Architectural mesh is woven wire, cable or expanded metal used as a screen or cladding, most often in stainless steel or aluminum. On parking garages it wraps open floors to hide cars and headlights while letting air and light through.
Mesh has become one of the most common ways to make a garage look like architecture without enclosing it. The trade-off is that the screen is a building element in its own right, with code, structural and maintenance consequences.
Design checks
- Openness. How much of the mesh is open air affects whether the garage still qualifies as open and naturally ventilated. Confirm how the code official will treat it. See openness calculation and natural ventilation.
- Wind. Mesh and its supports catch wind, sometimes at high local pressures at corners. See wind loads.
- Light. Mesh can soften light trespass from headlights and fixtures, but it also changes how daylight reaches the floor. See light trespass.
- Fall protection. Mesh is not a guardrail unless it is designed and tested as one. See pedestrian guardrails.
Living with it
- Debris, birds and grime collect in fine weaves; plan access for cleaning.
- Dissimilar metals and salt spray can corrode attachments; specify compatible fasteners.
- Graphics, lighting and planting can be added to mesh, each with its own weight and wind effect. See graphic panels and perforated panels.
The Parkonomics view
Mesh is the cheapest way to make a garage a good neighbor, and the easiest one to get wrong late. Settle the openness math and the wind design before the pattern is chosen, not after.
Related terms: Perforated Panels, Graphic Panel, Openness Calculation, Natural Ventilation, Wind Loads, Light Trespass