A bumper crop of high-performing and decorative glazing products are delivering on light, views, safety, and style.
Products Focus: Glass & Glazing
Fireframes Clear Floor System
Technical Glass Products (TGP)
To expand Northwestern University's Engineering Life Sciences building, Flad Architects constructed a five-story infill bridging two existing wings. The Fireframes glass floor system used in the addition's fifth level diffuses light to the ground floor atrium and surrounding areas housing equipment sensitive to direct sunlight, while also meeting stringent fire and life-safety codes.
Metal Network
Pulp Studio
A total of 10 graphic patterns'ranging from grids to dots'are rendered in metallic-ink interlayers for this laminated-glass collection by Pulp Studio. All are available in custom panel sizes up to a maximum of 60” wide x 180” high, in four thicknesses from 5/16” to 13/16”, and with clear, low-iron, mirrored, colored, or textured glass. Safety treatments can be applied to panels 7/16”-thick and up.
Decorative Glass Rainscreens
Bendheim
This compression fitting rainscreen system'which does not require cutouts or holes in the glass'allows for quick and easy transformation of a new or existing facade. For the Rif Community Center in Salzburg, Austria, Klasz Kleeberger Architects used the system to create a sloped, ventilated rainscreen comprised of vertically and horizontally overlapping etched-glass panels.
Unity Series
Joel Berman Glass Studios
This decorative glass was introduced in 2008, but the project for which it was conceived has only recently been completed. HOK turned to the glass studio when designing a world-class airport in Doha, Qatar, commissioning glazing to line various passenger corridors (shown). Berman senior designer Saleem Khattak drew on Islamic art and motifs to devise the collection's geometric patterns, which are screen-printed with white ceramic-frit ink.
Bird Safe Low-E Acid-Etched Glass
Walker Glass Co.
PPG Industries and Walker have partnered to introduce a product that offers all the benefits of PPG's low-E Solarban glass while also preserving avian wildlife. Studies show that visual markers on the outer surface of the glass can significantly reduce the chances of bird collisions, so Walker's AviProtek acid-etching is applied to the outside face in stock linear, striated, or custom patterns. Full surface etching is also available.
Galaxy + Level Design Collection
Galaxy Glass & Stone
Collaborating with wall-decor manufacturer 4walls, Galaxy Glass & Stone has expanded its offerings with new graphics that range from flocked patterns to nature motifs. The imagery can be scaled to different sizes and is encapsulated in glass for use as walls in office, hospitality, retail, health-care, institutional, and even residential settings. The designs come in opaque, transparent, translucent, or satin finishes.
SunGuard Spandrel HT
Guardian
Guardian uses a proprietary system that permanently bonds coatings to spandrel glass, resulting in higher opacity levels ideal for concealing unsightly mechanical components between a building's floors. Since this product is part of the SunGuard line, it also offers excellent solar control. Available in white, gray, and black, the glass is stocked in two sizes: 96” x 130” and 100” x 144”.
Okasolar S
Okalux North America
The Mariners Harbor Library (shown) on Staten Island, New York, gets ample natural reading light without the discomfort of solar heat gain, courtesy of Okasolar S. The system diffuses daylight using fixed mirrored louvers sandwiched between glass sheets. A*PT Architecture specified the product for both the east and west facades of the library, as well as for an expansive stretch of skylights.
Skyline Design Exterior Glass
Skyline Design
A fixture in the glass business for more than 30 years, Skyline has completed just a few exterior glazing projects on a custom basis. Now the company is making it a standard service to provide its proprietary etching process for building skins. An example includes a 15' x 22' window with artwork by Larry Kirkland, on a Lehigh University building by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects.
Digital Ceramic Printed Glass
Dip-Tech
The Glass Farm (shown) in the Dutch town of Schijndel houses public amenities, restaurants, and shops within an entirely glazed container that pays homage to the region's historical farms. Architecture firm MVRDV and photographer Frank van der Salm pieced together local farm imagery for AGC Glass Europe to print the final composition onto 500 glass panels using Dip-Tech's digital ceramic printing technology.
Dapple Color Pressed
3form
Offered through 3form's Pattern+ Color program, this linear-dot pattern for decorative architectural glass can be specified at four scales in more than 10,000 colors. The resulting laminated glass is well suited to corporate, health-care, and hospitality settings as dividers, interior walls, and doors. Panel sizes are 48” x 96” or 48” x 120” in six thicknesses ranging from 5/16” to 11/16”. A total of 28 designs are available in Pattern+ Color.
SuperWall
Wausau
At a University of Minnesota wellness center in Minneapolis, Studio Five Architects and Cannon Design introduced light and views by running a ribbon of Wausau's structurally glazed SuperWall system along three of the four facades, wrapping a rounded corner in the process. The curtainwall is fitted with a mix of clear and silk-screened VE1-3M low-E insulated glass by Viracon to ensure occupant comfort and semi-privacy.
Photo © Ryan Siemers, ASMP, Assoc. AIA, Leed AP
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