Curtain Walls Explained
Glass towers hang their skins.
Learn how the trick is done.
Demystify the glass skins of modern buildings — how they hang, seal and survive — and gain the technical fluency that facade meetings demand.
Your curtain wall details will leave the desk build-ready.
- Understand the hang — grasp how entire glass walls carry themselves floor by floor
- Know the systems — tell stick, unitised and structural glazing approaches apart
- Control the weather line — understand how these skins keep water and air outside
- Handle constant movement — see how facades absorb wind, heat and building sway
- Speak facade fluently — hold your own with specialist consultants and suppliers
- Review with authority — check shop drawings and mock-ups knowing what matters
Built by one of the most-read architecture platforms in the world.
RTF | Rethinking The Future has spent over a decade publishing the ideas, projects and voices shaping architecture — and now brings that depth to learning. Every course is researched, written and produced by the RTF team.
Behind every glass tower is this knowledge.
A clear path. Five steps.
Everything unlocks instantly with membership · learn at your own pace
If you see yourself here, start today.
A few hours from now, you could already see differently.
Curtain walls were a system I specified by pointing at other buildings. Understanding stick versus unitised systems, movement, and how the glass actually hangs demystified the whole assembly. I recently marked up a curtain wall shop drawing and knew exactly what I was looking at.
Simple by design.
Watch
Short, focused video lessons — each one a single idea, clearly explained.
Apply
End every lesson with a small task that pushes your real project forward.
Transform
Watch your work develop a point of view that is unmistakably yours.
Answered simply.
Curtain walls feel like a specialist black box — can I really learn them?
Yes. Stick, unitised and the details between mullion and slab follow a clear logic, and once you have it you can hold your own with any facade contractor.
Is this relevant for mid-rise work, not just towers?
Definitely — curtain wall thinking now appears on offices, hospitals and schools at every scale.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Every course starts from where you are and builds up step by step, in plain language.
Is this software training?
No — software changes yearly. The thinking you learn here lasts a career.
How does it work?
Short video lessons with a small practice task after each. Any device, your pace.
What does membership include?
One membership unlocks every course on RTF Academy — all 450+, nothing sold separately. And you stay in control: cancel anytime in one click, and you will never be charged again.
Ready to see your work change?
Your next project could be the one that feels truly yours.
- 5 Sections
- 25 Lessons
- 4 Hours
- 1. What It Does and How It Fails5
- 2. The Options Compared5
- 3. The Detail5
- 4. Performance5
- 5. Specifying and Building It5
Reviews
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Curtain walls were a system I specified by pointing at other buildings. Understanding stick versus unitised systems, movement, and how the glass actually hangs demystified the whole assembly. I recently marked up a curtain wall shop drawing and knew exactly what I was looking at.
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