Architectural detail — 2026
Breath Screen
Design intent
Made to order
A structural terracotta wall that moves air and draws the sun across the floor.
A screen is not decoration. It is a climate device: it shades, it ventilates, and it turns a wall into an instrument for measuring the day.
The block geometry is set on site, oriented to the specific arc of that latitude, so the light pattern belongs to one place only.
Specification
Materials
- Hand-pressed terracotta blocks, unglazed
- Lime mortar, no cement
- Concealed stainless reinforcement
- Limestone or travertine sill
Dimensions
- Block module 300 × 300 × 150 mm
- Screen assembled to project dimension
- Open area 38–52%, tuned per orientation
- Structural engineer sign-off required above 3 m
Craftsmanship
- Blocks are pressed and dried in open air; colour varies batch to batch and we do not correct it.
- Coursing is set out full size on the floor before a single block is laid.
- Lime mortar allows the wall to be taken down and re-laid decades later.
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