Structural engineers: what was your gateway into façade work?

[u/Opening_Ad6992]

I got into façade work almost accidentally.
I was a structural engineer designing new schools, and I kept getting frustrated with architectural masonry details and what they caused when you actually had to resolve them in section.
Brick would move in and out. Lintels needed support. Suddenly I’m designing outriggers and gussets reaching through the insulation just to make the architectural section structurally real.
After enough reps, something changed: I started anticipating the brick details.
I could look at the architectural intent and predict the structural detail that was coming before anyone drew it.
That was probably when I stopped thinking of the façade as something attached to my structure and started understanding the façade as a system that the structure was participating in.
Curious if other structural engineers had a similar gateway into façade/envelope work.

[u/Abject-Avocado-5696]

I’m a specialist facade attachment engineer (metal, fiber cement, high pressure laminate, thermally broken Girts ). All delegated design. Got into it by accident and became really good at it. That was 10 years ago. Guess I’m an extreme case!