IGS Magazine Winter 2021: Glass Supper Special Edition

Intelligent Glass Solutions

“Interdependence not independence, collectivism not individualism, must be our way forward” – Ian Ritchie has The Glass Word

MUSÉE ATELIER AUDEMARS PIGUET A spiralling glass masterpiece from Bjarke Ingels Group

PLAYING IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OF FAÇADES Humanizing the industry: anecdotes from a career in façade engineering

Winter 2021

FIGHTING THE CURVE

Turning the tide of battle in the fight against climate change

TO

Winter 2021 www.igsmag.com

BREAK THE RULES,

YOU MUST FIRST

An IPL magazine

MASTER THEM

Glass Supper Special Edition F E AT U R I N G A G C G L A S S E U R O P E | S I R R O B E R T M C A L P I N E | E U R O P E A N S O L A R S H A D I N G O R G A N I S AT I O N G U T H R I E D O U G L A S | T E C H N O F O R M | A R U P | J O S E F G A R T N E R | D O W | KO N S TA N T I N A R K I T E K T E R TU DELF T | GL AS TRÖSCH | BJARKE INGELS GROUP | REYNAERS ALUMINIUM S A I N T- G O B A I N | G L A S S P E R F O R M A N C E D AY S | R I T C H I E * S T U D I O

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INTELLIGENT GLASS SOLUTIONS

Winter Edition 2021 A heartfelt thank you to ALL our wonderful contributors who put pen to paper for this issue of IGS Magazine

The SkyGarden, 20 Fenchurch Street: venue for the Glass Supper 2021. Photo by Pascal Orsini on Unsplash intelligent glass solutions | winter 2021

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PUBLISHER’S WORD

“A spark is a little thing, yet it may kindle the world” - Martin Farquhar Tupper

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PUBLISHER’S WORD

IGNITING THE SPARK A

fter a year hiatus due to the pandemic ‘that shall not be named’, the Glass Supper is back. While those Supper aficionados will remember being virtually rocketed to the moon in 2020, we are now back in-person, face-to-face at the SkyGarden, 20 Fenchurch Street.

The Glass industry’s most revered event celebrates its 10th anniversary in spectacular fashion with a line-up of world class speakers to match the gravitas of the occasion.

Panoramic views of London’s cityscape form the backdrop to this meeting of minds, orchestrating the free flow of conversations, ideas and partnerships that will be carried forward into 2022 and beyond.

Indeed, ‘connecting’ has become synonymous with the Glass Supper over the past 10 years. When you strip away the facade, the glitz and glamour, the striking venues that have hosted the event, only one thing remains, and that is the people. It is these people and the bonding between them that sparks the pioneering spirit of innovation. Old friendships are renewed, visionary projects discussed and future business partnerships and collaborations are formed. Feed the spark and it becomes a

flame, feed the flame and it becomes a fire, feed the fire and it becomes a roaring blaze.

Our next issue will be published in Spring of 2022 and will shed light on those intrepid leaders who are relentlessly driving the decarbonization of our industry. We explore alternative approaches to manufacturing, recycling, technological advances in glass, as well as requirements for modern façades, which improve the CO2-neutrality of buildings. We scrutinize the present over mutual concern for the future - a future where 1.5 degrees is still in reach!

No doubt, the recent COP26 climate change conference and ramifications for the glass sector will be a resounding topic of conversation at this year’s Glass Supper.

Buildings account for nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, 50% of the world’s energy consumption and 40% of raw materials. There is no silver bullet for tackling the climate crisis. Instead, lots of actions taken together will make the difference – and what a Our eternal gratitude goes to those who difference we can make! sacrificed much of their valuable time spending hours preparing articles exclusively Glass has an essential role to play in mitigating for all the beautiful men and women who the environmental impact of buildings; a read IGS - Thank you! Should you wish to task made exponentially more challenging address the industry in 2022, please feel by the multitude of other functions that are free to contact me for a more personal demanded from this material. However, it is and tailored discussion at your earliest these demands and increased expectations convenience. that are driving innovation, exemplified in the pages of this magazine. As is tradition, This is IGS, the world’s most popular and it is the individuals and companies who call beloved glass industry magazine. Nothing the Glass Supper home who have put pen to more, nothing less....nothing else! paper for the Winter Edition of IGS Magazine, the final issue of 2021 where we immortalize the conversations beyond the date. With a Lewis Wilson renewed sense of urgency in the fight against Marketing Director and Editor climate change, the glass industry is leading for IGS Magazine the charge.

Email: lewis@igsmag.com

Photo by Matt Palmer on Unsplash

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CONTENTS IGS WINTER EDITION 2021 E X E C U T I V E B OA R DRO O M C O M M E N TA RY 8

FIGHTING THE CURVE Marc Everling – Founder, Marc Everling Sustainable Communication in collaboration with AGC Glass Europe A Fight against the most significant threat to our planet – climate change. In this article, AGC outline their commitment and action in reducing carbon emissions. Time is slipping through our fingers… the time for talk is over!

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PLAYING IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OF FACADES Simone Starnini - Head of Façade Engineering, Sir Robert McAlpine From coincidental beginnings to working on some of the world’s most iconic projects, Simone gives us a glimpse into the oftenuntold human side of our industry with anecdotes and experiences from a career in façade engineering.

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“THE BEST KWH IS ALWAYS THE ONE WE DO NOT NEED” Anders Hall - President, European Solar Shading Organisation (ES-SO) and Andrew Kitching - Managing Director, Guthrie Douglas Harnessing the power of light and shade with glass and integrated dynamic shading is a game changer for environmental and economic building performance, a viable and existing solution in the journey to a net-zero future.

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WE KNOW WHAT TO DO, SO LET’S DO IT Helen Sanders - General Manager, Technoform North America Helen contends that the key to battling climate change lies in highperformance building envelopes. Advocating for the adoption of current state-of-the-art glass and glazing technologies, and stringent codes and policy incentives, she believes we already have the weapons to start turning the tide of battle.

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78 T R A N S PA R E N T A R C H I T E C T U R A L STRUCTURES 52

A CITY IN THE SKY Penny Cheung, Lu-Lu Du, Gary Ge, Antony Ho, Michael Kwok and Allen Sun, Arup Arup explore the design and engineering of Raffles City Chongqing, a landmark development inspired by old sailing vessels. Find out what it took to build the iconic crystal, a 300m-long glass-clad skybridge that spans four of the 250m-tall curved towers – a new gateway to western China.

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A BREATH OF FRESH AIR: PIONEERING FAÇADE FOR A FLEXIBLE WORKING ENVIRONMENT Jürgen Wax - CEO and Adrian Gliese - Project Manager, Josef Gartner GmbH Jürgen and Adrian delve into the façade of the MZIL office campus.

Developed in response to a complex architectural design that called for highly transparent glass and innovative solutions to air flow and energy-efficiency, occupant needs drove this pioneering façade concept.

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THE QAAMMAT PAVILION: INNOVATION, COLLABORATION AND INCLUSION Valérie Hayez and Burak Aksoy, Dow; Konstantin Ikonomidis, Konstantin Arkitekter; Faidra Oikonomopoulou and Telesilla Bristogianni, TU Delft A story of collaboration to design and build a poetic glass landmark nestled in the picturesque fjords of Greenland. Fueled by passion and expertise across multiple fields, discover the innovative glass and silicone solutions that were created to solve complex challenges in one of the world’s harshest environments.

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THE HEALING POWER OF GLASS Andreas Scheib - Chief Communication Officer, Glas Trösch Architecture and glass are part of the therapy at Bürgerspital Solothurn in Switzerland. Healing daylight, sound insulation, climate control and best practice in building ecology are on show at this hospital, originally commissioned by Pope Martin V in 1418.

THE BIG INTERVIEW 98

MUSÉE ATELIER AUDEMARS PIGUET: TO BREAK THE RULES, YOU MUST FIRST MASTER THEM Otilia Pupezeanu - Senior Designer, Bjarke Ingels Group Secluded in a high mountain valley of the Swiss Jura, the spiralling glass creation is a metaphorical extension of an Audemars Piguet timepiece. In this exclusive interview, Otilia gives you unparalleled insights into the design of this striking, yet subtle masterpiece from architects Bjarke Ingels Group.

GLOBAL CASE STUDIES AND TRENDS GAINING TRACTION 110 FREEDOM IN CURTAIN WALL DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE

John McComb - Technical Director, Reynaers Aluminium

Facilitating creative freedom without compromising performance,

John takes a deep dive into the benefits of successfully specifying

curtain wall systems through exemplary case studies from Reynaer’s portfolio.

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THE MISSING LINK: A DIGITAL (GLASS) FOOTPRINT Andreas Bittis - International Market Manager, Saint-Gobain Glass, BU Facade Glass with the ability to store and access data and a global database is the missing piece of the puzzle towards the digitalization of the construction industry, a pioneering step towards achieving a circular economy and reducing waste.

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GLASS PERFORMANCE DAYS 2021: A SPECIAL 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Brown Onduso - Conference Manager, GPD In the midst of the current uncertainty, one thing is clear – growth is only possible through partnership! We hear from Brown Onduso, who outlines the exciting plans for the special edition of GPD in 2022.

THE GLASS WORD 140

ARCHITECTURAL VALUES IN A CHANGING WORLD Ian Ritchie CBE RA - Director, ritchie*studio In the final edition of “The Glass Word” in 2021, Ian uncovers the complex nature of architecture in relation to culture, technology and nature, contending that interdependence not independence, collectivism not individualism, must be our way forward.

98 Intelligent Glass Solutions

“Interdependence not independence, collectivism not individualism, must be our way forward” – Ian Ritchie has The Glass Word

MUSÉE ATELIER AUDEMARS PIGUET A spiralling glass masterpiece from Bjarke Ingels Group

PLAYING IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OF FAÇADES Humanizing the industry: anecdotes from a career in façade engineering

Winter 2021

FIGHTING THE CURVE

Turning the tide of battle in the fight against climate change

TO

Winter 2021 www.igsmag.com

BREAK THE RULES,

YOU MUST FIRST An IPL magazine

MASTER THEM

Glass Supper Special Edition F E AT U R I N G A G C G L A S S E U R O P E | S I R R O B E R T M C A L P I N E | E U R O P E A N S O L A R S H A D I N G O R G A N I S AT I O N G U T H R I E D O U G L A S | T E C H N O F O R M | A R U P | J O S E F G A R T N E R | D O W | KO N S TA N T I N A R K I T E K T E R TU DELF T | GL AS TRÖSCH | BJARKE INGELS GROUP | REYNAERS ALUMINIUM S A I N T- G O B A I N | G L A S S P E R F O R M A N C E D AY S | R I T C H I E * S T U D I O

Image: 20 Fenchurch Street Image courtesy: bingaroony on iStockphoto Intelligent Glass Solutions is Published by Intelligent Publications Limited (IPL) ISSN: 1742-2396 Publisher: Nick Beaumont Accounts: Jamie Quy

Editor: Lewis Wilson Production Manager: Kath James Director of International Business Network Development: Roland Philip Manager of International Business Network Development: Maria Jasiewicz Marketing Director: Lewis Wilson

Page Design Advisor: Arima Regis Design and Layout in the UK: Simon Smith Intelligent Glass Solutions is a quarterly publication. The annual subscription rates are £79 (UK) , £89 (Ireland & Mainland Europe), & £99 (Rest of the World) Email: nick@intelligentpublications.com

Published by: Intelligent Publications Limited, 3rd Floor, Omnibus House, 39-41 North Road, London N7 9DP, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 7703 487744 Email: nick@intelligentpublications.com www.igsmag.com

The entire content of this publication is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. None of the content in this publication can be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, without permission, in writing, from the copyright owner. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication, however the publisher does not accept any liability for ommissions or inaccuracies. Authors’ views are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher.

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MARC EVERLING Founder of Marc Everling Sustainable Communication The global pandemic has made us pause, especially in the past year, and given us time to reflect on how we live, work, communicate, travel, consume, build and shape our world. Above all, to reflect on our necessary action in the climate crisis, which, according to scientific consensus, represents a clear threat to the entire biosphere and thus the greatest challenge of the coming decades. PAGE 8

Otilia Pupezeanu

Senior Designer at Bjarke Ingels Group We created a gravity-defying floating architecture free from walls and columns, while simultaneously growing from the ground rooted in the undulating landscape of the Vallée de Joux. Floating yet rooted.

Functional yet sculptural. Contemporary yet timeless.

A building conceived as an oxymoron, much like a signature Audemars Piguet timepiece.

Page 98

Inside th 6

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HELEN SANDERS

JÜRGEN WAX

General Manager at Technoform North America

CEO at Josef Gartner GmbH

“What we do in the next five years determines the viability of humanity’s future.

Even if we narrow our aspirations to ‘survival,’ fixing on a timescale of 50 years or so, the challenges are daunting. Humanity deserves better.

We know what to do...”. Our industry knows what to do. Let’s do it. PAGE 40

SIMONE STARNINI

MIZAL has become a pioneering example of innovative, open and flexible working environments, especially in times of the coronavirus pandemic, when fresh air has become a key health factor. The CCF façade, with highly transparent glass, not only provides light-flooded rooms, but also very high thermal insulation via highly effective and transparent solar shading. PAGE 66

IAN RITCHIE CBE RA HAS THE GLASS WORD Director of ritchie*studio Creativity and innovation in architecture work through the investigation of memory, context, the nature of the materials which we transport and transform to build, and the way buildings are constructed and their relation to their environment.

PAGE 140

Head of Façade Engineering at Sir Robert McAlpine Another fascinating aspect is the feeling of continuity that construction can give, the idea of leaving a noticeable trace of our work, playing a part in shaping the built environment that quite likely will outlive us.

PAGE 20

his Issue Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet featured in ‘The BIG Interview’ with Otilia Pupezeanu, Senior Design at Bjarke Ingels Group. © Iwan Baan

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EXECUTIVE BOARDROOM COMMENTARY

FIGHTING THE Article written by Marc Everling subsequent to an interviewwith Laurent Delmotte, Head of Sustainability and Product Stewardship at AGC Glass Europe

The AGC Technovation Centre is at the heart of AGC’s technological know-how in Europe, an R&D facility that focuses on glass innovations that will shape our future way of living, moving and communicating. Photographer: Jean-Michel Byl © AGC Glass Europe.

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EXECUTIVE BOARDROOM COMMENTARY

T

he global pandemic has made us pause, especially in the past year, and given us time to reflect on how we live, work, communicate, travel, consume, build and shape our world. Above all, to reflect on our necessary action in the climate crisis, which, according to scientific consensus, represents a clear threat to the entire biosphere and thus the greatest challenge of the coming decades. This is clearly illustrated by the "Keeling curve", which graphically depicts the daily atmospheric carbon dioxide content of the Earth's atmosphere measured at the Hawaiian volcano Mauna Loa since 1958. Over the last 800,000 years, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere has never exceeded an approximate level of 300 ppm (parts per million). A conspicuous rise in the curve has been documented since the 1960s, and it has been climbing ever steeper ever since. In May 2021, the peak level was already around 418 ppm - despite the fact that the world was temporarily decelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The higher the value, the greater the global warming - that is the scientific consensus. All global efforts to date in the field of renewable energies have so far failed to flatten the Keeling curve. We are too hesitant: for the consistent conversion of energy and heat generation via renewable energies, the rate of expansion would have to be multiplied worldwide. Climate extremes are occurring worldwide at ever shorter intervals, be it sweltering heat or massive flooding so-called "floods of the century" or "summers of the century" with prolonged periods of drought are occurring far more frequently than the striking designation would lead one to believe. If humankind does not succeed in limiting CO₂ emissions to the targets agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement by 2030, global warming of 1.5°C or even 2°C will be exceeded in the current century. Whereas the "climate layperson" shrugs his shoulders and associates 2 degrees of global warming with the prospect of pleasant weather, informed people know that weather is not the same as climate. A warming of around 1.2° Celsius, for example, is likely to make coral reefs a thing of the past. With a global average warming of 2° Celsius, we will lose the Greenland ice sheet in the foreseeable future, which will then raise the global sea level immensely. In any event, the ice sheet is already melting much faster than expected. Due to the shrinking ice sheet, less solar energy is reflected, which leads to 10

As the façade of The Stratford (formerly Manhattan Loft Gardens) includes full height glazing, a combination of solar control and thermal insulation coated glass from AGC was needed to allow the facade to achieve its energy efficiency targets. Photographer: Hufton+Crow © Hufton+Crow

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additional warming feedbacks. The Arctic region has already heated up by a catastrophic 3.5° Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.

