Around 20 years ago the Centre for Window and Cladding Technology created a university course, the MSc in Façade Engineering has now been reformatted and will be offered as part of a partnership that has been formed with the University of the West of England.

It is thought that over the course of the last ten years there has been significant change in the Façade sector and it has made the professional role of façade engineer more and more important as a part of the construction industry. Now the development of a professional qualification will be on offer and is only available as an MSc at the University of the West of England.

As buildings designs get more complex, as they get larger and as they push the design standards while requiring more in terms of being sustainable it is becoming more vital that people who have trained in order to understand, design and advise of the best structure façades throughout the construction process. The façade is seen as the first modifier in terms of environmental impact and while more countries are starting to set tighter restrictions on carbon emissions in the construction industry, being able to utilise this aspect of the project in order to be more sustainable will be vital when it comes to meeting targets later on. With the Paris Agreement being a key feature in the news to emphasise this issue, and the expansion of cities meaning architects ahre getting more taller and more adventurous in terms of design the development of more façade training could support the construction industry in the future.

The façade of a building has a great deal of investment put into it as it is the space to make a statement for the architect or the client as well as an aspect of the building that it is vitally important to have delivered on time and on budget in order to not take away from the rest of the development.