Guide
Punched opening vs curtain wall
Four terms get used interchangeably and they describe genuinely different assemblies. The distinction decides what gets specified and who is qualified to install it.
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A punched opening is an individual hole in a solid wall. Curtain wall is a continuous glazed skin hung outside the structure. They are different products with different failure modes.
Punched opening
A punched opening is a discrete hole cut into a solid wall — masonry, concrete, or framed and sheathed. The wall carries the building load; the window fills the hole and has to handle weather, air, and thermal performance on its own.
Because each opening is independent, each one can be replaced independently. That is why building-wide window replacement is possible on an occupied building without touching the structure.
Curtain wall
Curtain wall is a continuous aluminum-and-glass skin hung on the outside of the structure, spanning floor to floor. It carries no building load but transfers wind load back to the slab edges. Replacing it is a facade project, not a window project.
Storefront and window wall
Storefront is a non-load-bearing glazed system, typically at grade and typically spanning a single story between slab and header. Window wall sits between floor slabs rather than passing in front of them, so each floor's units are independent.
- Punched opening
- Individual unit in a solid wall. Replaceable one at a time.
- Storefront
- Ground-level glazed plane, single story, usually entrance-adjacent.
- Window wall
- Glazing captured between slabs, floor by floor.
- Curtain wall
- Continuous skin passing in front of the slab edges.
Why the label matters to you
The systems use different framing, different anchoring, different waterproofing details, and different testing standards. A contractor set up for punched-opening window systems is solving a different problem from a curtain wall erector, and pricing from one for the other is not comparable.
This site is punched-opening window systems specifically — individual units set into individual wall openings, commercial and residential.
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