Cladding University
Founded 1997
Testing 102 - Visual Mockups
Instructor: Steve Strebel, ALT Cladding and Design
There are two two basic types of mockups commonly used in the cladding industry: Visual
mockups (this class) and mockups used to test the cladding design and implementation (Testing 101).
Visual Mockups are not tests in the conventional manner. They are simply representations of proposed cladding systems assembled for visual inspection only. Visual mockups allow the architect and owner to see and compare different cladding finishes and/or looks. For example, the architect may want to see the interaction of different glass colors or reflectivity with certain proposed features on the cladding system. The photo below (left) shows two different glass types as viewed from the outside. The photo on the right shows two different glass types as seen from the inside.
Many buildings are designed without visual mockups. At lease, visual mockups as discussed here. In these cases, small samples are examined individually or in groups without a significant assembly of components to mimic a curtain wall.
When visual mockups are done, they are done in the very early stages of the cladding design - before the look of the building is finalized. The material and method of construction used for the visual mockup often has no relation to what will be used on the real building except for the visual appearance. Visual mockups, unlike mockups used to test the cladding, may not built full scale (the same size that will be used on the job).
These mockups are sometimes assembled and viewed at, or near, the location of the job site. This allows the proposed designs to be evaluated in the environment where they will actually occur, taking into account adjacent buildings and landscape.
Occasionally,
visual mockups are incorporated as part of a temporary sales office for the building being
constructed. The photo to the left shows members of the design and construction team
evaluating the visual mockup for the Taipei Financial Center in Taipei, Taiwan. For
this very large project, two walls of the sales office were constructed of materials
mimicking the proposed cladding system. Different glass types, paint colors and
aesthetic elements were included to fully evaluate the design choices.
Interior components of the curtain wall , such as window blinds and ceiling
closures were also included for evaluation. Including the visual mockup as part of
the sales office provides the tenants with a very good representation of what their
building will look like.
Visual mockups can be erected on a supporting framework that turns to allow the designers to gauge the effects of the wall elements from different viewing angles or sunlight conditions. Typically, revolving chambers such as this are only used when the mockup will be viewed at a curtain wall contractor's facility.
The visual mockup can be combined with the testing mockup. In these cases, the test specimen itself serves as a full scale visual mockup. Note that the testing mockup always serves as a visual check of fit and finish and, to a lesser degree, a final visual study of the design.