This six-image guide focuses on coordinating the curved vertical screen at Yangjiang Comprehensive Cultural Center. A separate, source-checked Yangjiang project record owns the formal name, seven-venue programme, architects, milestones, LOPO product code and conflicting published area figures.
Keeping those responsibilities separate avoids a second competing case study. Here, the project is used to examine geometry, entrances, support interfaces, lighting, mock-ups and handover for a project-specific terracotta louver facade. The photographs and diagram are visual coordination references, not construction documents or proof of measured performance.
Map curvature, angle and density before scheduling units
A screen that appears continuous from a distance may contain many local conditions. Yangjiang’s vertical elements change their relationship to the curved building line, glazed openings and rising base. Before product release, the design team should map each elevation by radius, screen offset, unit angle, length, spacing, support line and termination.
The supplier archive describes a project-specific white-glazed rectangular baguette, but one historical item cannot be assumed to solve every zone. The controlled schedule must identify whether units repeat, rotate, change length or require special end treatment. It should also distinguish visual design dimensions from manufacturing axes and installed clearances.
Set-out model
Link grid, survey, structure, glass line, screen centreline and support points in one coordinated geometry.
Type schedule
Give each profile, length, angle, finish and fixing arrangement a traceable code and elevation quantity.
Change control
Record the effect of every radius, spacing or support revision on samples, calculations, fabrication and installation.
Coordinate the screen with entrances and public movement
The strongest interruption in a repetitive facade is often the main entrance. At Yangjiang, the screen rises and curves around a large glazed opening while terraces and paths approach from below. A comparable project must coordinate clear height, door visibility, wayfinding, weather protection, crowd movement, maintenance access and temporary installation zones.
At reachable levels, assess projections, edges, impact, climbability, entrapment and falling-object risk. Identify the code-compliant guard separately from any decorative or shading element. The screen must not obscure emergency signs, smoke-control openings, fire-service access or safe replacement routes.
Keep the screen, enclosure and support roles distinct
The vertical ceramic layer does not by itself form the complete weather, thermal or fire enclosure. Project drawings should show the main wall or curtain wall, cavity, membranes, insulation, fire barriers, rails, brackets, anchors, drainage, movement joints and perimeter interfaces as separate but coordinated systems.
For each screen zone, engineers must review permanent and temporary loads, wind and seismic actions, deflection, connection capacity, ceramic restraint, fracture and safe replacement. Curved geometry increases the importance of survey, bracket adjustment and tolerance accumulation. Installation sequence should be tested before large-scale manufacture begins.
Responsibility boundary: manufacturer drawings describe the ceramic item and agreed interfaces; responsible project designers must approve the complete load path, enclosure, fire strategy, access and code compliance.
Use mock-ups to approve appearance and interfaces
A single loose sample cannot represent a large white screen. The approval route should begin with the exact glaze and profile, continue through a representative production range, and end with a full-size assembly mock-up containing the support, spacing, angle change, joint, opening or termination most critical to the project.
Review the mock-up in sun, shade and planned night lighting. Record acceptable colour and gloss variation, straightness, joint rhythm, visible hardware, drainage, cleaning access and replacement procedure. Structural or weather testing should use a configuration that matches the intended assembly and should not be inferred from appearance approval.
Lighting needs its own coordinated record. Fixture position, beam angle, colour temperature and dimming can produce glare, bright spots or uneven vertical bands on a white glazed surface. Provide access for adjustment and replacement without removing unnecessary screen units. Night-time approval should consider the entrance, nearby homes, landscape and distant views, not only a close facade photograph.
Close fabrication, installation and handover records
- surveyed elevations, set-out model and type schedule with quantities by zone;
- approved profile drawings, glaze range, tolerances, control samples and batch traceability;
- support, anchor, movement, enclosure, fire, opening and perimeter details;
- project-specific calculations, tests, mock-up approvals and defined acceptance criteria;
- packing, lifting, access, installation sequence, inspections, repairs and non-conformance records; and
- as-builts, cleaning method, safe access, spare stock, warranty and replacement responsibilities.
Use the current Terracotta Baguette page for present product-family discussions and the Architectural Terracotta Gallery for other project references.
Coordinate a project-specific terracotta louver facade
Send the project location, elevations and geometry model, proposed profile and glaze, quantities by type, support concept, exposure and performance criteria, mock-up plan and programme. LOPO can review manufacturing feasibility and prepare relevant current samples, drawings and documents.