If we lose the ice sheet, coastlines worldwide will migrate inland and millions of people will become climate refugees. All over the world, land situated along coasts or rivers will turn out to be an expensive bad investment. Jakarta, Mumbai, Shanghai, Durban, New York, Sydney, Hamburg - will be flooded, and small island states like the Maldives or the Bahamas long before that. Research also assumes that in the complex global climate system, changes in the framework conditions will also cause reactions of the entire system and so-called "tipping points" will exacerbate the situation. In addition to the loss of the Arctic Sea ice, these are, for example, the loss of perma-frost and tundra, the death of boreal forests and the Amazon rainforest, the increasing instability of the West Antarctic ice sheet and the weakening of the Gulf Stream.

Politics and industry must act now The goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, which are relevant under international law, have been ratified by 195 parties and are by no means meant to be symbolic or merely a "nice to have". They are not a utopian "vision of the future" or an idealistic idea of the future of the planet - but essential for a halfway intact biosphere and thus also for human civilisation. Many scientific studies already consider it unlikely that a warming of only 1.5° Celsius can still be sustained, and even limiting it to 2° Celsius already seems ambitious.

CO₂ emissions would have to be reduced to pre-industrial levels and a way would have to be found to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and bind them in CO₂ sinks.

To achieve this, it would be imperative to restore natural landscapes such as moors and forests with high biodiversity worldwide. It is imperative to move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible and to massively expand Stadskantoor Venlo - The structure of the building was fully built according to Cradle-to-Cradle principles and is 100% energy neutral. Architects: Kraaijvanger Architects.

AGC products – Stopray Vision-60, Thermobel Top N+ and Pyropane EW60. Image © AGC Glass Europe.

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AGC Stopray Vision-60 on Clearvision – a high-performance coated, extra-clear glass – was chosen to glaze the facade of the iconic 70 St Mary Axe. This 21-storey, BREEAM Excellent building was completed in 2019 in the very heart of the City of London. Photographer: Paul Scott ©Front Elevation.

renewable alternatives. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, tweeted on 18 September 2021 that the NDC Synthesis Report 2021 currently forecasts a global temperature increase of 2.7° Celsius - and that this will happen by the end of the century if the industrialised countries in particular do not at least double their efforts to protect the climate. To put this in perspective: With a global warming of this calibre, we would be living in a climate that last prevailed about 3 million years ago, i.e. in the Pliocene - a time when the species "Homo" did not even exist and the planet had not yet experienced an ice age.

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Stopray Vision-70T at Porta Vigentina. © AGC Glass Europe

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Double-skin façade combining BIPV glass (outside skin) with Stopray Ultra-50 double glazing on Clearvision with a triple silver coating at the AGC Technovation Centre.

Photographer: Jean-Michel Byl © AGC Glass Europe.

Perhaps the toughest change is in store for the construction industry, because according to the UN Environment Programme's report "2020 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction - Towards a zeroemissions, efficient and resilient buildings and construction sector" (16.12.2020), the greenhouse gas emissions of the construction sector are at a record level worldwide - this sector is responsible for around 39 percent of global CO₂ emissions. This fact is both frightening and hopeful, because it means that the potential for improvement must be considerable and that massive changes would have strong effects. However, if construction

continues at the same energy-intensive pace and with non-sustainable building materials as before, the goals set will become unattainable.

Due to global population growth, sealed surfaces are expanding rapidly, and at the same time, unfortunately, the hunger for energy continues to grow. The industry is therefore challenged to develop climate-neutral or climate-positive, sustainable building products.

Politicians must set the right course to ensure that these products are consistently used: create market incentives, subsidise climate-positive and climate-neutral products, ban ecologically harmful products, tighten building regulations, create standards for calculating climate damage.

Buildings must not only be energy-efficient, the products used must also conserve resources, be produced, transported and installed in a material-efficient manner and with the lowest possible CO₂ emissions. Products must be planned in digitalised processes in such a way that they enter into cycles with the originator and the components are recycled many times over. The inter-changeability of components in buildings must be given greater consideration in architectural planning so that years later, obsolete products can be easily replaced with new developments. The real challenge, however, will be to act quickly, because time is slipping through our fingers.

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Lycée hôtelier et technique de Monaco is covered

by SunEwat XL glass (A BIPV solution from AGC).

The building can produce 38.900 kWh per year… thanks to the photovoltaic cells that are embedded in the glass! © AGC Glass Europe

Industries must become drivers of sustainability The glass industry is inherently energyintensive, because glass production consumes raw materials and requires a great deal of energy to produce the molten glass. Float glass plants around the world are heated with fossil fuels - at AGC Glass Europe, natural gas is used almost exclusively, as more CO₂ emitting heavy fuel has been gradually removed. Energy is also needed to extract the necessary raw materials.

Many of the basic ingredients in the melt are natural but have to be mined and transported, and the synthetic soda ash used among natural soda ash is produced by a chemical reaction between sodium chloride (salt) and limestone and this requires a considerable amount of energy. AGC is already continuously increasing the proportion of cullet in the melt - which saves a lot of energy and raw materials. But a real milestone would be to substantially decrease the part of fossil fuels used to operate the furnaces. The group already devotes 50 per cent of its R&D budget to researching sustainable products and solutions that will make the company's ecological footprint climate-positive in the future.

AGC also assesses the sustainability of its large product range with a holistic approach based on three pillars: EPDs and life cycle assessments, the company's carbon footprint and Cradle to Cradle for environmental certification of almost all products.

AGC’s Pyrobel glass at KAA football club (Gent). Photographer: JeanMichel Byl © AGC Glass Europe.

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EPDs and life cycle assessments provide evidence to make each new product more sustainable and to optimise the existing portfolio. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is an internationally recognised (ISO 14040 & ISO 14044 standards) and scientific tool for quantifying the environmental performance attributable to the different life phases of products, including upstream phases. Operational efficiency is continuously mapped, product designs are optimised and environmental transparency is created. The aim is to assess the potential impact of each product - based on all inputs and outputs that occur during production and subsequent use. This includes all upstream or downstream processes, such as the supply chain, packaging,

transport and more. AGC is actively involved in the life cycle assessment of European float glass and magnetron-coated glass as part of the Glass for Europe association. The Group is also involved in LCA for insulating and laminated glass under the programme of the French trade association for the flat glass industry (Chambre Syndicale des Fabricants de Verre Plat) and in the ongoing work of Vakgroep GLAS, Bouwend Nederland, which aims to introduce industrywide EPDs. The AGC EPD programme is part of the integrated approach: a life cycle assessment (LCA) is established for each product in order to continuously improve the corresponding EPDs, monitor the Cradle-to-Cradle policy, evaluate the impact of all materials used and quantify all environmental impacts as accurately

© AGC Glass Europe

Fineo Glass in Amsterdam. © AGC Glass Europe

as possible. The value chain and resource efficiency are also under constant scrutiny.

To minimise air pollution, AGC equips its float plants with DeNOX and DeSOX systems to reduce pollutants. All AGC EPDs are independently verified externally.

In the wake of climate change, the most important environmental indicators that need to be monitored in glass production are greenhouse gas production, primary energy consumption and NOX and SOX-related air pollution. Above a certain temperature during glass melting, oxygen and nitrogen in the air react spontaneously to form NOX. This is the main source of acidifying substances. SOX emissions also contribute to this indicator, but are declining sharply, as they were mainly from the use of heavy fuel oil, which has now almost completely disappeared from AGC's plants. Other emissions come from sulphatecontaining raw materials.

The result of the life cycle assessment of each product provides important and necessary information for the sustainability certification of buildings and allows to continuously optimise the environmental impact in the production phase. EPDs offer planners and architects the possibility to identify and evaluate the environmental impact of building materials, products and building systems. Under various green building programmes, such as LEED and BREEAM, points can be earned by using products with EPDs (or related information) in the design and construction of buildings.

The regulatory framework is also driving the development of building-level LCA for upcoming projects. In this case, the whole building is assessed, taking into account the production and deconstruction phases in addition to the use phase, which has already been covered by the energy performance of buildings. Here, too, the EPD system is a way of providing scientifically sound, verified and comparable environmental information. An EPD is thus a comprehensive and concise disclosure of a product's environmental impact based on the results of a full life cycle assessment. EPDs follow international standards, including ISO 14044 and ISO 14025, and EN 15804 sets out the basic rules for preparing environmental product declarations for construction products and materials. AGC Glass Europe's EPD journey began in 2009 with the publication of the first EPD for float glass. Today, almost all AGC products are covered by EPDs.

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The calculation of AGC Glass Europe's carbon footprint helps to identify all greenhouse gas emissions generated by the company: all direct and indirect emissions, emissions from electricity generation, from upstream and down-stream activities along the value chain, such as glass transportation, emissions from resource extraction, etc. AGC's first carbon footprint calculation was carried out in 2009 and has been repeated at least every three years since then. Taking these aspects into account, AGC Glass Europe is responsible (directly and indirectly) for 3,900,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year (reference year 2019).

In addition to the impact of production, many products in AGC Glass Europe's portfolio also have a positive impact in the use phase by reducing the energy demand of buildings

and therefore CO₂ emissions. These include, for example, the high-performance double and triple glazing used in residential and commercial buildings worldwide. Depending on the geographical region, they help to reduce the heating and air-conditioning requirements of buildings - CO₂ emissions are thus significantly reduced. For use on car windscreens, AGC developed the so-called "IRIS coating", which blocks much of the sun's heat and thus reduces the need for cooling.

Other coatings increase the energy efficiency of commercial refrigerators and freezers. Last but not least, AGC produces glass for buildingintegrated photovoltaics, solar mirrors and much more - the glass is thus also used to generate sustainable energy.

Various methods have been used to calculate the energy savings achieved by the building’s

glazing and thus the avoided CO₂ emissions, e.g. The "GHG Protocol for Project Accounting, ISO 14064-2 Greenhouse gases - Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements" and "METI Guidelines for Quantifying GHG emission reductions of goods or services through Global Value Chain". In the case of glazing, for example, the avoided emissions are calculated as the savings from advanced low-E coatings compared to conventional double or single glazing over a 30-year lifetime. The calculations are carried out using the scientific total energy simulation software "Energy Plus". This software performs a dynamic simulation with adjustable time steps based on outdoor temperature, solar radiation and wind effects. A wide range of variables and also the influencing factors in the different

© AGC Glass Europe

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climate zones are taken into account. For all products manufactured by AGC Glass Europe in 2019, it has been calculated that the amount of CO₂ avoided for heating and cooling buildings is approximately 23,300,000 tonnes. In addition, about 9,200,000 tonnes of CO₂ are saved for artificial lighting, because incident daylight means that electric lighting does not have to be switched on until later. In total, therefore, the savings amount to about 32,500,000 tonnes of CO₂. It follows from this: for every tonne of CO₂ emitted by AGC Glass Europe's activities, more than 8 tonnes of CO₂ are avoided through the use of its products. © AGC Glass Europe

70,000 square metres of Cradle-to-Cradle certified glazing from AGC Glass Europe set new technical and aesthetic standards at 22 Bishopsgate in London. Photographer: Hufton+Crow © Hufton+Crow.

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Cradle to Cradle – only holistic is sustainable: back in 2010, AGC became the first European glass manufacturer to receive Cradle to Cradle certification for float glass and magnetron-coated glass.

The certification assesses the sustainability of a product over its entire life cycle and expands the definition of good product design to include positive impacts on economic, environmental and social health.

To be certified, a product must meet strict requirements in the categories of material health, material reuse, renewable energy and carbon management, water management and social fairness. Eight AGC product families now hold C2C certification: float glass, magnetroncoated glass, decorative glass, solar mirror, laminated glass, insulating glass, patterned glass and fire-resistant glass. The certification of insulating glass products was complex because the complexity of the product (e.g. spacers, sealants, etc.) means that there are many more variables than in glass products with a lower level of manufacturing. AGC is the first glass manufacturer in the world to successfully go through this process for insulating glass units, which involves dozens of suppliers and 40 AGC plants involved in the manufacturing process.

Under the certification programme, a product receives a Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum performance level in each category, with the lowest performance level always representing the final score. Each C2C certification is linked to a scorecard. This shows in detail how a product has performed in the different assessment categories. Under version 3 of C2C, AGC achieved Bronze level for float glass, insulating glass and solar mirrors, and Silver level for magnetron-coated glass, patterned glass, laminated glass and fire resistant glass. The product range for decorative glass was certified with silver and bronze.

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AGC Glass Europe: Targets for 2030 In recent years, AGC has already made important progress in the development of new insulating glazing, e.g., the vacuum insulating glass "Fineo". The energy performance of thermal and solar control coatings has also been continuously improved. Multimodal transport by ship or rail is increasingly replacing road transport and the reuse of glass packaging has been

improved. For general cargo shipments, AGC now only uses sustainable wood for packaging. Atmospheric emissions and energy consumption have already been significantly reduced.

In 2020, AGC achieved...

• 40,300 tonnes of finished glass products transported in multimodal traffic • 1 million tonnes of glass recycled

• 69 per cent less water consumed than at the beginning of the observation period (1998) • 56 per cent of all raw materials transported by ship, barge or train • 11 per cent less CO₂ emitted (compared to 2002) • 97% of solid waste recycled • 98% of packaging reused in Belgium • 61% less specific dust emissions caused (comparative value 1999)

For the current decade until 2030, AGC has defined six over-arching targets - the baseline is 2020:

© AGC Glass Europe

Fineo deploys pioneering vacuum-insulation technology to deliver exceptional thermal control in slimline glass. © AGC Glass Europe

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AGC’s Thermobel glass at Maison Passive.

Photographer: Jean-Michel Byl © AGC Glass Europe.

These targets address the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water use and waste, and drive the development of new products with better environmental performance throughout their life cycle, including end-of-life recycling.

• Improve the energy efficiency of all production processes and downstream activities.

• Reduce the environmental impact of all production processes • Certified environmental management systems • Improving green procurement • Focus on multimodal transport • Development and optimisation of products that save energy and contribute to sustainable development, such as functional coatings and photovoltaic products • Research, trials and projects aimed at massively expanding recycling at the end of a product's life and creating real life cy-cles • Substitution of hazardous substances in processes and products beyond the legal requirements • Ensuring compliance with the REACH regulation and other regulations on chemical substances.

AGC sees certified environmental management systems (EMS) in all plants as essential to achieve the internationally relevant goals of its environmental policy.

However, this is not only about compliance with environmental regulations, but also about a general attitude and the perception of social responsibility by using the company's innovative power to develop innovative building products that counteract the manmade climate change. The glass industry must contribute to reducing CO2 emissions, especially finding solutions to reduce direct emissions in the process of glass melting and raw material production.

At AGC, too, the largest share of direct CO2 emissions comes from melting activities.

About 75 per cent of the CO2 emissions from the melting furnaces are energy-related, while the remaining 25 per cent are caused by the decomposition of raw materials. AGC has a target to reduce its green-house gas emissions by 30% from 2020 to 2030.

Marc Everling Marc studied humanities at the Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany) with a focus on the psychological and sociological contexts of internet-based communication.

After a total of 14 years in PR agencies, he was Head of Marketing Communications in the glass industry for 6 years before starting his own business in spring 2021. With a clear focus on sustainability topics, he now supports companies and architects in matters of strategy, communication, networking and events with his agency "Marc Everling Sustainable Communication".

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Playing in the

Champions League of Facades Anecdotes from Simone Starnini Head of Façade Engineering at Sir Robert McAlpine

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O

ne of the questions I always enjoy asking colleagues and people I meet for work is “How did you end up in Facades?”.

The answers I get are as diverse as one could possibly imagine, ranging from a clear focus on personal aspirations to a romantic attraction for a façade lecturer or simply pure coincidence.

The latter matches perfectly my circumstances.

Coincidence for me was in the form of a letter I found in my parents’ post box a few days after my graduation in Civil Engineering. It was my first (and only) invite for a job interview and it came from a company that specialized in “design, manufacturing and installation of bespoke curtain walling systems”, a combination of words I had never heard before.

