandsNatural ventilationTimber façadesBuilding identityIntegrated design

Architecture can make innovation legible

Ron Bakker

ZWOF Limassol 2026 Cyprus CyprusTestingVentilated façadesRainscreen

The hidden half of a rainscreen: sub-structure as a kit of parts

Andreas Reinhardt

ZWOF Rotterdam 2026 Netherlands Embodied carbonNetherlandsAdaptive reuseFaçade optimizationProcurement

Optimize before you procure

Ana Araújo & Anke Rollenhagen

ZWOF Tirana 2026 Albania AlbaniaFaçade designAdaptive reuseMaterial identityWeathering

Material gives architecture its memory

Marco Casamonti

ZWOF Rotterdam 2026 Netherlands Mock-upsNetherlandsMaterial reuseCircular designMaterial passports

Circular design is learned in real projects

Tim Brans

ZWOF Barcelona 2026 Spain GlassAISpainDigital designPerformance modelling

Las herramientas digitales deben afinar las decisiones sobre vidrio

Eva Muñoz & Juan Imaz

View all Europe

Middle East, Africa, Turkey & CIS

ZWOF Dubai 2026 United Arab Emirates Façade engineeringProjectsArchitectureDubai

TeamLab Phenomena: an envelope asked to keep changing

Tony Abi Gebrayel

ZWOF Dubai 2026 United Arab Emirates MaterialsDubaiDurabilityCoatings

Where surfaces shape skylines: building a coating to beat the benchmark

Prathush Sreedharan

ZWOF Dubai 2026 United Arab Emirates GlassWell-beingDubaiResearch

Solar control glass and wellbeing: optimised for energy, not for us

Benjamin Beer, Arwa Alzaabi, Jasmin Hodzic, Renato Cilento & Subraya Kalkura

ZWOF Dubai 2026 United Arab Emirates DubaiEngineeringComputationAccess

Smart façades, smarter access: panel families and a worker’s reach

Gizelle Javidan & Shyam Chand

ZWOF Riyadh 2025 Saudi Arabia Membrane structuresCable netKinetic roofMiddle EastStone façades

Three Middle East façades: stone, membrane, and one that disappears

David Sommer

ZWOF Riyadh 2025 Saudi Arabia Curtain wallCircularityHybrid steelOperational carbonFire performance

Hybrid steel, and the case for façades you can upgrade

Eric Claeys

ZWOF Istanbul 2026 Turkey DurabilityColourTurkeyPowder coatingFinishes

Mimari toz boyada uzun ömür: renk kararından sistem spesifikasyonuna

Beyza Sarıeyyupoğlu

ZWOF Riyadh 2025 Saudi Arabia Middle EastKinetic façadeMoving architectureGlass structuresTolerances

kinetIQ: engineering façades that move

Oliver Rohde

ZWOF Tbilisi 25 Georgia High-riseGlass balustradesLife safetyPost-breakageHeat-strengthened glass

A railing is a safety system: designing glass balustrades for high-rises

Necdet Bahadır Buluk

ZWOF Dubai 2026 United Arab Emirates ArchitectureDubaiDesignEngineering

Inevitable design: when the right idea makes its own form

Oana Fayyad & Marina Kindelan Calvo

ZWOF Istanbul 2026 Turkey Adaptive reuseTurkeyMixed useRetailFlexible façades

Perakendeden karma kullanıma: değişen program için esnek cepheler

Enis Öncüoğlu

ZWOF Tbilisi 25 Georgia Building physicsPerformance mock-upFaçade consultancyResponsibilityDesign to delivery

Mind the gap: carrying façade responsibility from design to site

Thomas Eschenbach

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Asia-Pacific

ZWOF Bangkok 2026 Thailand PlacemakingStone façadesThailandHong KongPublic roofscape

The roof you can walk on: designing façades as public ground rather than elevation

Richard Wood

ZWOF Bangkok 2026 Thailand Solar controlPassive designBalconiesThailandGreen wall

Shade, not cooling: three Bangkok projects that cut solar load at the envelope

Taj Phitakraxanti Tandem

ZWOF Bangkok 2026 Thailand Value engineeringConstructabilityFaçade designCollaborationThailand

Bangkok's façade weaknesses lie in expectation and sequencing, not in technology

Cory M. Ticktin, Phaithaya Banchakitikun, Assawin Choochottavorn & Andrew Snalune

ZWOF Bangkok 2026 Thailand Quality controlThailandOptical distortionGlass defectsHeat treatment

