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Perforated masonry is a masonry wall or panel constructed using solid bricks with gaps between adjacent brick units. These gaps are either filled with a non-load-bearing material or left as an opening.
Perforated masonry construction has a high permeability to air, noise, heat, and light, constituting a passive design strategy for improving the overall thermal conditions.
Perforated masonry is used in walls or facade construction, mainly as a non-load bearing structure. It uses different block units and patterns and is a part of contemporary Paraguayan architecture.
This article discusses the important features and applications of perforated masonry in construction.
Features of Perforated Masonry
- Perforated masonry is a construction technique where the head joints are gapped. It is an arrangement where no type of stress is transferred.
- Walls or facades constructed as perforated masonry consist of voids along their length and height. This design allows light, air, and muffled sound to pass through the wall without compromising privacy. In addition, it is an example of aesthetic lightweight construction.
- Unlike normal masonry, with the increase in voids in the perforated masonry wall, there is no continuous load transfer path (as there are alternate voids). So, it is barely used as a load bearing structure.
- Under compressive stress, the bordering regions undergo compression, and the central region remains unloaded. Compared to an ordinary masonry wall, the perforations reduce the contact surface at horizontal joints to transfer the shear and compressive stress. Hence, it is subjected to higher stress (Figure-2). It also shows varied behavior under out-of-plane bending.
Image Credits: Research Gate
Applications of Perforated Masonry Construction
Perforated masonry walls have been used to partially block the sun to tackle hot climates. The main applications of perforated masonry construction are in:
- Educational buildings: It is used as curtain walls for light and air exposure. For example, the London School of Economics, where the perforated masonry brick curtain wall reaches a height of up to 20 meters (Figure-3). This design does not have any load-bearing function.
- Sacral architecture: It is used in prayer rooms to bring interesting lighting effects to the interiors. Another famous example is a crematorium in Askar, Norway (Figure-4). Here, openly-gaped masonry pillars are constructed to support the slab.
- Facade construction: Figure-5 shows a two-story building provided with a new double skin of glass and brick panels to balance views, light, and connection to the outdoors.
Perforated masonry construction, either as a wall or panels, is gaining popularity in areas where a large amount of natural ventilation is crucial.
FAQs
Perforated masonry is a masonry wall or panel constructed using solid bricks with gaps between adjacent brick units. These gaps are either filled with a non-load-bearing material or left as an opening.
Perforated masonry walls or facades have been used to partially block the sun to tackle hot climates. These are used in facades of educational buildings, non-load-bearing structures in sacred architecture, and special buildings.
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