I obviously replied enthusiastically and went for the interview. As it turned out, the business owner had a degree in Medicine and Surgery, with a post-graduate specialization in Psychiatry, and I ended up having my first job interview with a psychiatrist at the other end of a desk asking me to talk about myself.

The Leadenhall Building.

Photo by Sebastian Doe on Unsplash

One Hyde Park.

Photo by Rob Deutscher on Flickr

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I was definitely in for a great start.

About a quarter of a century later I am still thoroughly enjoying the journey, which I hope will still involve a number of exciting projects to work on and interesting people to work with.

Projects and people.

It is sometimes difficult to explain what is so cool about facades, especially to people who have never been involved with its combination of architecture and engineering, or maybe engineering at the service of architecture. A comparison I like is the young boy passionate about football, who actually enjoys playing football, and finds himself playing in an international League with top players in cup finals….and even manages to score goals, or save some. Would he not be passionate about playing as many matches as possible and trying to do the best for the team?

The Brunel Building.

Photo by Simone Starnini

King's Health Partners Cancer Care at Guy's Hospital

Most of us remember with a smile their days as a student and surely, I’m no different. But, one of my clearest memories was an exam about the history of architecture and urbanism.

One of the questions in that exam was about the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the work of a world-renowned architect. Quite a few moons after that exam I had the privilege of working with his practice on some of London’s most iconic projects, such as One Hyde Park, Guy’s Hospital and the Leadenhall Building.

The young footballer is now playing in the Champions League finals and he’s taking home the cup!

Even the most glamorous projects, though, hide an untold side of hard work and challenges during their design and construction phase. Anecdotes would occupy many issues of this publication, but a few are worth remembering. During the delivery phase of King Health Partner Cancer Care at Guy’s Hospital, the site office was on the ninth (and last) floor of the existing hospital. Taking the lift to the office meant stopping at every floor, seeing people coming in and out of various wards with all sorts of health issues. That was in itself a powerful reminder to refocus on real priorities, especially when children with serious conditions entered the lift. As a father, that has always been hard to take in, however it has also been an additional push, an incentive to work even harder to contribute to building a new hospital where these people could be properly treated and return soon to their lives.

Building envelopes surely generate a mysterious charm, an attraction that keeps us at work till late or on weekends. It’s the same appeal that captures our eyes when we walk past a newly completed building, and it’s probably a combination of various disciplines we have crossed during our studies. Mechanical

engineering, structural engineering, building physics, electromagnetism, optics, chemistry, and even mathematics, particularly in these days where algorithms seem to be the key to resolving many problems. There is another fundamental factor though, an adhesive matrix that holds together the various components,

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which is human interaction, the indispensable ingredient that makes the difference between just a project and a successful one.

Coming from a small village on the North Eastern coast of Italy I would have never thought I would have met so many inspirational characters from such various backgrounds. I did not even know there was a country named “Lesotho” until a young man from that country with a degree in Engineering came for an interview…by far one of the most enlightening interviews of my life (no psychiatrists in sight this time) and the distinct feeling of betting on the right horse when offering him a job. His career in facades demonstrated once again that “people” make the difference between a successful project and just a project. Projects and people.

King Edward's Court at Paternoster Square

Cannon Place. Image courtesy of CBRE

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5 Merchant Square © Mossessian & Partners

Two recently completed buildings could be considered exemplar in my view, a large medical research centre in central London, and a “wedge-shaped” office tower in the city. In both projects, a solid bond was established within the entire design team since the early tender stage, a bond grown and made stronger as the design developed. Everyone in the team was affected by what we called the “Concorde” feeling, the awareness we were part of a team tasked with designing and building a landmark, a one-off project, a piece of architecture, and most likely the most important project of our careers. Rivalry, one sided interests or antagonism never found their way into meetings. The entire design phase was long and complex, with inevitable bumps, but grounded on a solid pavement of joint effort, reciprocal support, empathy and synergies that extended even outside of the working hours.

It should not surprise that still to date we meet regularly, for drinks, not for work. The young footballer is proud of his teammates.

Another fascinating aspect is the feeling of continuity that construction can give, the idea of leaving a noticeable trace of our work, playing a part in shaping the built environment that quite likely will outlive us.

Unsurprisingly, some of the largest or tallest buildings are visible from a distance. Window seats on planes flying over London during takeoff or landing are therefore perfect viewpoints.

It is obvious then why I am not particularly talkative at the beginning or at the very end of flights in and out of London. I just can’t stop meticulously scrutinizing the capital’s urban fabric like a kid looking for the right piece of a jigsaw puzzle.

Surely the young footballer would be more interested in what’s coming next rather than reviewing old matches, so what is ahead of us?

On stage at Zak World of Façades

As an engineer I feel entirely represented by a quote from an American jurist (yes, a jurist), Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, who said: "I would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity".

To me, that is exactly what engineers are there for, to find a way to simplify complex problems. Façade engineers are no different, our mission is to find technically viable solutions to allow architectural requirements to become practically feasible. intelligent glass solutions | winter 2021

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In façade training courses I often ask attendees why professional tennis players still make double faults after so many years of exercising and serving practice. The answer is very simple, because hitting a little ball in that square of the court as fast and angled as possible is extremely difficult. Equally, in facades, combining all various disciplines to achieve multiple demanding requirements is invariably complex and difficult, hence challenges can only be minimised but they are endemic to the process.

Double faults are part of the game.

The continuous innovation in technology has provided us with powerful tools we could not even imagine a couple of decades ago. We now have new highly performing materials (hi-tech insulation, UHPC, Fibre Reinforced Polymers, etc.) and sophisticated computer programmes to run complex structural, thermal and fluid dynamics FE calculations. We can now design and build articulated spatial geometries and stretch materials to their maximum potential and the ultimate limit of their physical characteristics. The time also appears promising

to start using these tools to support our safety and our health.

It would be great if we could think of a single computer file containing all the available information on a project, a 3D model that could be used at design stage to ascertain how the building will look and work, at tender stage to identify required performances and during the design phase to be implemented with additional parameters as the design develops. Tender documents would be a single BIM model with gates that won’t allow progress unless compliance with the requirements is granted.

A single “live” model could then collect every sensitive information on the building. This would serve a dual function, providing direct access to the “golden thread” which is so popular in the UK, and also keeping track in real time of the performance of the building during its service life. A variety of self-powered systems are now available to collect real time information of each and every façade unit, to be analysed by the building maintenance system and to adjust locally the input required from Mechanical and Electric systems.

The amount of information we could collect over the next thirty years would be invaluable to validate our current designs and to remove some of the uncertainties and risks involved with designing, manufacturing and installing bespoke facades.

The Francis Crick Institute.

Image courtesy of PLP Architecture

The Francis Crick Institute.

Image by Simone Starnini

A structured collection and analysis of available data would result in the identification of KPI’s to be monitored during the early design phase to make complex envelopes more predictable.

Personally, I don’t see this as utopian or futuristic at all. A couple of Master or PhD dissertation studies might be sufficient to fine tune data analytics to be suited to façade monitoring and we could have another very powerful arrow in our quiver.

Bespoke and highly engineered facades are indeed complex systems and as such should be dealt with, as it commonly happens in other scientific disciplines (meteorology, astronomy, etc.). However, building envelopes also hold less scientific roles, such as shelter, protection, enclosure, appearance, attractiveness, cultural and geographic identity, acknowledgement, emphasis.

When technology is complemented by emotions then young footballers can stop warming up, as it’s time to go on the pitch and play this match.

Projects and people.

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"Unsurprisingly, some of the largest or tallest buildings are visible from a distance. Window seats on planes flying over London during takeoff or landing are therefore perfect viewpoints. It is obvious then why I am not particularly talkative at the beginning or at the very end of flights in and out of London. I just can’t stop meticulously scrutinizing the capital’s urban fabric like a kid looking for the right piece of a jigsaw puzzle"

Simone Starnini is a Civil Engineer from the University of Bologna (Italy) and PennState University (USA). His career includes seven years with curtain walling specialist contractor Focchi, during which time he occupied senior positions and delivered a number of large and prestigious schemes in London and Singapore. These include the London Stock Exchange Building in Paternoster Square, a large city block on 30 Gresham Street, and the RBS building in Devonshire Square.

In 2005, Simone joined Laing O’Rourke to establish and run its Façade Engineering Department operating in the UK and internationally. He was responsible for delivering the envelope for world-class projects including One Hyde Park, The Leadenhall Building, the Francis Crick Institute, and Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital.

In August 2019, Simone joined Main Contractor Sir Robert McAlpine to head their Façade Engineering Team and support tenders and projects throughout the UK. Simone also represents SRM in the CWCT Board and Technical Committee and within the Society of Façade Engineering of which he is a fellow member.

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The glass industry, in the palm of your hand EXECUTIVE BOARDROOM COMMENTARY

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Over of our readership are ultimate decision makers within this profession:

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IGS reaches over different countries spread across all continents, however the top 5 countries are:

United Kingdom, Germany, France, USA and the Netherlands.

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Design freedom without compromise Realise your project aspirations with leading product solutions in curtain wall.

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“The best kWh is always the one we do not need” Anders Hall President, European Solar Shading Organisation (ES-SO) Andrew Kitching Managing Director, Guthrie Douglas

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By 2050, 60% of the energy needed for mechanical cooling could be saved using dynamic façade shading according to a new study by Guidehouse, commissioned by the European Solar Shading Organisation for the EU Commission.

W

hy do you come to work?

What is the point of your company? A quick flick through the business strategies of the giants of our industry will tell you that building pretty

buildings and making a profit is not remotely enough anymore. Indeed, they now define their very purpose through the prism of reducing carbon, in some cases competing to show that they are taking the most ambitious steps towards Net Zero.

“We’ve made it our mission to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2025 and ABSOLUTE zero by 2040. Our industry’s most aggressive targets. By far.”

LendLease - Mission Zero

“Our commitment to carbon neutrality guides our actions and our decisions at all levels of the organization” Pierre-André de Chalendar, Saint Gobain

“Global emissions over the next few decades will shape our planet for centuries to come.

As designers of the built environment, we have a vital role to play in both mitigating the impacts on these systems and enabling infrastructure and urban development to adapt to ongoing change.”

Alan Belfield, Arup Group

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One such ‘low green premium’ option is dynamic, automated fa EXECUTIVE BOARDROOM COMMENTARY Guidehouse, commissioned for the EU, has revealed some aston existing technology can have on energy use in buildings over the The trouble with Construction is that it involves making stuff, moving it around, and plugging it in; energy intensive activities which resulting in our sector contributing a whopping 40% of the 51 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas we throw at our atmosphere each year. It is easy then to understand why the built environment and its supply chain featured heavily at COP 26 last month.

Jam Today?

There is a misconception that all small steps towards resilience and sustainability will contribute to Net Zero. But as Bill Gates articulated earlier this year in ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster’, 2030 is not necessarily a stop on the way to 2050. More radical ideas are required than simply replacing our coal-fired power stations with gas-fired ones that will still be in operation in 2050, regardless of whether India and China agree to it.

So, while we are waiting for the next generation of ‘carbon free’ building materials and zero energy construction methods, which options should we be deploying now? Bill Gates’ answer is ‘the ones with a low Green Premium’.

Technologies which already exist and are compatible with a net-zero long term future.

One such ‘low green premium’ option is dynamic, automated facade shading; and a new study from Guidehouse, commissioned for the EU, has revealed some astonishing results on the impact this existing technology can have on energy use in buildings over the next 30 years.

Can Europe kick the A/C habit before it takes hold?

Europe is getting hotter. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, between now and 2050 the average number of days per year our continent will require A/C for will increase by around 30% . A report from

C an E u ro p e k ic k th e A / C h a b it b e f o r e it ta k e s h o ld ?

Europe is getting hotter. According to the Intergovernmental Pa now and 2050 the average number of days per year our contine by around 30% 1. A report from the International Energy Agency increase from 115 million in 2020 to 275 million in 2050. Howev way to escape these depressing projections.

“100 million people are not being able to keep their homes cool in summ than Europeans who cannot keep their homes warm in winter” - Peter W use as a pullquote 2030 is not necessarily a stop on the way to 2050

How long can we carry on like this?

the International Energy Agency estimates that How long can we carry on like this?

A/C installations will increase from 115 million in 2020 to 275 million in 2050. However, the Guidehouse study sets out a way to escape these depressing projections.

The Guidehouse Study The study takes established baseline data and projections for present and future emissions from A/C across Europe, defined as “Business As Usual” (BAU), and compares it with potential

“In Europe today, 100 million people are not able to keep their homes cool in summer.

That is twice as many as those who cannot keep their homes warm in winter”

emissions in a moderate scenario where dynamic solar shading is properly recognised through EU regulations and implemented more widely, but still fairly cautiously, in the construction industry, defined as “Preferred Implementation”.

Even for this adjusted, moderate scenario, the results are quite striking. In the BAU scenario, 45% of buildings in Europe will require A/C by 2050, compared with 28% today. In the Preferred scenario where dynamic facade shading is implemented effectively, that number could remain static. In terms of energy consumption, that equates to a saving of 56 Terawatt hours per year, or 58% less greenhouse gas emissions.

Peter Winters, ES-SO / Dickson Constant

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Show me the money What will it cost to make this change? The study explored the cost of implementing more dynamic solar shading and found that up front capital expenditure is broadly cost-neutral when compared with the equivalent requirement for A/C installation. On top of this, very significant savings will be made from ongoing operational costs. The conclusion is that switching from more A/C to dynamic solar shading systems could save some €14.6 billion across Europe every year.

“Optimized uptake of dynamic shading is highly cost-efficient. The additional CAPEX for Shading is over-compensated by the less CAPEX for AC resulting in an estimated saving of bill €14.6/year.”

Performance or Compliance?

Dynamic solar shading can stop the increase of additional A/C units in the future

A significant saving of up to approx 60% (2050) in final electricity.

(Improved efficiency of AC units are considered)

“If we’re not deploying these solutions already, it’s a sign that cost isn’t the barrier. Something else - like outdated public policies or lack of awareness – is stopping us from getting them out there in a big way” Bill Gates, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (2021).

If the impact of solar shading is so great, why are these benefits not already being realised today?

One reason in Europe at least is that façade engineers and other members of our design teams are forced to use out of date simulation software in order to comply with outdated regulations. Most of this software is based on an old platform originally designed to plan HVAC, and not capable of modelling the real combined energy performance of glazing and shading.

This combined with wider regulations make it challenging for design teams to do anything other than resort to Air Conditioning to tick the compliance box, leading to missed opportunities in façade performance specifications and ultimately higher running costs for clients.

Very significant GHG savings in the “Preferred scenario” of up to 58%

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A recent study looking at the difference in building performance between Europe and Australia found that on average, new prime offices across Europe may be using twice as much energy per m2 for base building services as their Australian counterparts. The report concluded that there are no intrinsic physical reasons why new offices in Europe cannot perform as well as Australia’s, but that in the EU, base building energy in use is neither measured nor targeted; the design of energy efficient offices is rarely informed by feedback from real world measurements; and a design-for compliance culture, lack of energy performance disclosure, and confused responsibilities have contributed to the EU falling behind.

Optimized uptake of dynamic shading is highly cost-efficient. The additional CAPEX for Shading is over-compensated by the less CAPEX for AC resulting in an estimated saving of bill €14.6/year.

External facade blinds at EVS HQ, Liege

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Case Study: One Sydney Harbour The final piece in the puzzle of Lend Lease’s award winning, carbon neutral project Barangaroo South, One Sydney Harbour comprises three towers with the tallest rising to 250m. Natural ventilation, access to natural light, the use of photovoltaic cells and the design of high-performance double-skin façades including integrated dynamic solar shading control the internal environment, reduce energy consumption and provide a high quality of life for the residents.

More than 5,000 tensioned blinds are integrated into the façade and play an important role in achieving many design and client objectives. A combined g-value of 0.37 for glazing making up the inner and outer skin of the façade is reduced to 0.11 with the blinds deployed, thanks to the combination of a bespoke metallised fabric and low-iron glass.

The blinds are controlled by a ‘CRE Zone Intelligence’ system which communicates over IP and employs AI software to optimise blind movement to suit both energy efficiency and user preference.

The project is designed to exceed a 5-star NABERS rating.

