10/25/2026
Whenever you look closely at urban high-rise design, you start picking up on subtle engineering decisions that most people walk right past. This building at Broadway and Front Street in downtown San Diego mixes unitized curtain wall with integrated window wall components, creating a distinct visual break across the facade. While a full unitized curtain wall system offers elite air and water performance by hanging continuously off the floor slabs, blending in window wall elements can cut material costs while still delivering clean horizontal sightlines and deep architectural depth. Combining systems requires serious attention to detail at every slab edge and transitional expansion joint to handle building movement, differential thermal expansion, and seismic tolerances correctly. From an installer’s perspective, it looks like the design team pulled off a solid balance between performance, aesthetics, and budget—but we want to hear from the field. Did they choose the right glazing system for this elevation, or would you have spec’d a full continuous curtain wall from top to bottom? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
