Building components · Facade Support
Spandrel Panel
Explains the spandrel as the part of a glazed facade doing the work of a wall, with the difficulties that follow.
Educational reference entry. What this element has to do, and whether any particular arrangement of it is adequate, depends on the whole assembly, the loading, the exposure, local requirements, the manufacturer's instructions and qualified professional design.
Overview
What a spandrel is
A glazed facade cannot be glass all the way. At each floor there is a zone containing the slab edge, the services and the fire separation between storeys, and it is concealed behind an opaque panel — the spandrel.
Behind that panel the facade has to do everything a wall does: insulate, resist fire spread between floors, and control air and moisture. It is doing wall work within a system designed around glass.
Boundaries
How it differs from nearby elements
The distinctions that keep this entry from being a restatement of its neighbours.
- It is not a rainscreen panel. A rainscreen hangs on rails over a backing wall; a spandrel sits within a curtain wall grid over a floor zone.
- It is not glazing, even where a spandrel is formed with back-painted glass to match the vision panels.
- It is not a backing wall, although a backing wall is commonly built behind a spandrel zone to provide the separation the panel alone cannot.
Terminology
Common names and aliases
These names describe the same element. The library keeps one entry per component so that a trade term or a regional name never becomes a second, thinner page.
- spandrel panels
- spandrel zone
- opaque infill panel
Dependencies
What it depends on
What has to be right elsewhere for this element to do its job.
- What is behind it, since insulation and fire separation are provided in the zone rather than by the panel face.
- The junction at the slab edge, where fire and smoke separation between floors has to be maintained.
- How heat builds up behind an opaque panel exposed to sun, which is a recognised issue for glass spandrels.
- The continuity of the facade's air and water control across the spandrel zone.
Considerations
Topics that genuinely apply here
Subjects worth discussing about this element. These are discussion topics, never measured values, ratings or performance claims.
The spandrel zone is where fire separation between storeys is maintained at the facade, and the junction between the panel, the slab edge and the fire stopping is central to it.
The spandrel zone is commonly the weakest thermal part of a glazed facade because the depth available for insulation is limited by the framing.
An opaque panel in a drained facade still has to drain, and the space behind it needs to be able to dry.
Heat build-up behind opaque glass spandrels is a known cause of thermal stress in the glass.
Materials
Commonly formed from
Material families this element is commonly realised in. This states common practice only — it is not a statement that any of these materials suits this component in a particular building, which depends on the whole assembly and on qualified review.
Materials
Commonly incorporates
Materials this element commonly contains as a distinct constituent part, rather than being made of.
Assemblies
Building systems this element is met in
The role this component fills inside each assembly. A role describes what the element does there — it is not a statement that this component suits that system in any particular building.
Where it is met
Application contexts
Building contexts where this element is commonly encountered. Association is not recommendation: appearing here does not mean the component suits every instance of that context, or any particular one.
- Facade
Clarifications
Commonly misunderstood
- That the spandrel is a blank panel. It carries the facade's insulation and fire separation at every floor.
- That a spandrel matching the vision glass is doing the same job. Behind it the requirements are completely different.
Conversations
Questions for qualified professionals
Questions worth asking someone with the project in front of them. This page cannot answer them.
- How is fire separation between storeys maintained at the spandrel zone?
- What insulation is within the zone, and how is it continuous with the rest of the facade?
- How does the space behind the panel drain and dry?
- Where opaque glass is used, how is heat build-up behind it addressed?
Go deeper
Related Build Design Hub guides
Planning guidance behind the decisions this element involves.
Preparation
Related planning checklists
Owner-side preparation before the conversation where this element comes up.
What this entry does not do
- No panel construction, insulation arrangement, fire stopping or thermal value is stated here.
- Fire stopping at slab edges in glazed facades is a regulated matter requiring specialist design.
Facade Support & Panels
The brackets, rails, subframes and framing members that hold a facade off a backing structure, and the panels they carry.
Browse all facade support entries →