Architect: Renzo Piano Developer: Lend Lease Façade Engineer: Arup Façade Contractor: Permasteelisa Integrated Façade Shading: Climate Ready Engineering & Guthrie Douglas

Case Study: The BD Building, Gothenburg, Sweden A Hall – “During my past years in Project Sales this project was, back in 2010, the very first using a true holistic approach in regards of the early-stage cooperation amongst all key players. We discussed the shading solution almost 1 year before they even started the digging on site. This was not only completely new to me but also one of the most pleasant projects I ever made due to the mutual engagement and respect that characterized the process. The result is a building, with 65% glazed facades, automated external blinds all over and internal screen blinds for personal use and potential glare adjustments.

Combined with all other technical functions installed the building is using approx. 40 kWh/m2 year (building energy) making it one of the most energy efficient offices in Sweden still today.”

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Atrium Blinds at KBC Bank, Brussels

Reasons to be Cheerful There are already some promising signs that the UK construction industry might be about to sit up and smell the Australian-ground coffee. The NABERS system that has proven successful down under in measuring actual energy use of offices and allowing clients to accurately track and communicate the energy performance of their buildings is being introduced in the UK through BRE and the Better Buildings Partnership.

New energy modelling software such as ESBO (Early Stage Building Optimization) and IDA ICE, which can more accurately model the combination of shading and glazing based on ISO Standards, EN norms and spectrally measured performance data, are slowly gaining traction in the market.

These developments represent potential long term, structural changes which in combination with the significant work being carried out across the industry on embodied carbon and energy savings could play a key role in our response to the climate crisis and drastically change how we think about our buildings and their carbon footprint.

The NABERS rating system

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External facade blinds at Lanxess HQ, Netherlands

That old chestnut – Collaboration

“If working apart we are forces powerful enough to destabilise our planet, surely working together we are powerful enough to save it.”

Sir David Attenborough, COP 26 Speech, Glasgow 2021.

Turning the benefits into reality means automatic blind control. Solar modelling and live radiation data can be balanced with local overrides for individuals. Addressable digital motors running over native IP networks can speak multiple languages including KNX, BACnet & MQTT, resulting in flexible integration with the BMS via fewer cables.

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Large scale facade blinds at Darling Quarter, Sydney

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Precise daylight control at the Latvian Museum of Art

New open protocol AI and IoT based software makes almost any configuration possible and enables remote monitoring for ongoing maintenance. Blinds, lights and HVAC units can talk to each other, predict individual human needs, respond autonomously and re-set themselves for aesthetic uniformity and energy requirements.

Exciting times The conclusions of the Guidehouse report are that an uptake in dynamic façade shading over the coming years will: • Stop overheating in buildings • Massively reduce electricity use from Air Conditioning • Significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions

“Using sunlight and daylight is like trying to drink from a fire hydrant: the challenge is CONTROL”

The report is likely to influence future EU and UK regulations to stipulate that active airconditioning should only be considered after dynamic solar shading is applied, a step which would necessitate much needed change in knock-on areas such as façade performance modelling software.

Prof Stephen Selkowitz, Lawrence Berkley NationalLaboratory

However, the only way to get this all right is proper collaboration between specifiers, engineers, and product manufacturers early in the design process. In most cases, this is still not happening. Reliance is often placed on building services engineers in the unrealistic expectation that they should somehow know it all. However, there are a growing number of more holistic ‘Environmental Design Consultants’as well as integration and controls experts operating within the larger, multidisciplinary facade engineering practices who do have the potential to take on what Eckersley O’Callaghan term a ‘Specialist Generalist’ role , facilitating genuine early collaboration.

Those that do this successfully will lead the charge in delivering buildings that truly harness the power of light and shade as positive environmental and architectural features, rather than creating problems to be overcome later.

Automated blinds are not revolutionary. Bring on the net zero electric cars, zero carbon cement, organic facades, coolants that don’t contain F-gases and getting to know one another as avatars in Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse from the comfort of our sustainably sourced sofas. While we are waiting for all of that, the combination of clear glass and integrated dynamic shading, executed effectively through collaboration in façade design, can be a game changer for environmental and economic building performance.

Andy Kitching, Managing Director, Guthrie Douglas Guthrie Douglas are a team of specialist engineers with the sole focus of creating technical shading systems for extraordinary spaces. We collaborate with designers who share our love of inspirational and sustainable architecture. www.guthriedouglas.com

Anders Hall, President, European Solar Shading Organisation (ES-SO) ES-SO represents professional solar shading associations from across Europe, which account for some 450,000 employees and a market size of more than €22 billion. We operate on a not-for-profit basis and seek to enable our members bringing a positive contribution towards the ambitious energy efficiency and resilience commitments made

by Europe today. www.es-so.com

References Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: https:// www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/sres-en.pdf 2 Design for Performance not compliance: making measured energy in-use the objective for new office buildings. Robert Cohen, Paul Bannister and Bill Bordass, Verco, Energy Action Australia, Usable Buildings Trust.

3 www.es-so.com/tools/esbo 4 http://www.eocengineers.com/wo_files/files/hughmcgilveray-special-generalist.pdf 5 Synergising mitigation of GHG emissions and adaptation to climate change. The potential to disrupt rising cooling demand and overheating in European buildings”, Guidehouse Germany GmbH, 5 November 2021

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We know what to do,

Figure 1 According to Architecture 2030, U.N. Environment’s construction growth projections imply that the equivalent of one New York City will be built every 34 days for the next 40 years.

Credit: Benjamin Gremler on Unsplash

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The equivalent of 1 New York City will be added to the planet every 34 days for the next 40 years - Architecture 2030

so let’s do it Helen Sanders, General Manager, Technoform North America

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W

e aren’t moving fast enough to slow climate change. The United Nations (U.N.) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) sixth assessment report stated, “Global warming of 1.5oC and 2oC will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades” [1].

Tipping points are being reached across the globe – in the Amazon, in the Arctic, in the coral reefs and beyond [2]. Even lockdowns in 2020 around the world weren’t enough to get us on the needed emissions trajectory. The Arctic has already warmed 3.5oC, driving strange weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere by allowing the polar vortex to “meander” south. Witness the severe cold in Texas in 2021.

The Greenland ice sheet appears now to be on an irreversible course, caught in a positive feedback loop of accelerating melting, causing sea levels to continue to rise and disruptions of the Gulf Stream. Add-on effects of Gulf Stream changes will drive more severe weather in the Amazon, Europe and eastern North America, and will not bode well for marine wildlife survival.

We have the technology, we just aren’t using it Not only are we building rapidly, but most of these buildings are being constructed without the highest performing envelope products and best-practice installation and commissioning processes that currently are available to us.

And these buildings will stay in place for many decades, operating with suboptimal performance, driving emissions yet higher.

The IPCC report (chapter 9 – Buildings) [1] stated, “This energy use and related emissions may double or potentially triple by mid-century due to several key trends.” It went on to say, however, “In contrast to doubling or tripling, final energy use may stay constant or even decline by mid-century, as compared with today’s levels, if today’s cost-effective best practices and technologies are broadly diffused.

The technology solutions to realize this potential exist and are well demonstrated.”

Resilience needs A high-performance building envelope is also critical to managing the impacts of severe weather caused by climate change.

When the power goes out for days after a storm, a great building envelope can ensure occupant survivability. An efficient HVAC system will be useless. Baby It’s Cold Inside, the Atelier Ten study for the Urban Green Council, [7] demonstrated how quickly indoor environments in New York City can turn deadly in buildings even with code-compliant envelopes.

The report also identified the potential for a two- to ten-fold reduction in energy use for new buildings and a two- to four-fold reduction for existing buildings if “existing

Higher thermal performance envelopes would have helped Texans during the 2020-21 winter and Pacific Northwest residents during the 2021 summer heat wave. In total, 210

Vast areas of the globe are projected to be uninhabitable by mid-century [3, 4]. Most of Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the major cities of Calcutta, Mumbai, Jakarta and Shanghai will be under water, leading to hundreds of millions of climate refugees and major loss of global rice production. Top climate scientists are also predicting societal decline from a deterioration in quality of life because of repeated and ongoing disasters and crises, and widening inequality [5].

Construction is accelerating According to U.N. Environment’s Global Status Report 2017 [6], buildings and construction account for 39% of the carbon emissions worldwide, split approximately 70%:30% between building operations (operational carbon), and building materials and construction (embodied carbon). And yet, we are in a construction boom. The report predicted 230 billion square metres of buildings will be added worldwide by 2060, doubling the current building stock (Figure 1).

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technologies, design best-practices, knowhow and behavioural changes” are brought to bear. It specifically mentioned the need for high-performance building envelopes and daylighting, and identified the Passive House Standard, net-zero or nearly net-zero buildings, and the Integrated Design Process as energy efficiency strategies.

Figure 2 Barriers to adoption of high-performance fenestration as business-as-usual.

Credit: Interactive Sports on Unsplash

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Figure 3a Map of Europe, illustrating maximum fenestration U-factor calculated according to ISO 10077.

Credit: Technoform

Figure 3b Typical, business-as-usual commercial window in Germany (U=1.3 W/m2K ISO 10077) Credit: Schüco

Texans died during the February 2021 storm and prolonged power outages, most due to hypothermia. The New York Times reported 610 excess deaths (compared to normal) in Washington and Oregon during that period [8], and British Columbia reported 569 heat-related deaths [9].

“Thermal Autonomy” and “Passive Survivability” are key building performance metrics, yet are not widely used in building design.

According to Ted Kesik, University of Toronto, Passive Survivability is “a measure of how long inhabitants may remain in their dwellings during extreme weather events that knock out their energy supply” [10].

Brendan Levitt, and the team at Loisis + Ubbelohde Associates, defined Thermal Autonomy as “the percentage of occupied time over a year where a thermal zone meets or exceeds a given set of thermal comfort acceptability criteria through passive means only” [11].

If adopted along with operational and embodied carbon emissions, these metrics would drive an envelope-first approach to design, improving both operational performance and resilience of our built environment and supporting the use of available high-performance technologies.

Barriers to adoption In the Spring 2021 edition of IGS, in asking the question “Do We Need More Innovation?” we touched on the barriers to adoption of highperformance envelope technology adoption [12]. Building code stringency (or lack thereof) was identified as a primary barrier, along with simplistic cost-effectiveness calculations that don’t include the real cost of carbon emissions, and the lowest cost bidder design-bid-build process (Figure 2).

At Technoform, we have done further research into energy codes and their correlations to the business-as-usual fenestration thermal performance in key geographic regions across the globe. This study has been laid out in a three-part blog published by IGS in June 2021 [13], and in a follow-up blog in August 2021 [14] focusing on hot climates. The key findings are summarized below and illustrated in Figures 3-5.

Code stringency is king The data illustrates clearly that widespread adoption of existing thermal zone technology for fenestration is driven primarily by a jurisdiction’s appetite for building energy efficiency – not by the availability of technologies.

Northern Europe (Germany and Scandinavia) have driven the thermal barrier and warm-edge

technology development. Figure 6 shows the development of thermal barrier technology since 1970 and the adoption by countries across the globe compared to Northern Europe.

Fenestration backstops work How prescriptive the code language is for minimum expected fenestration assembly and component level performance, also drives typical business-as-usual performance. Those energy codes that also specify maximum allowable U-factor and/or minimum thermal barrier dimensions (such as in Germany and China), even when following performance compliance paths, result in higher performance fenestration to be adopted as business-as-usual.

This typically includes wider, more complex, thermal barriers in frames and warm-edge spacer.

These “fenestration backstops” have shown to be effective at preventing designers from trading higher efficiency mechanical and lighting systems for poorer envelope components to reach the target energy performance. This trade-off happens often in the U.S., leading to lower installed fenestration performance than if the prescriptive compliance path was followed. However, some U.S. jurisdictions have implemented full envelope backstops in which the total envelope U-factor must meet a defined target to address this issue. The downside of this

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<1.1 W/m2K 1.2-1.3 W/m2K 1.4-1.5 W/m2K 1.6-1.7 W/m2K 1.8-2.0 W/m2K 2.1-2.5 W/m2K 2.6-3.0 W/m2K 3.1-3.5 W/m2K >3.6 W/m2K

Figure 4a Map of the U.S., illustrating the maximum fenestration U-factor for commercial fixed fenestration calculated according to NFRC 100.

Credit: Technoform

Figure 4b Typical, business-as-usual fenestration in the northern part of the U.S. with typical performance of 2.0-2.6 W/m2K calculated according to NFRC 100. Credit: Wausau Window and Wall Systems

approach compared to a fenestration backstop is a potential trade-off of transparent area for opaque elements, which are better insulating.

Climate zone isn’t always the determinant Climate type plays a role – colder climates will generally have lower U-factors prescribed than hotter climate zones to achieve a similar level of stringency. While this is typically the case within the same country, region or jurisdiction, it isn’t always the case between countries, regions or jurisdictions.

For example, the United Arab Emirates, located in a desert climate zone, requires more 44

stringent U-factors (1.9-2.1 W/m2K using either NFRC 100 or ISO 10077) than much of the U.S. When typical fenestration in similar climates across regions is compared, the code stringency and the way it is implemented, appear to be the most important factors driving installed window performance (Figure 7).

Compare, for example, Germany and Scandinavia to the central and northern United States (Figures 3a and 4a). While U-factors cited by North American and European codes are not precisely comparable because of different calculation methods (NFRC 100 versus ISO 10077), the U-factor values for the

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same window are typically not more than 30% different from each other. Comparisons can be made using the U-factor maps and associated code-compliant fenestration systems in Figures 3-5.

Notice too, that the typical window systems that meet the codes are markedly different from each other. A commercial window system needed to meet the prescriptive code requirement in Chicago (U=2.2 W/m2K, NFRC 100) would typically use an argon gas-filled, dual-pane, low-e insulating glass unit with an aluminium spacer and a thermal barrier width of less than 15mm (Figure 4b). In comparison, business-as-usual in Germany (with a

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Figure 5a Map of China, illustrating the maximum fenestration U-factor for commercial fixed fenestration calculated according to JGJ/T 151-2008.

Credit: Technoform

Figure 5b Typical fenestration with U-factors from 1.1 to 3.1 W/m2K (JGJ/T 151-2008) needed to meet code in China.

Credit Technoform

requirement of 1.3 W/m2K, ISO 10077) is a triplepane, low-e, argon gas-filled insulating glass unit with a warm-edge spacer and a frame with complex thermal barriers wider than 40mm (see Figure 3b).

It is clear that building regulations are the main driver of installed fenestration thermal performance. In the words of Duane Jonlin, a code official in Seattle, Washington, who is driving code stringency in the U.S.: “The only places you’ll find high-performance buildings

being consistently constructed at massive scale are those places where it is the only way to get a building permit…”

We need an intervention Economists have already concluded that climate change is the result of a market failure.

The negative economic consequences of emitting greenhouse gases do not accrue immediately to the emitter. They are typically borne by others elsewhere on the planet or will be borne by future generations. Therefore,

emitters continue to emit, seeing no need to adopt energy-efficient building technologies.

Economists are actively promoting government policy interventions to create immediate disincentives for emitting. They are currently optimizing a complex stochastic model to refine estimates of the future economic cost of emitting a tonne of carbon today, in today’s currency. This is called the “social cost of carbon” or SCC. The discount rate used – how much this generation should discount the well-

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Figure 6 The development of thermal barrier technology since 1970 and the adoption globally, compared to Northern Europe.

Credit: Technoform

Figure 7 Summary of U-factor requirements and business-as-usual commercial fenestration across the globe.

Credit: Technoform

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Figure 8a Monash University’s Chancellery building in Melbourne, Australia, was built to Passive House principles and with net-zero capability, significantly above current Australian code requirements Credit: EDGE® Architectural Glazing Systems

being of future generations – is under debate and has a significant impact on the SCC. The SCC can be used to effectively price carbon emissions and to create public policies, which will drive the adoption of high-performance building products and processes to needed lower emissions, while minimizing the impact on social equity.

We can’t rely on the building industry (nor any other) to do the right thing on their own. The building industry needs “carrot and stick” interventions globally: Incentive structures (carrots), such as tax credits, to drive the adoption of higher performance technologies and new innovations, creating economies of scale and driving down cost.

