Brought to you by:As the year comes to a close, AN is looking back on some of the most interesting building envelopes covered in 2024. The list includes projects from around the world with a variety of material expressionsincluding glass, aluminum, concrete, and timberas well as programmatic functions, featuring a library, community center, institutional facilities, apartments, and offices.To keep up to date on the latest projects and most innovative enclosures, subscribe to our Friday Facades+ Newsletter! A mural by Jos Parl was digitally printed on the facade of the Far Rockaway Library. (Jeff Goldberg)New York CityIn Far Rockaway, Queens, Snhetta has designed a new branch for the Queens Public Library using orange-tinted glazing to reference the neighborhoods dramatic sunsets, which cascade over the Atlantic Ocean. Each IGU was also digitally printed with the composition Style Writing, a mural by Brooklyn artist Jos Parl. Snhetta worked closely with the glazier to appropriately balance the glazings transparency and color to allow light into the building, while also making sure that Parl mural is legible from the exterior. A new building designed by HDR in Rochester, Minnesota for Mayo Clinic was wrapped in a highly custom double-layered facade punctuated by oculi windows. (Dan Schwalm)Rochester, MinnesotaTo signal the scientific prowess of a new research facility for the Mayo Clinic, HDR designed a complex double-skin envelope consisting of a perforated-aluminum scrim that encases an inner layer of glazing. Views were maintained through selected cutouts in the scrim, which the architects call oculi, that reveal spans of glass with the least potential for solar heat gain and glare. The project also had to consider how to prevent snow accumulation and allow for cleaning and maintenance. To overcome these challenges, the architects added ice cleats to the scrims sloped surfaces and devised a series of hatches through the scrim that allow window washers to clean the buildings oculi openings.GROUPWORKs 8 Bleeding Heart Yard uses aluminum to mimic the stone facades of the past. (Timothy Soar)LondonIn London, GROUPWORK has brought old buildings back from the dead with its project 8 Bleeding Heart Yard. The firm reclad an aging midcentury office with aluminum panels that are detailed to resemble the facades of eight historic structures that once stood on the site. Working with Donald Insall Associates, a preservation firm, GROUPWORK sourced archival drawings of the original block to inform the design. The building also possesses founder Amin Tahas trademark references to mannerist architecture (and Venturi Scott Browns iconic Sainsbury Wing) with purposefully incorrect or slipped details occurring across the envelope. During daylight hours the central control buildings stainless steel panels reflect the sky. (Egemen Karakaya)Karapinar, TurkeyIn the deserts of Central Turkey lies one of the European continents largest solar fields. To support this vast photovoltaic array, Bilgin Architects crafted a rectilinear control center building that is wrapped in a grid of reflected stainless steel panels. Set against the broad horizon of the desert, the building nearly disappears during the daytime, only to reemerge at night thanks to a luminous backlighting configuration. Each of the panels is of varying degrees of perforation, protecting a glazed inner layer from the hot desert sun.Board-formed concrete was chosen for the facade of Shanfeng Academy to emulate the white plaster which is traditionally used in Suzhou. (Zhu Runzi)Suzhou, ChinaIn Suzhou, China, OPEN Architecture created an extension to Shanfeng Academy, an elite bilingual school. The campus layout is experimental, consisting of five primary volumes that are accessible through a multistory network of gardens and circulation paths. What ties the five structures together is the use of white board formed concretethis material references Suzhous traditional architecture, which is often constructed using white plaster. Though largely opaque, the volumes receive light through punched window openings of various sizes and shapes.The Inuusirvik Community Wellness Hub serves Iqaluit, Nunavut, the fastest growing city in Canada. (Andrew Latreille)Iqaluit, Nunavut, CanadaLateral Office, a Toronto-based practice, has completed a new community center located in the arctic territory of Nunavut. Named the Innuusirvik Community Wellness Hub, the building serves the city of Iqaluits Inuit community. Faced with the territorys extreme weather conditions and challenging material limitations, Lateral Office opted to clad the structure with brightly colored corrugated-metal panels, a choice that allows the building to stand out in the snow. Interestingly, the building is not designed to repel snow accumulation, as are most structures in northern climates. Instead, taking cues from the Indigenous igloo construction, the buildings form actually encourages snow accumulation, which provides additional thermal insulation during the winter.Flad Architects designed stepped precast concrete panels for Torrey View, a life science research campus, to emulate the sites canyon geology. (Jason ORear)San DiegoIn San Diego, Flad Architects have designed a new life sciences campus located within a canyon. To emulate the geology of the surrounding site, the architects wrapped the structure in a series of ridged precast concrete panels that frame expansive window openings. The panels stepped geometry also functions to repel water and dirt. Flad Architects worked closely with Clark Pacific, the manufacturer of the panels to create the precise color and mix of the concrete. An outer layer of shingled glass panels marks the entrance to MITs newest building. (Dave Burk)Cambridge, MassachusettsThe Schwarzman College of Computing, a new computer science facility of MITs campus, innovates with the use of glass curtain wall. To improve the buildings thermal performance and create a unique visual identity, architects at SOM implemented a double-layer facade along the front entrance of the structure. The panels on this outer elevation are purposefully overlapping, acting as glass shingles, and are upheld by two large V-shaped braces from below.The Shady Brook Office Building was faced with Accoya wood slats that are expected to silver with age. (Robert Tsai)DallasThe Shady Brook Office Building reimagines office space design in Texas, a notoriously hot state. Instead of building an enclosed air-conditioned boxthe norm for office construction in TexasCunningham Architects opted to use passive design strategies for the project and place the buildings circulation on the exterior. These corridors are shaded by the slats of Accoya wood that wrap the building and are ventilated via the venturi effect, wherein wind is compressed through the corridors, creating a pleasant breeze. The accoya cladding is expected to silver overtime, allowing the building to age gracefully.The apartments are clad with overlapping precast concrete panels. (Francisco Nogueira)Leiria, PortugalA bold new apartment building in Leiria, Portugal negotiates the juncture between a residential neighborhood and an urban corridor. Designed by Bureau des Msarchitectures, a practice that includes artist Didier Fiza Faustino, the structure is faced with a patchwork of concrete and gold-finished aluminum panels, the latter a reference to the yellow hues of the adjacent neighborhood. The aluminum panels act as modular sunshades, allowing tenants to open and close windows throughout the day. Taking advantage of its site, the building is half circular in plan, adding a unique formal expression to Leirias urban fabric.To dive even deeper into the world of high-performance envelopes, check out our live Facades+ events, coming soon to a city near you!