The gap between allowable and acceptable in architectural glass

Andrew Snalune

ZWOF Melbourne 2026 Australia Embodied carbonAluminiumArchitectureSustainability

‘Design a place, not a building’: Harborside’s low-carbon façade

Gumji Kang

ZWOF Sydney 2025 Australia Embodied carbonSolar shadingAustraliaSteel façadesCurtain walling

Cold-formed steel and the case against the unitised curtain wall

Eric Claeys

ZWOF Bangkok 2026 Thailand Solar shadingComputational designFaçade designThailandParametric workflows

When geometry is described rather than drawn, the cost of change collapses

Jak Drinnan

ZWOF Melbourne 2026 Australia GRCFaçade engineeringGlassCurved glass

A veil of curved glass: the Paula Fox Melanoma Centre

Anne-Laure Chappat

ZWOF Melbourne 2026 Australia Embodied carbonGlassComplianceCircularity

Halloween horror stories: façade failures and the façade as an asset

Rob Buck

ZWOF Bangkok 2026 Thailand Parametric designDouble-skin façadesCurtain wallingThailandEnergy conservation

Curtain walling's next phase: diversified structures, intelligent skins and lower energy demand

Dean Ming

ZWOF Sydney 2025 Australia Wind engineeringAustraliaFaçade screeningAeroacousticsTesting standards

Why porous façade screening needs its own wind test regime

Shane Hart

ZWOF Bangkok 2026 Thailand Value engineeringFaçade maintenanceAluminium compositeThailandTotal cost of ownership

Cheaper panels cut the budget, not the cost of owning a façade

Andrew Lu

View all Asia-Pacific

India

ZWOF Chennai 2026 India SustainabilityFenestrationThermal breakEnergy efficiency

Where the heat gets in: the thermal break, now required by code

Abhishek Shukla

ZWOF Chennai 2026 India High-riseFire safetyRainscreenSintered stone

The tested skin: sustainable cladding for high-rise buildings

TS Aditya

ZWOF Chennai 2026 India Fire safetySustainabilityInsulationPassive fire protection

System, not product: what actually gives a façade its fire rating

G Subham

ZWOF Chennai 2026 India Curtain wallSustainabilityAluminium systemsHospitality

The strategic envelope: bespoke engineering, transomless glass and green aluminium

Harsharaj Shetty K S

ZWOF Chennai 2026 India ResidentialMaterialsValue engineeringArchitecture

The face of the building: visual impact and climate, on a realistic budget

Prashanth S Kharche

ZWOF Ahmedabad 2026 India High-rise façadesIndiaUnitised curtain wallGIFT CityForm development

Designing high-rise façades across a portfolio from 45 to 153 metres

Brijesh Shah & Nitesh Shah

ZWOF Chennai 2026 India Green façadesBiophilic designSustainabilityKeynote

The living façade: when a building’s skin becomes a threshold, not a boundary

James Tan

ZWOF Ahmedabad 2026 India BIMIndiaUnitised curtain wallIntegrated sunshadesMixed-material façades

Scaling smart skins: unitised systems with integrated shading and mixed materials

Rohan Keswani

ZWOF Chennai 2026 India ArchitectureBiophilic designSustainabilityEcological design

Inside out: dissolving the line between building, landscape and life

Dhurgai Kumaran

ZWOF Ahmedabad 2026 India IndiaSustainabilityFaçade systemsIntegrationSafety

Integration, safety and sustainability in contemporary façade systems

Harsharaj Shetty K S

ZWOF Ahmedabad 2026 India BIMParametric designMaintenanceIndiaDigital tools

From wooden templates to a 3D model: where the gains stop

Bhrugu Gangadia, Manoj Joshi, Chirayu Oza, Upendra Walinjkar & Bhaumik Patel

ZWOF Chennai 2026 India Façade engineeringFire safetyCurtain wallBuilding codes

Beyond compliance: what a fire really asks of a high-rise façade

KR Suresh

View all India

Games Daily façade puzzles

Clad·5Guess the five-letter façade word. GroupsSort sixteen terms into four groups. Build-UpOrder the wall layers, outside in.

Interviews

All interviews ›

Interview · The Faces of Façades

The hidden people behind every building

Ahad Ahmed built Zak World of Façades from a single event in a Delhi coffee shop into a platform that now runs in more than 50 countries, yet he calls himself a reluctant speaker, an accidental founde…

Read the interview ›