More stringent codes (sticks) to raise the performance of the lowest legally allowable building, and which are carefully crafted with multiple appropriate targets to drive to a net-zero carbon goal, while ensuring against unintended consequences. For example, energy use intensity targets should ideally be replaced by one for carbon emissions. That is

what we must reduce after all, and energy use doesn’t always correlate with carbon emissions.

As the saying goes – you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Also, is one metric sufficient? The use of multiple targets – for both operational and embodied carbon, for passive survivability, for occupant health, and for façade maintainability and service life would guard against negative consequences of a single metric-focused regulation. It is too easy to trade service life, which is often difficult to quantify, for reduced operational or embodied carbon emissions.

Likewise, it is important not to overlook the human health necessity of access to views through windows and daylight.

Let’s advocate We know how to build high-performance building envelopes (Figures 8-10). We have proven products, installation processes and testing methods to do much better on every new building, and to effectively retrofit large numbers of existing buildings.

The construction market cannot be relied on to do what’s needed en-masse and cannot move fast enough without policy intervention. So, we must actively advocate to governments and standards organisations for the implementation of transformative codes and incentive structures addressing carbon, resilience and human health in the built environment.

Historically, at least in the U.S., the glazing industry has not proactively lobbied to drive to higher fenestration performance through incentives or increased stringency in codes.

Contrast this with the lighting industry, which has lobbied and received an average of $25 million per year from 2007 to 2012 from the U.S. government to support solid state lighting research, development, and manufacturing.

They have effectively cannibalized their incandescent and fluorescent products, and replaced them with new LED lighting technology. This allowed the lighting industry to reach early and late majority phases of U.S. LED market adoption in many applications in just seven years! Compare this to the slow

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Figure 8c Monash University’s Chancellery building in Melbourne, Australia, was built to Passive House principles and with net-zero capability, significantly above current Australian code requirements Credit: EDGE® Architectural Glazing Systems

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Figure 8b The Chancellery's curtain wall by Edge® Architectural Glazing Systems features wide thermal polyamide barriers (edge beads) and hybrid warm-edge spacer, delivering a U-factor of 1.7 W/m2K calculated according to NFRC 100.

Credit: Technoform

speed of market adoption of fenestration technologies.

The U.N. officially designated 2022 as the International Year of Glass. Let’s use it as a platform to educate the international community on the current state-of-the-art in glass and glazing technology, and to advocate globally for its adoption as business-as-usual through more stringent codes and policy incentives. In doing so, we can do our part to put the world on a faster trajectory to resilient, healthy and net-zero carbon buildings. Let’s be leaders, not laggards.

Sir David King, former chief science advisor to the U.K. government and founder of the Centre for Climate Repair at the University of Cambridge, has stated, “What we do in the next five years determines the viability of humanity’s future. Even if we narrow our aspirations to ‘survival,’ fixing on a timescale of 50 years or so, the challenges are daunting. Humanity deserves better. We know what to do...”[15]. Our industry knows what to do. Let’s do it.

Figure 9 The upcoming Tuas Port in Singapore will be developed in four phases and terminal operations for the first phase is expected to start in 2021. The Administrative Building will be the first major building and the first Super Low Energy Building (SLEB) to be completed in Tuas Port. It is projected to achieve energy savings of 58% over the baseline building design, significantly above local code performance. Polyamide thermal barrier and warm-edge spacer solutions have been incorporated to reduce thermal heat gain into the building, reducing cooling load requirements.

Credit: Image by ID Architects

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Figure 10 The HessenChemie Campus in Weisbaden, Germany, was designed as a low-energy building to the Passive House Institute standard, also focusing on embodied carbon reduction. It features high-performance aluminium windows with triple glazing and warm-edge spacer.

Credit: HessenChemie

CITATIONS and REFERENCES [1] U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report, 2021, https:// www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/ [2] T. Lenton, et. al., “Climate tipping points – too risky to bet against,” Nature, 27 November 2019, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-01903595-0 [3] C. Xu, T. Kohler, T. Lenton, J-C Svenning, M. Scheffer; “Future of the human climate niche,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, May 2020, 117 (21) 11350-11355; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1910114117, https://www.pnas.org/ content/117/21/11350 [4] “Flooded Future: Global vulnerability to sea level rises worse than previously understood,” ClimateCentral.org, 29 October 2019, https:// www.climatecentral.org/news/report-floodedfuture-global-vulnerability-to-sea-level-riseworse-than-previously-understood [5] A. Moses, “Collapse of Civilisation is the most likely outcome: Top climate scientists,” Resilience.org, 8 June 2020, https://www. resilience.org/stories/2020-06-08/collapse-ofcivilisation-is-the-most-likely-outcome-topclimate-scientists/ [6] U.N. Environment Global Status Report, 2017, https://www.worldgbc.org/sites/default/files/ UNEP%20188_GABC_en%20%28web%29.pdf [7] Urban Green Council, “Baby It’s Cold Inside,” February 2014, https://www.urbangreencouncil. org/babyitscoldinside [8] N. Popovic and W. Choi-Schagrin, “Hidden Toll of the Northwest Heat Wave: Hundreds of Extra Deaths,” The New York Times, 11 August 2021 [9] British Columbia Coroners Service News, Heat-Related Deaths in BC, 30 July 2021,https:// 50

www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/life-events/ death/coroners-service/news-and-updates/ heat-related [10] A. Ozkan, A.Z. Yilmaz, T. Kesik, W. O’Brien; “The Time-Based Metrics of Thermal Autonomy and Passive Survivability and their Correlation to Energy Use Intensity,” Interdisciplinary Perspectives for Future Building Envelopes ICBEST Istanbul, May 2017, https://pbs.daniels. utoronto.ca/faculty/kesik_t/PBS/KesikPapers/The-Time-Based-Metrics-of-ThermalAutonomy-and-Passive-Survivability-and-TheirCorrelation-to-Energy-Use-Intensity.pdf [11] B. Levitt, M.S. Ubbelohde, G. Loisis, N. Brown; “Thermal Autonomy as Metric and Design Process,” presented at Pushing the Boundaries: Net Positive Buildings, SB13 Vancouver, 2013, http://www.coolshadow.com/research/Levitt_ Thermal%20Autonomy%20as%20Metric%20 and%20Design%20Process.pdf [12] H. Sanders, “Reducing the Carbon Impact of Facades: Is innovation what we need?”

Intelligent Glass Solutions magazine, Spring 2021, page 8, https://igsmag.com/markettrends/environmental/reducing-the-carbonimpact-of-facades-is-innovation-what-weneed/ [13] H. Sanders, A. Blakeslee, A. Seah, V. Wardill, J. Del Toro; “Global connections: The correlation between code stringency and energy-saving technology adoption,” Parts 1-3, Intelligent Glass Solutions online blog series, June 2021, https:// igsmag.com/market-trends/environmental/ global-connections-the-correlation-betweencode-stringency-and-energy-savingtechnology-adoption-part-1/ [14] H. Sanders, A. Blakeslee, A. Seah, V. Wardill, J. Del Toro; “Hot Climates: Give us a break,”

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Intelligent Glass Solutions online blog, August 2021, https://igsmag.com/features/hotclimates-give-us-a-break/ [15] D. King and J. Lichtenstein, “Climate repair: three things we must do now to stabilize the planet,” The Conversation, 12 August 2021, https://theconversation.com/climate-repairthree-things-we-must-do-now-to-stabilise-theplanet-163990 Helen Sanders, PhD, is a general manager at Technoform North America. She has 27 years of experience in glass technology and manufacturing, with expertise in functional coatings, insulating glass and thermal zone technologies for fenestration. She is a board member of the Façade Tectonics Institute and its founding president from 2017-2021. She is also a board member of the Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA). She has a master’s degree in natural sciences and a doctorate in surface science from the University of Cambridge, England. She can be reached at helen.sanders@technoform.com.

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Our aim is to deliver carefully considered, well executed content that builds your brand profile and connects you with your customers. So, if you’re looking for a creative content provider with a powerful injection of creativity to freshen the global face of your company, IGS Copyrighting Service could be just the tonic you need.

The greatest writing is clear and concise, consequently getting your message across effectively is sometimes easier said than done. Our experienced team of in-house journalists and editors raise your profile with thoughtful and intelligent copy that trumpets your story, hitting the right note every time: 1. Whitepapers 2. Case studies 3. Project write-ups 4. Editorials + Advertorials 5. Blogs 6. Press releases

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A city in Authors Penny Cheung, Lu-Lu Du, Gary Ge, Antony Ho, Michael Kwok and Allen Sun

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the sky This landmark development was inspired by old sailing vessels, drawing on Chongqing’s status as a gateway to western China

1: Chongqing’s past as an important trading centre is reflected in the design of Raffles City Chongqing, which was inspired by historical Chinese sailing vessels

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R

affles City Chongqing is located at the heart of Chongqing, at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers. This strategic position is fitting for this megascale development, the design of which was influenced by and serves as a symbol of Chongqing’s past as a trading centre and its long-held status as a gateway to western China.

The high-rise complex was designed in collaboration with Safdie Architects and was inspired by historical images of great Chinese sailing vessels on the river. Gently arcing towards the water, the towers form the apex to the city’s peninsula, like the masts of a ship, with its sail pulling the city forward.

Raffles City Chongqing is a mixed-use development, with a total floor area of 1.13 million m2. It comprises a shopping mall and eight curved towers – two 350m-tall north towers and six 250m-tall south towers – which house 1,400 residential units, offices, 200 serviced apartments and 450 hotel bedrooms.

One of the north towers is fully dedicated to residential use, making it the tallest residential tower in China. The second north tower is office space below the skybridge, with the hotel above.

Six of the towers are linked 250m above ground, with four of the 250m-tall towers capped by the 15,000m2, 300m-long skybridge, The Crystal, which faces southwards over the city. Two smaller skybridges link it with the two

3: The complex contains a hotel, residential and office space, green public areas and a shopping mall

350m-tall towers. The Crystal brings amenities and green space high into the sky, housing the hotel lobby, bars and restaurants, a public observatory, and a clubhouse, swimming pool and gymnasium-type facilities for the residential apartments.

The podium is approximately 400m x 250m on plan and has nine storeys, including three basement levels. On the podium roof there is a landscaped park that consists of 45,000m2 of public and private green space. The podium contains 250,000m2 of retail space and is an important transportation hub, integrating with the bus and ferry terminals and a subway station; it also provides links to Chaotianmen Square, which overlooks the meeting point of the two rivers.

2: The complex sits at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers

To design this complex technical project, Arup mobilised resources locally and from around the globe, involving the firm’s offices in Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tianjin, Ho Chi Minh City, Boston and New York. The firm had worked previously with the client, CapitaLand, on Raffles City Chengdu and Raffles City Hangzhou, and with Safdie Architects on Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, where there is also an elevated skybridge linking to high-rise towers.

Arup provided civil, fire, geotechnical and structural engineering services, along with building sustainability design, for all stages of the project from scheme through to construction.

Designing the slender towers The design of the two 350m-tall north towers was a major challenge for the project team due to the site location (ground conditions are variable, and the position at the confluence of two rivers creates high wind loading) and the towers’ high slenderness ratio – each has a footprint of only 38m x 38m, giving a slenderness ratio of 9.4. The Chinese building code recommends a tower slenderness ratio of around 7, and typically most super high-rise buildings have a ratio of up to 8. This added to the complexity of the tower design, which also needed to accommodate the high wind load and earthquake activity in the area. The towers have a reinforced concrete core, with composite concrete and steel floor plates.

Such tall towers usually have a structural system that includes mega-columns and a braced frame. However, the use of bracing would have

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affected the views from the towers so Arup adopted a stability system without megabracing, comprising a reinforced concrete core, four corner mega-columns with belt trusses, a perimeter moment-resisting frame and four levels of hybrid outriggers.

4: The podium consists of nine storeys, including three basement levels. The roof features a landscaped park

5: The towers arch towards the water like a ship’s sails

The outrigger is not a new concept and has been applied to many high-rise buildings around the world. With the belt trusses and outer columns, a conventional outrigger acts as a rigid arm, connecting the building core to the outer columns and providing lateral stability.

However, typically it is an expensive system due to the large amounts of steel required, the complex construction methods – especially at the connection joint at the corner of the core wall – and the longer construction time needed.

Arup used an innovative hybrid outrigger system, developed specifically for this project, which uses a structural fuse. This method is suitable for high-rise buildings in moderately seismically active regions like Chongqing.

The fuse connects the outrigger wall to the mega-column, controlling the load path during a seismic event. Under normal wind loads and level 1 earthquakes (an expected 100-year return period), the fuse remains fully elastic, acting in the same way as a typical outrigger.

The hybrid outrigger gives a 7% improvement on the towers’ lateral stiffness at elastic stage compared with a traditional system. For level 2 and 3 earthquake events, the fuse’s shear dissipation component yields and deforms in a controlled way, allowing the energy to dissipate.

This damping effect protects the outrigger wall and core wall from damage in severe earthquakes. The fuse can be readily replaced after yielding.

Arup carried out numerous linear and nonlinear analyses, even for extreme earthquake levels (higher than required), to justify the structural performance of the system. In addition, a scale-to-scale experiment was carried out to test the reliability of the solution and to confirm the analytical findings.

This new application of a fuse in an eccentric braced frame is a major innovation. Arup received patent approval for this hybrid outrigger wall system and was awarded the China Innovation Award – Honourable Distinction for the design at the China

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7: By connecting the outrigger wall to the mega-column, the fuse can control the load path during seismic events

provide horizontal stability for wind and seismic loads.

6: The structural system for the two north towers does not use a braced frame, thereby retaining the views from the towers

International Exchange Committee for Tall Buildings – Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CITABCTBUH) China Tall Building Awards.

The system also improves buildability and shortens construction time, creating further cost savings. The hybrid outrigger uses a fullstorey-height reinforced concrete wall, with thickened sections top and bottom near the core wall to provide stiffness, thus reducing the

quantity of steel required by 10% compared with traditional outrigger systems.

The 250m-tall south towers were mainly constructed with reinforced concrete, with the floor system consisting of a concrete beam and slab frame. The stability system for these towers utilises the concrete core, perimeter moment-resisting frame, belt trusses and a limited number of outrigger trusses supporting the skybridge, which also

Due to the scale and complexity of the project, the design of the hybrid outriggers and elements relating to wind engineering, slope stability, foundation and seismicity design all required approval from expert panel reviews.

Bridging the towers in the sky The most notable feature of the development, and another major engineering challenge, was the design of The Crystal – the 300m-long, 32m-wide and 26m-tall glass-clad skybridge structure that sits atop four of the 250m-tall curved towers. The Crystal has a maximum span of 54m, with 26.8m end cantilever spans, and was constructed using 11,000 tonnes of steelwork.

8: The hybrid outrigger uses a full-storeyheight reinforced concrete wall

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9: The Crystal sits atop four of the towers

While the development bears a resemblance to the 200m-tall Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Raffles City Chongqing has very different design conditions. It has taller and more slender towers, is located in a more active seismic zone and has relatively high wind loading due to its location at the confluence of two rivers. These elements meant that a completely different supporting system to that used at Marina Bay Sands was required for the skybridge.

10: An LS-DYNA model was developed to analyse The Crystal’s movement in seismic conditions

The Arup team compared different designs, with the skybridge fixed to or isolated from the towers, to determine the best option from a design and cost viewpoint. The stiffness of the building under wind loading required careful consideration, as movement in the towers needed to be kept at a minimum for the comfort of the occupants in the high-rise elements where the residential and hotel floors are located.

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However, under moderate or severe earthquake conditions (level 2 or 3), the bearings allow movement and the skybridge can move relative to the towers, thus dissipating the energy and helping to mitigate the effects of the earthquake. The dampers ensure that large forces, as well as the relative movement between the skybridge and supporting towers, will not be transferred into the skybridge structure. A 1:25 scale shaking table test was carried out to demonstrate the seismic performance of the six towers joined by The Crystal and the dynamically linked skybridges under extreme earthquake events.

11: Two smaller skybridges connect The Crystal to the two 350m-tall north towers

linking the buildings. However, this led to a design with excessive steel tonnage. The use of movement joints – as used in Marina Bay Sands – was ruled out because in extreme seismic events the towers could potentially move up to 3m apart. The team concentrated on exploring design option using bearings that would isolate the skybridge from the towers. LS-DYNA models of the four supporting towers and The Crystal were developed to analyse the dynamic interaction during seismic events. Analyses were carried out to extreme earthquake levels to justify the structural performance of the design. In total, 900 analyses were run over the course of the project; with 30 hours’ run time typically required per model, approximately 27,000 hours of modelling were carried out.

