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The Messeturm (“Trade Fair Tower”) in Frankfurt/Main is currently adjusted to the requirements of a modern office building. The lobby area has been enlarged by a highly transparent façade consisting of oversized insulating glass (IG) units. The IG units are curved and have a size of up to 17 m x 2.8 m. To obtain a perfectly curved façade, the IG units were fabricated with laminated cold-bended glass panes. Horizontally the IG units are supported by tapered stainless steel fins. Inclined steel beams connect the top of the façade fins with the tower structure creating a rounded roof. The vertical façade with its glass roof allows maximum transparency for people inside the lobby as well as for people passing by outside to the nearby trade fair grounds. The glass was fabricated by sedak. The façade was installed by seele on behalf of the owner OFFICEFIRST, the asset-management of Blackstone.

The owner of a 1970s, 24-story commercial office tower in Ottawa, Canada sought to rejuvenate their main lobby with a new glass entry wall. The wall’s purpose is to provide a notable, grand entryway for the re-development of a commercial podium on a main thoroughfare. The final design featured a 12 m tall by 35 m long curving glass fin wall. The height of the wall is broken up into two sections. The first is a 9 m tall section between the ground floor and a third-floor terrace that provides the main building with a new front entrance, including a double-height space. The second is a cantilevered 3 m tall balustrade that creates a new third floor terrace. The glass fins between the ground floor and third floor terrace are continuous, triple-laminated panels free of splices. The curved panels have a 30 m curvature radius and feature a ceramic frit to prevent bird strikes and promote environmental sensitivity. In addition, the panels are insulated glass units (IGUs) with a low-emissivity coating (low-e) to meet the City of Ottawa’s energy standards and the expected interior comfort of top tier retail and office space within the city. Furthermore, the glass panels are supported at discrete points, so the team used a composite resin as the laminate for the interior and exterior lites to maintain the cold bent curvature radius.

The aim of this paper is to explain how the design intent of a bespoke glazed façade develops from the point of view of the façade consultant BIFF SA. The explanation of this concept development is not only interesting because of the different phases of the process, but also because of the unusual specifications and demands established by the architects and the Client, and for the project evolution trough several technical solutions up to final project state. During the concept development materials like stone, steel, aluminum or fabric are normally combined with glass. This challenging glazed façade has been developed for a luxury villa in Switzerland where a triple laminated glass cladding has been selected as the final most suitable solution for creating a building envelope with glass panes of 3000mm W x 7000mm H bonded to a back frame with structural silicone. These units have obviously aesthetic requirements and also different functional applications and the solution should fulfill all demands and do not the technical aspects of building up a façade with such a big glass units.

Due to the recent terrorist attacks, the market demand for security glazing has rapidly grown and turned from a “bank counters” market to a facade market. In this context, it appears to be legitimate to ask the question of the applicability of current standards to this changing environment: Are they still adapted to fulfil the security requirements of the market ? If not, which adaptations could be performed ? In the present talk, the current European standards dedicated to the security glazing resistance against explosion pressure - EN 13541 - is reviewed and compared to its ISO standard pendant - ISO 16934 - and alternative - ISO 16933 -. Moreover, based on numerical simulations, the current extension rules applicable to the specific case of the explosion resistance of insulating glazing units - EN 1279-5 - are discussed as well.

An experimental study has taken place to quantify the strength of single sided structural silicone glazing joints under blast loading. The structural silicone specimens in this experiment were tested using a high-speed servo-hydraulic test machine at varying rates, representative of that experienced in a blast. Tests were conducted at displacement rates of 1m/s, 2m/s and 4m/s. The load was applied at two different angles of 30° and 45°. The tests were carried out on samples with different bite depths. The load was measured and the strength of the silicone joint was calculated at different testing rates. For a given testing rate and loading angle, the strength was found to be constant for different bite depths. The strength also showed an escalation at higher displacement rates. For the loading angles tested, there was no correlation found between the angle of loading and the strength. Through the measurement of displacement during the test, the work done on the silicone joint was also calculated.

Enclosed envelopes without any visible supporting structure or stairs which seem to float on air are the dreams of many architects and designers. Glass is one of the few materials that can allow this dream to become a reality. For this reason full glass structures can appear to be practically invisible and the observer experiences the wonderful sensation of seeing a floating, weightless and totally transparent structure, as if it's almost not there. To fulfill these demands but also to enable the integrity of the whole glass structure, the connections between the elements represent one of the most critical aspects for this type of glass design. These connecting elements represent the “remaining visible” parts and therefore these details become the central focus of interest when looking at an all glass structure. Simple borehole connections often do not satisfy the architect’s demands these days. In this article we will show a few of our recent all glass structures with a keen focus on the all important "connecting parts". There will be shown a solution with special glass treatment for a customized structure as well as applications for transparent glued connection elements which can be used by the industry in general product applications. The generalization of connecting details in the use of load carrying full glass structures could open new fields of application for full glass structures apart from the typical and well known façade industry.

The increasing demand for use of laminated glass in building facades is the driving force for new interlayers testing and their implementation. Architects’ and engineers’ requests require searching for new solutions and processes of lamination. Intelligent facades, electrochromic windows, integrated photovoltaics, integrated lighting, enhanced solar control, acoustic pollution reduction, wires incorporation, use of special sealants and glues are some of the design drivers of new laminated structures. Laminated safety glass is composed of two or more glass panes bonded by one or more interlayers. The interlayers are typically soft polymers like polyvinyl butyral (PVB), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyurethane (PU) or ionomer. Today, there are many interlayers on the market with a large variation in their properties. For some projects, it is a challenging task to choose the optimal interlayer.

The 1,350 foot high Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower) was looking for a grand attraction for their Skydeck in 2008. Few structures in the world have glass floors (both interior and exterior), and almost all are continuously supported along their edges with steel supports. In order to create a dramatic, unimpeded view of the City of Chicago the Skydeck Owners conceived of a glass platform that would protrude out of the building envelope and enable tourists, guests, and long time residents of the City to walk outside the building and look down the 1,350 foot exterior to the sidewalk below and have un-impeded views of the city. The structural glass floor system was designed to be supported by glass wall panels on three sides. In addition, the entire platform was constructed to be movable; into and out of the building. By allowing the glass observation box to move it could be constructed on the interior of the building and enable the automated window washing system for the rest of the building to continue functioning un-obstructed as well. Every piece of glass on this structure is designed to carry pedestrian loads and work with elegant connections that are at once exposed and architecturally sculpted to disappear when the view of the city is observed by the guests on top of the highest structural glass floor in the world. In addition to gravity loads, and coordinating the retraction mechanism, the glass was designed with attention to redundant laminates and supports, according to the buildings high wind loads, and requiring special permissions by the City of Chicago for construction to begin.

Halcrow Yolles was retained to conceptualize ideas for a glass bridge designed to span across the main lobby of a new hotel. Its defining feature, laminated glass balustrades, span continuously over the entire nine metre opening. Design work for the bridge was completed using a finite element model of the entire bridge allowing for a detailed analysis of stress concentrations in the glass at bearing bolt connections. Special attention was paid to the transportation and erection of the bridge to ensure that the large panels remained intact. This project demonstrates how state of the art glass production techniques in combination with leading edge design methodology can lead to architecturally interesting structures.