External façade louvres

With exterior façade louvres—external slats on the façade—you can control incoming daylight and influence how much the sun warms the building. There are also plenty of ways to enhance the property, for example by choosing aluminium or wood in combination with one of the many treatment options.

Daylight management

With horizontal slats, you can precisely control how much daylight you let in. Open the louvres fully for maximum light. We prefer to live and work in daylight; it puts us in a better mood and gives us more energy. So during the day, the slats are usually left fully open.

If the sun is too bright, you are troubled by reflections on screens or you want privacy, you can close the louvres. You can close them fully or just enough, as they can be adjusted continuously. The aluminium louvres overlap, so no light gets through when they are fully closed. With no sunlight coming in, direct solar heat is also blocked.

One major advantage of horizontal slats is that you don’t have to close them completely in summer to keep out the sun. The sun is high in the sky then, so sunlight is blocked even when the slats are tilted slightly downwards. The great advantage is that you retain daylight and a view.

In winter, all warmth is welcome, and you can open the louvres fully. The sun is lower in the sky, but it is not as fierce. Louvres give you plenty of control over how much daylight fills the room. Simply set the slats to your preferred position, from fully open to fully closed.

Architectural sun shading

Apart from their functional features, louvres also have aesthetic qualities. Louvres are always made to measure and are available with tilting slats in any desired shape and a wide range of colours. This gives the architect enormous freedom to shape their ideas and opportunities to create distinction.

Whether you prefer a sleek, modern look or something natural and rustic, there is always a louvre to suit you. You can choose extruded aluminium or wood for the louvre material.

Aluminium and wooden louvres are available in different widths. The width of the slats partly determines the appearance of a louvre system and, in turn, the character of your home. Aluminium and wooden slats are available in widths ranging from 68 to 155 mm.

The most popular louvre widths are around 10 cm and 15 cm. The choice of one width over another is primarily determined by your taste. The proportions of the window often play a part too. Wider louvres usually look better with larger expanses of glass.

In principle, the wider the louvre, the greater the pitch. The pitch indicates how far apart the louvres are when they are fully open. So the greater the pitch, the more you can see through between the louvres. For louvres approximately 10 cm wide, the pitch is 9 cm; for those approximately 15 cm wide, the pitch is 14 cm.

Treatments

Aluminium sections are usually coated, often in the same RAL colour as the window frames. You can choose a gloss level of 70% (high gloss) or 30% (matt). A matt finish can be combined with a fine texture. The result is a visible and tactile relief with an exclusive appearance.

If you live near the coast and the air is therefore salty, you could consider a coastal coating. The aluminium is then pre-treated a little more intensively than usual. The slats are often coated a second time afterwards.

Instead of powder coating, you can also choose anodising. This uses the natural metallic sheen of aluminium. Anodising is available not only in aluminium’s natural colour, but also in blue, green or red, and even in exclusive shades such as gold, copper and bronze.

Anodising can enhance or tone down the natural sheen of aluminium. For a glossier finish, the aluminium is polished before the anodising process. Brushing gives a less glossy finish; this pre-treatment makes the aluminium slightly matt.

Wooden slats can be stained, oiled or painted. Leaving the wood untreated is also a popular choice. Over time, the wood will turn grey as a result of the weather. This is a natural process, and the great advantage is that you do not have to worry about it.

Finally, there is also the option of a wood-effect coating. The aluminium slats are coated several times. First, you apply a base colour that approximates the colour of the desired wood type. The grain is then added. The result is an aluminium louvre with the appearance of wood.

For more information, visit sunshield.nl. Our showroom features several models with these louvres.