These studies supported the hypothesis that the isolation options were the most beneficial solution, reducing the shear forces at the base of the towers by up to 30% compared with the fixed skybridge option.

A combination of seismic bearings – friction pendulum bearings (FPBs) – and dampers were used in the final design. The 2m-diameter bearings, 26 in total, have a level of friction that means they do not move below a certain force. Under normal load conditions and level 1 earthquakes, the FPBs are fixed and The Crystal does not move relative to the towers. Stresses arising from low seismic activity, wind and thermal movements are all resisted by the main structure.

12. A connecting refuge area below The Crystal reduces congestion during evacuations

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The Crystal is made up of three primary steel trusses, interconnected by secondary steel and enclosed by a lightweight space truss enclosure. With different toppingout dates for each supporting tower, a detailed construction sequence analysis was carried out to prove the whole installation method was practical and safe. Arup worked closely with the contractor on the sequence analysis, installation method and temporary works design, before the sequence gained approval from the expert panel review.

Wind engineering Due to the site topography, which includes rivers and mountains, extensive wind tunnel studies were carried out. The testing determined the wind load to be applied to the two 350m north towers and the torsional wind load for the six towers connected 250m above the ground by skybridges. The testing also took into account the interference effect of the many surrounding buildings.

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A wind climate analysis determined the correct design wind speed, with a 1:3,000 scale topography effect test determining the wind turbulence profile and scale. A multi high frequency force balance (HFFB) wind tunnel test determined the design wind loads of the six towers connected via skybridges. A high frequency pressure integration (HFPI) wind tunnel test in two independent laboratories calculated the structural wind loads for the conjoined six-tower structure. A separate HFPI wind tunnel test was carried out on the two 350m towers and the two 250m towers that are not below The Crystal. Finally, an LS-DYNA timehistory analysis checked the performance of the isolation bearings between The Crystal and the top of the four supporting towers under the wind loads. Both the HFFB and HFPI tests were carried out on a 1:500 scale model. The detailed wind engineering testing and analyses determined that the structural design could be developed for lower wind loads than those in the design code, providing a cost saving.

Fire engineering firsts The connectivity of the towers, both via The Crystal and at podium level, presented a number of complex fire engineering challenges. Arup introduced several fire engineering firsts for China on this project to resolve these issues.

They included: - emergency vehicle access provision for a podium roof, along with a discharge and evacuation procedure onto this roof; - use of a refuge floor for evacuation transfer; and - applying a performance-based

13: Friction pendulum bearings were used to support The Crystal and accommodate seismic loads

14: An alternate glazing–cladding combination was used for The Crystal, to allow for both visibility and thermal comfort

design on such a large group of connected buildings.

The Crystal has many different functions – it acts as the hotel lobby and a clubhouse for residents and has many public-access areas – so the design of its evacuation system was critical.

With such high occupancy, the evacuation design includes 15 egress staircases that merge into ten staircases in the towers beneath. A connecting refuge area was designed below The Crystal to provide sufficient space for people to use each connecting staircase and to reduce congestion.

Evacuation lifts in the towers, which are also used for normal circulation, were included to improve evacuation efficiency and facilitate inclusive evacuation procedures. This allowed a reduction in the overall number of stair cores, increasing the useable floor area in the towers.

To assess the evacuation strategy, a benchmark was created by conducting a comparative evacuation analysis using a hypothetical design for separated towers with no skybridge. The design was based on a number of conservative assumptions, including a full maximum occupancy of people on all levels and a fire blocking the widest exit from the skybridge. The evacuation and fire modelling analysis demonstrated that, under each fire scenario, the building occupants would have sufficient time to evacuate before conditions became untenable, with an evacuation time shorter than that in the benchmark design.

Arup’s fire team modelled The Crystal using finite element analysis to optimise the fire protection of the structural steel under possible fire scenarios. The analysis identified that a majority of structural roof elements did not require additional fire protection, resulting in a significant cost saving. The smoke ventilation design took into account the impact of the wind due to the building’s location and the height of the skybridge.

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15: The Crystal Exploration Deck provides a publicly accessible green space and views high above the city

At the podium level, the fire and structural engineering teams worked together on a design that could structurally accommodate the large loads created by firefighting vehicles on the podium roof, liaising with the local fire department on the loading and to ensure there was sufficient space for the vehicles to safely manoeuvre on the roof. The fire engineering analysis for evacuation, fire and structural modelling was reviewed and approved by the fire engineering expert panel review.

Sustainable building strategy Holistic sustainability design strategies were adopted, with the aim of achieving a LEED Gold building certification. Arup developed solutions for façade optimisation and, working with the building services engineer, WSP, introduced energy-efficient building services systems, with indoor visual and thermal comfort modelling conducted to optimise envelope design and the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Energy-saving strategies include: lowemissivity glass to reduce heat gain; a highefficiency energy centre; highefficiency HVAC equipment; using natural ventilation where possible; water-side free cooling; air-side heat recovery; highefficiency lighting fixtures; and 60

daylighting sensors. These systems meant the project achieved a 16.5% energy cost saving in comparison with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air- Conditioning Engineers’ baseline level. By using recycled air conditioning condensate and rainwater harvesting, 100% nonpotable water sources were used for irrigation, with a 35% reduction of potable water use by occupants. There is 30% green coverage over the development.

The site’s microclimate was studied to investigate the impact of wind and sunlight, with passive designs implemented where possible to mitigate the environmental impact on the building and its occupants. The Crystal’s glazed envelope creates amazing views high above Chongqing; however, the quantity of glazing, the skybridge’s southfacing aspect and the hot weather in the city during the summer presented design challenges. The Crystal’s energy consumption could not be excessive, but occupants’ thermal comfort had to be prioritised.

Maintaining indoor thermal quality in an energy-efficient way was a complex task.

Arup carried out a building physics study to optimise the skybridge glazing. The design used an alternating glazing–cladding combination for a balanced outcome of

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16: Due to the site’s sloping nature, a variety of foundation types were used, including shallow foundations, raft foundations, rotarybored piles, percussionbored piles and hand-dug caissons

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skylight visibility and solar shading. After extensive study of different glare scenarios, fritted patterns of changing densities were introduced to the overhead glazing portion of the envelope to refine visual comfort – at the apex of the skybridge the maximum frit is 50%.

The final design maximised views, ensured a comfortable environment and minimised energy consumption.

17: Arup used a variety of BIM software, including Revit, during design and construction

Geotechnical challenges The geotechnical design for the development was complex. The site slopes gently from south to north, and significantly to both the east and west, has varying ground conditions, and is constrained by existing buildings, roads and flood protection measures. It is located in a seismic zone and adjacent to the Jialing and Yangtze rivers, which have large seasonal fluctuations in water levels (the river water levels are also affected by the Three Gorges Dam, 600km away).

The site is made up of fill containing construction waste, silty clay, silt and cobbles,

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18: The Crystal features many amenities, including a swimming pool

above shallow lying rock (mudstone and sandstone), with the rock head sloping across the site. The rock also has inclined fissures and interfaces that the design needed to take account of. Arup used a GIS model to balance out the cut and fill so that excavated soil from the site was used as backfill elsewhere to reduce cost.

The site’s sloping nature presented potential stability problems, which needed to be addressed in the foundation design. A combination of foundation types were adopted, including shallow foundations, raft 62

foundations, rotary-bored piles, percussionbored piles, and hand-dug caissons of various shapes and sizes. The pile length varied from 7m to 44.5m. The foundations for the towers were formed from large hand-dug caissons (with pile diameters of up to 5.8m), with tension piles of various length used for antiuplift. Where lower loads allowed, machinerybored piles were used. Alternate foundations for the podium were constructed depending on whether the slab was founded on soil or rock. In the soil locations, hand-dug caissons were used under column locations for the compression loads, with tension piles for anti-

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uplift. Where the podium slab was founded on rock, footings were used under columns.

Although Chongqing is an area of lower seismic intensity than Beijing or Shanghai, because of the sloping site and adjacent rivers, various slope stability analyses had to be carried out to determine the horizontal load and design measures required to protect the structure from sliding. Plaxis and Oasys Slope software packages were used, incorporating gravity, groundwater, wind and seismic loads into the design.

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Anti-slide stabilising piles of various diameters were used at 4m centres. To the west of the site these ranged from 1.6m to 3.1m in diameter; to the east of the site, 1.5m-diameter anti-slide piles were used in conjunction with the piles for the tower foundations and podium. These provided resistance to horizontal forces and offered additional protection for the slopes from sliding. Similar to a number of elements of the design, the foundation systems were reviewed by both local and national expert panels, which took into consideration the site stability for both static and seismic scenarios and for the handdug caissons.

Delivering the design digitally Considering the scale, complexity, and tight design and construction schedule for this project, advanced digital technology was used to deliver the design. Arup developed several automation tools to improve the design delivery and accuracy. In order to establish an efficient design and production process, Building Information Modelling (BIM) software was used including Rhino, Grasshopper, ETABS, Revit and Tekla, with tools developed to link the models and generate analysis results.

The tools improved the understanding of the project geometry; allowed greater efficiency of coordination between the design team; facilitated information transfer between the geometrical model, structural design model, production model and calculation reports; and gave the client a better understanding of the structural design through visualisation.

Arup used C# programming to develop custom Grasshopper components and generated multiple similar 3D tower models directly from the architect’s 2D plans and elevations to carry out the sensitivity study of the building curvature and structural efficiency. During the concept and scheme design stage, the firm adopted parametric design tools to study the building geometry and column and core wall configuration, with Revit used during the design and construction stage for the drawing production and coordination.

Skyscraper city With six of the towers linked in the air, Raffles City Chongqing is a mini skyscraper city. The design required innovative approaches across the full range of engineering disciplines to deliver this landmark development – one that serves as a symbol of the city’s thriving past, present and future.

19: Raffles City Chongqing provides residential units, offices, serviced apartments, a hotel and many areas for the public to enjoy

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Authors

Project credits

Penny Cheung was the Project Manager.

He is a Director in the Shanghai office (and was formerly based in Chongqing).

Client CapitaLand

Lu-Lu Du worked on the fire engineering design. She is an engineer in the Shanghai office.

Gary Ge led the geotechnical engineering design. He is an Associate in the Shenzhen office.

Antony Ho led the sustainability design.

He is an Associate in the London office (and was formerly based in Hong Kong).

Michael Kwok was the Project Director.

He is the Chair of Arup’s East Asia Region Board and a member of the Arup Group Board. He is based in the Hong Kong office.

Allen Sun led the fire engineering design. He is Arup’s East Asia region fire engineering skill leader and is an Associate Director in the Shanghai office.

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Design architect Safdie Architects Executive architects P&T Group Design institute Chongqing Architectural Design Institute Building services engineer WSP Contractor China Construction Eighth Engineering Division and China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Company Civil, geotechnical, fire, structural engineering and building sustainability services Arup: Andrew Allsop, Anthony Buckley-Thorp, Chao Cai, Fang Chen, Ivan Chan, Marco Chan, Chun-Lai Chen, Long Chen, Johnny Cheng, Eric Cheung, Penny Cheung, Ray Cheung, Robin Ching, Bao Chung Nguy, Matt Clark, Andrew Cowell, Gary Dodds, Karen Dong, Xiao Dong, Lu-Lu Du, David Farnsworth, Double Feng, Qian Gao, Gary Ge, Grace Gu, Shi-Yan Gu, Xiao-Juan

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Han, John Hand, Desmond Ho, Goman Ho, Yue-Qi Hou, Eric Huang, Ying Huang, ShaoLei Jia, Yu-Huan Jia, Yu-Fan Jiang, Hong-Wei Jiao, Ling-Ling Jiao, Yong-Wook Jo, Darren Jones, Oi-Yung Kwan, Michael Kwok, William Lai, Francois Lancelot, Henry Law, Sam Law, Bill Lee, Winnie Lee, Sanya Levi, Er-Chun Li, Ji-Cai Li, Jiao Li, Jing-Yu Li, Teng-Fei Li, Xin Li, Zhi-Xiang Li, Zi-Xuan Li, Jie Liang, David Lin, Benjamin Liu, Cherry Liu, Jie Liu, Hai-Xia Lu, Ken Lu, Lu Lu, Zack Lu, Mingchun Luo,

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Yuvi Luo, Andrew Luong, Billy Ma, Yuan-Jun Mao, Brian Markham, Patrick McCafferty, Tim McCaul, Thi Minh Nga Vu, Phuong Nam Ta, Yen Ngan Nguyen, Minh Nhut Le, Kirk Nosho, Alvaro Quinonez, Dong-Wei Ren, Michelle Roelofs, Ngoc Ninh Pham, Michael Shearer, Pan Shen, Thomas Shouler, Bert Su, Allen Sun, Jessica Sun, Yi-Bin Sun, Shi-Xuan Tian, Alex To, Tri Nhan Tran, Huyen Trang Dinh, Tian-Yi Tu, Wang-Long Tu, Ethan Wang, Hong Wang, Hua wang, Michael Wang, Ming-Min Wang, Will Wang, Yuan Wang, Ke-Quan Wei, Jacob Wiest, Kin-Ping Wong, Chang-Song Wu, ShiChao Wu, Young Wu, Guang-Ting Xia, Fred Xiang, Irene Xu, Jing-Mei Xu, Derek Yang, Fang Yu Neptune Yu, Raymond Yu, Vala Yu, Wenting Yu, Mei-Ling Yuan, Xue-Wei Zeng, Ben Zhang, Brian Zhang, Bruce Zhang, Forrest Zhang, Kevin Zhang, Li Zhang, Oliver Zhang, Tom Zhang, Yan-Qi Zhang, Ye Zhang, Yue-Yue Zhang, Zi-Wei Zhang, Bruce Zhao, Gui-Lan Zhao Vivian Zhao, Li-Gang Zhu, Jin-Lin Zou, Lin-Juan Zou.

Image credits

Awards

1, 5, 15, 19: CapitaLand Ltd (China)

2016 CITAB-CTBUH China Tall Building Awards China Innovation Award Honourable Distinction

2: Google Earth Digital Globe 3, 14: Safdie Architects 4, 6–13, 16, 17: Arup 8: Arch Exist

2017 Hong Kong Construction Industry Council Innovation Award Construction Productivity – Winner 2020 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Structural Engineering and Fire and Risk Engineering Awards of Excellence Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Innovation Award Grand Prize Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Structural Division Award of Excellence – China Grand Award – Overseas Project

This article was first published in Issue 1 of the Arup Journal, 2021

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A Breath of Fresh Air: Pioneering Façade for a Flexible Working Environment Jürgen Wax, CEO and Adrian Gliese, Project Manager at Josef Gartner GmbH All images © Axel Thomae FotoDesign

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PP, considered the world's largest advertising company, will move into the new MIZAL office campus in Düsseldorf in 2022. Highly transparent closed-cavity façades with loggias, providing access to large roof gardens and inner courtyards, are set to promote communication in a variety of fresh-air spaces. Floor-to-ceiling glazing with highly effective solar shading as well as flaps for natural ventilation and high sound proofing standards will allow for a quiet and comfortable working environment with plenty of daylight.

Along with a landmark 11-storey high-rise building, the multi-tenant campus has an office area of around 38,000 sqm and comprises a

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4-storey and a 5-storey building connected by a 1-storey pavilion. Rounded corners and ribbon-like sheet metal box structures between the storey levels, running across the parts of the staggered height building complex, create a flowing and harmonious connection. They contrast with the jagged façade contour with projections and recesses, so that open, glazed areas alternate with narrow, closed ventilation elements.

Special façade solutions were needed to create this complex architectural design, requiring all the aluminium profiles and gaskets for the approx. 350 different types of façade unit configurations to be individually engineered.

The approx. 3,100 CCF units with a standard size of 1.35 x 3.80 m each have the straight

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or round sheet metal box panels integrated into them. Due to the complex geometry, the saddle gasket had to be glued to each panel on site.

Campus with diverse communicationfostering spaces at the “Media Harbour” At the entrance to the Media Harbour and at the southern main access route to Düsseldorf, and close to the government quarter, MIZAL was built on a 15,000 sqm plot adjacent to the urban railway station “Völklinger Straße", with connections to Düsseldorf city centre, main train station and Düsseldorf airport. Thus, the building complex can be easily reached by public transport, by car, but also by bicycle and on foot.

