Expert advises: how to overshadow architecturally exceptional buildings

In designing shading for a typical family house in a residential area, you would likely choose outdoor blinds or shutters. But what if you come across a project that is something specific, and standard shading wouldn’t be sufficient? We selected five architecturally exceptional buildings from around the world and asked product specialist Lukáš Musil from NEVA, a leading manufacturer of outdoor blinds, to comment on them from the perspective of shading options.

Falling Water (Pennsylvania, USA)

A splendid house from 1935 designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The building is set in the forest and partially built over the Bear Run river. According to Musil, the surrounding environment naturally shades and cools the building, so the shading here primarily serves to ensure the owners' sense of privacy.

"Given the number of large glazed areas, I would choose outdoor blinds hidden behind the façade for this house. During the day, they would be raised and completely invisible, and in the evening, when lowered, they would provide privacy. We ensure the stability and durability of the blinds by manufacturing each piece to fit the width between the window frames. Another option is screen roller blinds."

However, the house also has skylights that need to be shaded. "For the skylights, I would recommend tilting sunshades, which can support the weight of snow in winter. As for internal shading, fabric canopies are available, which are typical for the American market and create a pleasant atmosphere in the house," recommends Lukáš Musil from NEVA.

Falling Water is partially built over the waterfall.

TWA Flight Centre (New York, USA)

The former airport terminal, now serving as a hotel, has glass walls made up of a modular façade. Given the dimensions of the glass surfaces and their curvature, it is virtually impossible to install shading technology on the building.

"Previously, there were internal vertical blinds here, but they do not prevent overheating of the interior; in addition, they become huge dust collectors. If I were designing shading, I would choose only interstitial fabric shading. The problem is that even when raised, it would reduce the clear height of the window and would probably disrupt the building's design. In this case, it is much better not to address shading at all and to focus on air conditioning and ventilation of the building," advises Musil.

TWA Flight Centre looks imposing, but practically cannot be shaded. (By pheezy - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1283951)

Burj Al Arab (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

One of the most luxurious hotels in the world, situated on a man-made island. Given the immense salinity, dustiness, and high temperatures of the surrounding environment, interstitial or internal shading is the optimal solution.

"With interstitial shading, however, good ventilation of the façade must be ensured. In the case of such a luxury hotel, I consider motor control of the blinds to be essential, but the motors can only withstand temperatures up to 90 °C. In addition to the ventilation of the façade, it is necessary to ensure the corrosion resistance of the metal components. Most manufacturers provide components with C2 resistance; we at NEVA can also offer more durable options at the C4 level."

"From the internal shading technology, I would recommend Duette blinds with a fabric that has a high external reflectance surface reflecting sunlight back to the window. While it might not cool the room as much, in combination with air conditioning, it ensures thermal comfort and privacy, and also partially reduces air conditioning costs," notes Musil.

Burj Al Arab stands in an extremely salty and dusty environment.

Flow Building (Prague, Czech Republic)

A widely discussed building at the corner of Wenceslas Square and Opletalova Street is set to be completed in the summer of 2020. The architectural design is by Chapman Taylor, and shading will be provided by outdoor blinds.

"For this building, we at NEVA supply the outdoor blinds directly. They are integrated into the modular façade and connected to the intelligent building management system. The central control system determines the room temperature and automatically regulates heating, shading, or air conditioning of the building; however, tenants can manipulate the blinds as they see fit."

"I would not recommend internal shading for such a building at all. The spaces are intended for rental, and in the lower levels, there will be commercial spaces, so internal shading would be quickly damaged. The building is also glazed, and with internal shading, it would overheat in the summer," claims Musil.

Flow Building on Wenceslas Square will have outdoor blinds integrated into the façade.

Glass House (Connecticut, USA)

Finally, we return to America to present the Glass House, sometimes referred to as Johnson House - named after its architect, Philip Johnson. The house, where Johnson himself lived and which now serves as a historic landmark, is completely glazed and set in nature, where it is naturally shaded by trees.

"Given the design of the house, shading technology would likely disrupt the appearance of the building. I might consider screen roller blinds with black-out fabrics that completely darken the interior space. These rollers can shade even large areas but fit into relatively small cover boxes. The boxes and guide profiles can then be painted the same color as the structure to visually disappear. I would utilize the rollers for that part of the house where trees do not provide shading and privacy," concludes the expert from NEVA.

Screen roller blinds can be used to shade the Glass House. (By Staib - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7797606)