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At this hub, CODIC Development GmbH, as developer of corporate real estate, sought to create an optimal working environment for companies undergoing digital transformation that are looking for spatial flexibility and multifunctional communication spaces for their project teams. A trend-setting office building with campus atmosphere and communicationpromoting architecture, including open spaces for a variety of uses, such as recreation, has been created for this prominent spot at Düsseldorf’s Media Harbour.

can be reached at ground level via the inner courtyards from the boulevard or via four access cores each, including panoramic lifts from the underground car park. Representative lounge spaces provide access to the individual rented areas. The underground car park is the largest fully automated car park in Germany

Central criteria in the all-in-one concept developed by CODIC and the Düsseldorf architects Eller + Eller have a significant influence on the design and function of the façade. A high degree of transparency is

intended to promote a sense of togetherness among the users. Activity and recreation spaces were planned, as well as alternating indoor and outdoor work spaces to make future tenants feel comfortable. In addition, the building was to be particularly sustainable, energy-efficient and low-maintenance.

Organic architecture with balconies, inner courtyards and roof gardens Eller + Eller Architekten have designed a staggered architectural complex featuring offset building parts. Horizontal ribbons between the storeys subdivide the buildings and create a harmonious overall picture.

Together with the rounded corners, the individual parts of the building are thus fluidly connected and visitors are guided into the inner courtyards. Storey-high glazing between the horizontal ribbons visually connects the individual cubes. Atria, balconies and roof gardens for recreation are integrated into the buildings.

Together with the 4-storey Annex, the 44 m high MIRADOR high-rise building offers a gross floor area of 19,500 sqm, while the 5-storey low-rise INFINDO building provides a GFA of around 17,300 sqm. These building blocks are connected by a 1-storey pavilion. The buildings

accommodating 285 spaces on three levels and 241 conventional spaces on the first parking level.

Biotope-like open spaces with spacious outdoor areas, attractive forecourts and courtyards blend into the urban space. In addition to landscaped open spaces, several piazzi and areas for other activities will be created. These diverse recreational areas are designed to encourage staff get-togethers and recreation. The highlight of the MIZAL Campus is a total of walkable 3,600 sqm of green roof gardens. This finally creates a complex campus with welcoming activity and recreation spaces that encourage communication.

The interior fit-out is also based on the concept of open working environments featuring smooth spatial transitions. On one level there are interconnected usable areas of up to 3,200 sqm that allow different workplace concepts to be realised. The rooms can also be flexibly divided up and adapted to new requirements.

Jagged façades with storey-high CCF units, including aluminium panels with ventilation flaps Façade specialist Gartner has clad the MIZAL building with a 16,700 sqm closed cavity façade

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(CCF) as well as 820 sqm of aluminium sticksystem façades for the entrance areas and roof exits, including a 170 sqm steel stick-system façade for the lobby and entrance areas. A total of 670 tons of aluminium profiles have been installed. In order to maximally reduce delivery routes and environmental impact, the aluminium profiles have a highly recycled material proportion, and mainly materials from Germany have been used.

Together with experts, the client had tested various types of façades back in 2017 to evaluate whether they fulfilled the required criteria for sustainability, design and comfort.

The decision was then made in favour of the CCF due to its excellent structural-physical values such as energy efficiency, daylight transmission and sound insulation. Since the closed façade cavity does not need to be cleaned or maintained, it was possible to reduce operating cost due to low maintenance and cleaning needs. This façade cavity also incorporates a maintenance-free and windprotected solar shading system. As a result, the design of the building envelope could be

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simplified, which, for example, is not disturbed by solar shading devices.

The jagged building structure, with 140 cm wide sides alternating with 40 cm deep recesses, together with curved ribbon structures running across the storeys, required special solutions for the façade. While the long sides were clad with storey-high glass panels, Gartner has developed closed aluminium panels for the recessed sides with an openable 1.40 x 0.20 m flap which is concealed from the outside by a slotted sheet. For this aluminium flap, a handle with a small mounting size was designed especially for this building project in order to maximise the opening angle. Thanks to this solution, the rooms can be naturally ventilated despite the closed double-skin façade. Furthermore, one façade unit per floor in each exterior stairwell, starting from the 1st floor, is fitted with a motorised smoke extraction flap.

Thus, according to Eller + Eller Architekten, the closed cavity façade creates a lively light-andshadow scene with the "geometry overlapping

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in scales". Through this alternation of open and closed areas, the façade view changes as one moves around the building.

CCF units with straight and curved sheet metal boxes and numerous variants The complex geometry required a specific façade design with around 350 individual configurations and new profiles and gaskets.

A particular challenge was the saddle gasket frame, which had to be glued to each panel on the construction site. This was the only way to ensure tightness in case of building movements, especially between the individual storeys.

In addition, the 65 cm high and partly curved sheet metal boxes had to be integrated into the CCF units. These single-axis boxes are suspended from the units, and very tight tolerances had to be maintained, especially at the transition from straight to rounded elements. Cable guides for the lighting and surveillance cameras, as well as the motors for the sunshade slats, are integrated into

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the spandrel panels. They are accessible for maintenance work via flaps at the bottom of the box.

with cable ducts for lighting or for surveillance cameras, with integrated fixing points for the building maintenance unit, etc.

The CCF units usually have an axial dimension of 1.35 m, but in some cases, dimensions are 1.32 m or 1.40 m, with a height of 3.80 m on the upper floors and 4.80 m on the ground floor. Standard units weigh around 600 kg on the upper floors and 800 kg on the ground floor. Depending on the position and function in the building, there are numerous variations: under a projecting ceiling, with and without ventilation flaps, with smoke vents, with and without sun protection, with louvre panels,

Gartner has designed a total of around 90 different aluminium profiles for MIZAL, with a shiny silver exterior and light grey interior coating. The high-quality Duraflon lacquer provides a special shine and improves weather resistance and durability. The sheet metal boxes have been reinforced on the upper side with a special anti-drumming coating to prevent an unpleasant, drumming noise during rainfall.

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Highly transparent glass and highly efficient, transparent sun protection slats The CCF façade was glazed with low-iron oxide glass, which offers very high light transmission.

This glass is comparable to white glass, has no solar control coating and is almost free of bluish or greenish tint. Its very good colour rendering index facilitates the work of advertising agencies, for example. The 5 mm thick exterior impact pane consists of 0.76 PVB and 5 mm laminated annealed ipasafe Clealite. The inner triple insulating glass has a total thickness of 52.7 mm.

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For effective thermal protection despite the high level of transparency, a highly effective and freely suspended solar shading system was installed in the closed cavity. The coated aluminium slats are 6 mm deep and, with a perforation of 9 %, offer a certain degree of transparency even when closed. In the cavity, the sun shading is protected and thus permanently functional even with strong winds in high-rise areas. Cleaning costs can also be reduced by protecting the sun shading from contamination in the cavity. The drive was integrated into the sheet metal box ribbons and thus enables accessibility for later maintenance.

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This design allows the CCF to achieve a thermal insulation of Ucw = 0.83 W/m²K for the unrolled surface and Ug = 0.51 W/m²K including the impact pane. For airborne sound from the inside to the outside, the CCF achieves 42.5 dB, for horizontal flanking sound insulation 61.0 dB and for vertical flanking sound insulation 62.3 dB. Stick-system façades for loggias, balconies, roof exits and entrances The 16 loggias, the 3-storey balcony, the 1-storey entrance and the four roof exits from the low-rise buildings onto the roof gardens are made of aluminium stick-system façades with different axial dimensions and glass sizes.

The ten loggias in the high-rise building with

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lift-and-slide doors each have a floor area of around 17 sqm while the six loggias in the Annex and Infindo feature around 26 sqm each.

The four roof exits with motorised swing doors are accessible for the disabled via lifts.

The 2-storey lobby façade and the three 2-storey entrance façades were designed as steel stick-system façades. These façades have a maximum axial dimension of 2.67m and glass panes measuring up to 3.3 x 2.67m.

Work on schedule: From planning to production all the way to installation Gartner has redeveloped all the details and sections for the project detail engineering.

To examine the tightness, four original units

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were tested together with the ift Rosenheim.

In parallel, various long-term tests such as endurance, climatic chamber and 20,000-cycle tests were carried out. The theoretical sound insulation calculations were also verified during ift test trials. In addition, tests were carried out to ensure that no particles had become detached due to transport-associated vibrations or were left unnoticed inside the cavity, for example, after delivery of the façade units.

In May 2019, Gartner has embarked in the detail engineering and, from January 2020, production has started on a special production line for CCF façades, with a glass washing system, on which up to 18 units were produced per day. The finished façade units must be

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stored in a covered area and constantly supplied with dry air for the façade cavity so that condensation is prevented. To avoid potential damage to the façade units, they must not be separated from the dry air supply for more than 72 hours during transport and installation. The individual trucks were loaded with six racks containing two units on top of each other and three units behind each other.

From June 2020, the façade units could then be attached mostly just-in-time to the prepared fixings in the building shell and immediately reconnected to the dry-air supply. In this way, up to 24 units could be installed per day.

Despite restrictions during the Corona crisis and extreme weather in the winter of 2020/21 when construction cranes froze, much of the

work was completed ahead of schedule, so that installation was to be completed in autumn 2021, as planned.

Conclusion: Light-flooded offices with plenty of fresh air including loggias, roof gardens and inner courtyards With its campus concept, MIZAL offers generous fresh air areas that are unique in their diversity and present the façade design with special challenges. Loggias and balconies integrated into the façade, roof exits leading to the large roof gardens and inner courtyards with recreation and activity zones will encourage communication and provide modern working environments. Even in the high-rise building, users can aerate their offices naturally via flaps. MIZAL has thus become a pioneering example of innovative, open and flexible working environments, especially in times of the coronavirus pandemic, when fresh air has become a key health factor.

The MIZAL CCF façade, with highly transparent glass, not only provides light-flooded rooms, but also very high thermal insulation via highly effective and transparent solar shading.

Furthermore, this energy-efficient and lowmaintenance façade will reduce operating costs of the building. The CCF façade, as a sustainable façade with good building physics values and a high recycled content, also makes a contribution to MIZAL’s targeted gold certification by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB).

Jürgen Wax, CEO (Josef Gartner GmbH) Jürgen Wax joined Gartner 2014 as COO and became CEO in 2016. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim, Germany and looks back on 20 years of experience in façade industry.

Adrian Gliese, Project Manager (Josef Gartner GmbH) Adrian Gliese joined Gartner in 2019. He holds a degree in Construction Management from the Florida Institute of Technology, USA and looks back on over 7 years of experience as a project manager. Adrian has implemented over 40 projects throughout all of Europe and Russia ranging from a small scale to multimillion Euros in scope.

Project data Developer: CODIC Development GmbH, Düsseldorf Architect: Eller + Eller Architekten GmbH, Düsseldorf Project Controlling: G+N Consult Baumanagement GmbH, Düsseldorf Structural Work: Hochtief Infrastructure GmbH, Düsseldorf Façade: Josef Gartner GmbH, Gundelfingen Photographer: Axel Thomae FotoDesign www.axelthomae.de

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© Sean Fleming

Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas

by Steven Holl Architects

Engineering Visions in Glass, Steel and Aluminium As a facade specialist, Josef Gartner GmbH creates engineering solutions in aluminium, steel and glass, helping the world’s best architects and aspiring builders realise their ambitious ideas.

For the past 150 years, Gartner has shaped the skyline of metropolises all over the world - from the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California. With its headquarters in Gundelfingen, Germany, the company is a proud member of the Permasteelisa Group - a leading global contractor in the design, engineering, project management, manufacture, installation and after-sales service of architectural envelopes. www.josef-gartner.de www.permasteelisagroup.com

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AGC’s commitment and action in reducing carbon emissions, Helen Sander’s drive towards the adoption of high-performance building envelopes, and the collaborative environmental potential of glass and integrated dynamic shading, all point to one thing - that the net-zero ‘talk’ is no longer just rhetoric, but actionable. As Helen so accurately states: “We know what to do…so let’s do it!”

In the second chapter of this issue, you will be introduced to more exemplary minds and projects, including the gravity-defying glass façade of the BIG designed Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet and the Qaammat Pavilion, a poetic glass landmark nestled in the picturesque fjords of Greenland. One of Europe’s finest and most prolific architects, Ian Ritchie, has the “Glass Word”; the knowledge and ideas penned in the pages to come can be considered glass gold dust!

To come: Andreas Scheib

“The consistent consideration of patient needs, described by the planners as a “healing architecture”, makes the architecture and glass part of the therapy”

Page 90

Otilia Pupezeanu

“Secluded in a high mountain valley of the Swiss Jura, the spiralling glass creation is a metaphorical extension of an Audemars Piguet timepiece”

Page 98

The Glass Word with Ian Ritchie

PLENTY MORE TO COME

In the first half or our Winter Edition, you have been privy to the pioneering thought leadership of those individuals and companies shaping the world we live in. They have addressed critical issues that are facing the industry and delineated clear paths to solving the most pressing matters of our generation. In particular, and perhaps most importantly, is the urgency that we (as a collective) need to fight the climate crisis.

The power of aesthetics is measured in the mind, sometimes in the heart - not in the bank balance.

The lack of it is like drip-water torture; it numbs the mind”

Page 140

This is IGS – Nothing more, nothing less…NOTHING ELSE Image credit: The Zaha Hadid designed One Thousand Museum in Miami. Photo by Ussama Azam on Unsplash

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THE QAAMMAT PAVILION: innovation, collaboration and inclusion © Julien Lanoo

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The vision Beginning of November 2020, five years after realizing the famous Crystal House concept with architectural firm MVRDV [1], the Glass Research Group of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment of the Technical University of Delft was contacted by architect Konstantin Ikonomidis [2] with the request to provide glass expertise for a small -yet challenging- project.

In 2019, Konstantin Ikonomidis was appointed to design and develop a pavilion on behalf of UNESCO Aasivissuit - Nipisat, Greenland and Qeqqata kommunia. The pavilion is intended to create a landmark in the village of Sarfannguit, a cultural landscape in West Greenland and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2019 [3]. The location contains the remains of several thousand years of human history. It is a cultural landscape with a rich and well-preserved tangible and intangible cultural heritage linked to climate, navigation and medicine. The landmark will help identify this unique location for hikers on the nearby passing trails. Characterized by the two fjords that meet on Sarfannguit’s eastern tip on the hills, the pavilion’s location has been carefully chosen by the local community, site manager Paninnguaq Fleischer-Lyberth and Konstantin Ikonomidis for its impressive view over the Sarfannguit municipality.

Following his earlier work and research on the subject of home, Konstantin focused on his interest in integrating landscape, culture and human stories into the design. Marked by encounters, conversations and interviews with the locals, the architect’s intention is to reflect these experiences, stories and myths poetically in the design of the pavilion. As this landmark aims to provide a testimony to the local Inuit population, it was the intention right from the start to include them as much as possible in its realization (Figure 1).

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Figure 1: Top: location of the landmark in Greenland. The steel base of the two semi circular units and the steel anchors on the rock can be seen.

Bottom: local inhabitant Kloe Andersen supporting the construction © Konstantin Ikonomidis

The design geometry and choice of material challenge the traditional and typical building technique in Greenland. The architect envisioned a small pyramidal pavilion constructed from solid cast glass bricks manufactured and subsidized by Wonderglass [4], a company founded in 2013 by master glass makers Christian and Maurizio Mussati, based in Murano, Italy. Wonderglass specializes in bespoke glass lighting and handcrafted installations.

The pavilion consists of two units of semicircular array, with each unit having a maximum 5m circumference at the bottom, gradually becoming smaller towards its height of around 2m. To maximize transparency, approximately 1000 glass bricks of 24cm by 11cm and 5.5cm height would not be fixed by any visible means.

Instead, an adhesive would be used, which had to remain largely invisible in the structure and be able to withstand the harsh arctic climatic conditions. The concept and location required a unique bonding system to assemble the cast glass bricks. Greenland is known for its extreme climate with harsh winters and temperatures dropping to -30°C. Assembly of the landmark would have to be performed in the warmest month of June, whereby the average outdoor temperature oscillates between 1 and 7°C. The choice of the building site on a hill, resulted in further difficulties related to access and absence of electricity or other commodities conventionally available in construction sites.

The challenge of using glass as a building material in a remote area of Greenland in rough terrain, under extreme climatic conditions and low budget, did not stop the project.

Developing a team of experts specialized in their field and having passion for what they do, would be the key to enable this unique structure. The collaborators of TU Delft quickly reached out to Dow Silicones Belgium requesting their expertise and technical support for the project. From the first contact in December 2020 to the construction in the summer 2021, and the recent opening ceremony on October 3rd 2021 [5], an intense collaboration of several departments from R&D to supply chain followed and ultimately led to the completion of the project.

© Jens Fog Jensen

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A high performance silicone innovation To match the glass brick color and reach the aim of maximized transparency for the landmark, a transparent, translucent or white

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adhesive color was anticipated. The uneven surface of the cast glass bricks prevented the use of thin double sided transparent tapes which are not able to accommodate these tolerances and movements expected due to the extreme climatic conditions. The use of a solution able to provide gap filling properties at around 5mm thickness to accommodate the imperfection of the surfaces was mandatory.

The extreme climatic conditions limited the search of an adapted adhesive chemistry to silicone only, as this chemistry is known for its excellent performance and resilience to temperature. Unlike other organic chemistries which will tend to harden at low temperature and soften at high temperature, the mechanical properties of silicone are the same over a broad temperature range, from cold (-40°C) to hot climates (+80°C) in a durable way. This stability of mechanical properties is due to the very low glass transition temperature [6] for silicones at -123°C. Not only low temperatures, but high degrees of UV radiation are experienced in polar climates. Thanks to their unique composition and the strength of the Si-O bond, it is wellknown [7] that silicones will not be degraded by this either. Furthermore, this property also provides most silicone sealants with a unique ability to be used all year-round, including the middle of winter, due to their flexible polymer, allowing them to be extruded in low temperatures. These exceptional properties corroborate why silicone sealants have been successfully used in different adhesion and sealing applications in arctic climatic conditions [8, 9].

Due to the location and the reliance on the local population for the assembly of the pavilion, the assembly method envisioned had to be robust.

Unlike conventional silicone bonding processes which use a spacer tape on the perimeter of assembled elements to define a precise injection cavity for the silicone in between bonded elements, the adhesive solution would need to react quickly enough to avoid the use of tapes or alternatively use these in an easy way only to level the bricks and keep them in place until the silicone was hardened.

The speed of the curing reaction is therefore key to allow a continuous assembly of the bricks without a mechanical fixation system, continuous spacer tape or equivalent system, to guarantee the joint dimension before cure of the silicone and thus avoiding any

Figure 2: Assembly conceptconcept showing the larger overlap in thebetween middle and bricks Figure 2: Assembly showing thebetween larger bricks overlap top part of the construction and the smaller overlap in the lower part of the structure

smaller overlap in the lower part of the structure

in the middle and top par

None of the commercially available bonding solutions from Dow’s High Perform

squeeze out due to the glass brick weight. The Table 1: Lap shear development of standard range checked all of the project’s requirements.

However, a potential solution, un chosen solution would need to prevent creep two-component room temperature vulcanizing R&D department, was identified.

The selected material has been due to the structure’s own weight, reaching silicones at various temperatures (MPa)specifically opt bonding and for components which exhibit different thermal expansion approximately 3 tonsealing in total. Moreover, the Temperature 30 60 the 24 h bonding 7d project timeline, linked to the short Greenland for applications where fast homogeneous cure throughout cros and time min min summer, required a build of at least 3 rows per

adhesion development is needed. The mixing ratio of the material can be adapte

day, leading to the prerequisite of being able to Sample @ 5°C 0.04 0.04 0.25 0.40 of reaction.

Abricks special unpigmented was produced and packaged in cartridge place a new row of on the previous one batch Sample @ 15°C 0.10 0.17 0.26 0.62 by only volume. after 2 hours.In standard temperature and humidity conditions, the snap time for t Sample @ 23°C 0.30 0.45 1.26 1.46

6 minutes and the tack free time lies between 16 and 18 minutes which leads to lim

Sample @ 45°C 0.52 0.69 0.68 1.30 Mono-component cure sealants were This silicone develops excellent adhesion to a wide variety of substrates includin therefore quickly discarded as a potential After 15 minutes, a 2mm lap shear (mixed atmovement 4:1) between glass bonding solution.

This type of curethick chemistry The expected due to frost andand stainless requires a favourable water vapor pressure in thermal contraction required an adhesive strength, 1.2MPa after 1 hour and 1.4MPa after 7 days of cure (Table with 2). Elongatio the atmosphere, which isstrength a function ofexceeds both at least 15% elongation testing capacity. The openings 250% and tensile 2MPa for dumbbell at 2mm thickness. temperature and humidity and the unique between the bricks ensure the flow of the wind sealant composition.

At -25°C andglass / stainless and reduce theinlateral gust. Due to the (MPa) and v Tablechemistry 2: Lap shear force development steel 2 mmwind adhesive thickness 70% of relative humidity, the one directional project’s unique open structure, tensile resistance reaction will be very slow,Existing reachinghigh 9mmspeed after two-part properties were not identified as important.

Experimental Fast Adh 3 days, 13 mm after 7 daysbonding and onlytechnology 15mm after Therefore, TU Delft required a minimum tensile several weeks. The application in aWeight confined shear strength of the adhesive of around 1MPa 100: 14 2:1 Vol 3:1 Vol environment could potentially further slow for the middle and top part of the structure 10 min 0.10 0.56 0.17 down the speed, meaning squeeze out would where there is sufficient overlapping between min Furthermore, 0.20 0.56 be 15 inevitable. as a bonding surface the bricks0.76 (Figure 2). A higher strength of around larger than 15mm was envisioned, the center 10MPa was, however, desired at the bottom 30 min 0.50 0.87 0.90 part of the surface would not be able to react. of the structure where less overlap and hence 1h 0.70 0.72 1.07 bigger gaps between bricks were present. The 2h 0.80 0.76 had to be stable over a wide0.98 Successful two-component technology shear strength bonding silicones such as the DOWSIL™ 993 temperature 4h 1.10 0.92range. These shear strength values 0.98 Structural Glazing Sealant develop a sufficient are relatively high for silicones.

8h 0.90 1.10 1.24 level of cure within 3 days to allow shipment.

1 day this reaction time 1.20 1.06 1.19 However, will increase in None of the commercially available bonding a confined space and particularly when the solutions from Dow’s High Performance Building 7 days 1.87 1.40 1.48 ambient temperature decreases (Table 1).

Solutions range checked all of the project’s Cure can be as long as several weeks at the requirements. However, a potential solution, Table 3:application Final properties after 7d / 23°C mixing ratiosinofthe theR&D Experimental expected temperature of 1°7°C. for different under development department,Fast Adhesiv The two-component product selected for this was identified. The selected material has been project should therefore have a significantly specifically optimized Experimental to provide durable Fast Adhesive shorter reaction time than the quickest of the bonding and sealing for components which commercially available bonding silicones. exhibit different thermal expansion rates. intelligent glass solutions | winter 2021

General Business

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It also is adapted for applications where fast homogeneous cure throughout the bonding cross section and an early adhesion development is needed. The mixing ratio of the material can be adapted to optimize the speed of reaction. A special unpigmented batch was produced and packaged in cartridges at the 4:1 mixing ratio by volume. In standard temperature and humidity conditions, the snap time for this mix occurs after 4 to 6 minutes and the tack free time lies between 16 and 18 minutes which leads to limited sagging properties. This silicone develops excellent adhesion to a wide variety of substrates including glass and aluminium. After 15 minutes, a 2mm thick lap shear (mixed at 4:1) between glass and stainless steel develops 0.10MPa strength, 1.2MPa after 1 hour and 1.4MPa after 7 days of cure (Table 2). Elongation at break is larger than 250% and tensile strength exceeds 2MPa for dumbbell testing at 2mm thickness.

Validation The validation performed by TU Delft of the newly Experimental Fast Adhesive consisted of several steps, from small scale laboratory testing to mock-up building.

First, small samples were prepared to understand the strength development and speed of reaction. A pneumatic gun was used to dispense the adhesive. The applicability tests showed that even for this high speed silicone solution, the presence of the 1cm long double-sided spacer (2-3mm thick according to specification) was crucial to avoid the squeeze out of the silicone within the first hour of curing. Moreover, the use of static mixers with a 10mm inner diameter (MFHX 10-18T) and a wide nozzle opening (e.g. ø3mm) was mandatory to avoid excessive pressure building up at the bottom of the cartridge, mainly at the smaller catalyst tube. In case of increased pressure, the risk of tube breakage and leakage was high, leading to improper mixing of the two components and insufficient curing of the adhesive. In general, ensuring consistent mixing is more complex for white silicone

Table 2: Lap shear force development glass / stainless steel in 2 mm adhesive thickness (MPa) and various mixing ratio Existing high speed twopart bonding technology

Experimental Fast Adhesive

100: 14 Weight

2:1 Vol

3:1 Vol

4:1 Vol

10 min

0.10

15 min

0.20

0.56

0.17

0.03

0.76

0.56

0.10

30 min

0.50

0.87

0.90

0.94

1h

0.70

0.72

1.07

1.20

2h

0.80

0.76

0.98

0.92

4h

1.10

0.92

0.98

1.13

8h

0.90

1.10

1.24

1.32

1 day

1.20

1.06

1.19

1.49

7 days

1.87

1.40

1.48

1.50

Table 3: Final properties after 7d / 23°C for different mixing ratios of the Experimental Fast Adhesive Technology Experimental Fast Adhesive 2:1 Vol

3:1 Vol

4:1 Vol

Specific gravity

1.4

1.35

1.4

Durometer Shore A

39

38

38

100% modulus

0.95

1.05

0.97

Tensile Strength (MPa)

2.18

2.06

2.05

Elongation

342

271

320

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as conventional testing such as butterfly or glass tests do not show heterogeneous colours indicative of improper mixing. When using automated dispensing equipment, it is possible to ensure the quantity of base and catalyst is correct through weight. In the case of cartridges, a verification of the snap time is recommended.

Next, two triplets of specimens were prepared, consisting of Wonderglass glass bricks cut in 50mm cubic size and bonded in pairs using the Experimental Fast Adhesive mixed 4:1 (Figure 3). The glass bricks were cut to allow a smaller bonding surface as the testing equipment was not able to break down the silicone when the full surface of the brick was tested. The adhesive was applied in an “X” shape, which resulted in an even coverage of the complete 50mm x 50mm glass brick surface when spread out by the pressure of the brick on top. However, the thickness of the adhesive layer could not be controlled and a few hours were needed before the bricks would not move anymore. To avoid accidental movements of the bricks during construction and to control the adhesive layer thickness, the use of double-sided tape spacer strips at the corners was found to be necessary.

The first specimen triplet was bonded and tested after 24 hours of cure at room temperature, while the second triplet was bonded outdoors, at 7OC, left for cure 24 hours, frozen overnight at a constant temperature of -20OC, and then tested at -5OC. The shear tests were conducted using a Zwick Z10 displacement controlled universal testing machine and a speed rate of 1 mm/min.

The failure mode of the silicone was mainly cohesive and only minor delamination occurred (Figure 4).

As anticipated, the Experimental Fast Adhesive at 4:1 was confirmed to develop a stable shear strength regardless of the temperature of bonding, from room temperature, to 10°C and eventually frozen at -20°C. The typical shear strength was found around 1-1.3MPa. Due to the cantilevering shape of the pavilion and the much smaller overlap between bricks on the bottom rows, a stronger polyurethane adhesive having more than 10MPa shear strength was used eventually to bond the first layers of the pavilion. The remaining part of the construction, the middle and upper part would be realized with the Experimental Fast Adhesive. Applicability of the silicone was

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Figure 3: Experimental Fast Adhesive application trials. Initially the silicone is dispensed in an “X” shape (left), leading to an even spread with a minimum pressure from the brick above (middle) but a difficult to control thickness of the silicone. Use of spacer tape is deemed necessary (right)

confirmed to be good and easy, whereby a 2-4mm thickness could be applied which helps with the glass brick tolerances.

Finally, a small 0.8m by 0.8m prototype of the building was realized to be approved by the project’s architect and evidence any scale up difficulties (Figure 5). Prior to dispensing the adhesive, the glass bricks of the next row were placed and checked with a water-level tool, in order to determine the thickness of the spacertape to be used in each side. Next, the bricks were thoroughly cleaned with 2-isopropanol and double-sided tape spacers were placed along the entire row, according to the leveling indication. The adhesive was pumped in a continuous mode and with a maximum gap of 30 seconds between pumps, to prevent the curing of the adhesive inside the static mixer.

The glass bricks were put in place directly after the dispensing of the silicone. The application of the silicone was very easy and the bricks were applied in a fast manner. Keeping 2 hours of interval before applying the next row was

found to be sufficient. Similar to the dispensing method used in the shear experiments, a full bonded surface was achieved by applying the adhesive in an “X” shape. Cleaning of adhesive overflow was relatively easy with the use of 2-isopropanol. However, it was eventually decided to opt for a round blob shape on the final construction site to dispense the silicone.

This choice was governed by the desire to eliminate any potential risk of adhesive overflow and the needed cleaning to further save time during the time-constrained construction.

The mockup provided evidence that the initial cantilevering gap between each row, set at +2.5cm, would be challenging as it was leading to a natural tilt of the bricks in the structure (Figure 5). Therefore, it was decided to limit the cantilever gap per row at a maximum of 1cm to prevent this action.

From design to reality The bonding on site started in August 2021, a month that proved to be quite rainy and windy and with an average temperature of

10OC. The bonding concluded at the end of September 2021, which was on time, before the harsh winter temperatures would start.

The construction site was covered with a tent and a heater was installed in the middle. All materials were shipped to Sisimiut, the closest city, and then transported on site first by a small fisherman’s boat and then by ATV bikes. The materials were stored in a separate, dry tent.

The remote construction site had no access to electricity (Figure 6).

The engineering and construction of a cast glass structure in an arctic climate is a challenge characterizing this pavilion and more unforeseen implications arose. The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a shortage of several tools and equipment, while shipping the specialized materials on this remote site was a particularly lengthy and expensive process. One of these logistic challenges was to find a battery driven dispenser for application of the Experimental Fast Adhesive on site. Such dispensers were sold out for months in Europe and the US. Manual

Figure 4:Testing in shear of two 50mm glass cubes bonded with Experimental Fast Adhesive. The observed failure mode was mainly cohesive and only minor delamination was noticed in the tested specimens.

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height was crucial to prevent accumulation of size deviations in the structure. The assembly occurred in segments, working first on one semi-circular row and then continuing the work on the other semi-circular row. At least a 2 hour gap was given before continuing to the superior row. Before the bonding would initiate, the bricks from one height group were laid along the row in the correct position and checked with the water-level tool (Figure 7).

In case of unevenness, another brick was placed into position. Next, the bricks were numbered and removed, in order that all surfaces to be bonded could be cleaned with 2-isopropanol and dried. Double-sided transparent tape spacers were placed along the entire semicircular row, indicating the position of the bricks and the area where the glue would be applied.

The adhesive was applied into circular blob shapes, to prevent the overflow once the brick on top was placed. Although these white blobs seem very visible from above (bird’s eye view), they were barely noticeable from the side view (Figure 8). Furthermore, in comparison to the transparent adhesive used in the bottom layers of the structure, the white color seems to be even better matched. This is probably due to the wavy texture of the surfaces of the glass bricks which are better filled with the silicone adhesive leading to a homogeneous result.

Figure 5: Prototype constructed at the TU Delft Glasslab. Bottom: natural tilt of the bricks due to the larger cantilevering width in the initial design © Konstantin Ikonomidis

dispensers were tried out on site but given the cold temperatures and the high viscosity of the adhesive, it required an intense manual force for the adhesive to pass through the mixer.

Too much pressure and low temperatures led to the base behaving like non-Newtonian fluid, meaning that adding more pressure would increase its viscous behavior. The use of a portable compressor and a pneumatic dispenser was also tried out on site. However, the pressure was very low and the compressor 84

required recharging after 1 minute, making the application of the adhesive quite timely and strenuous. After several delays and trials, a battery driven dispenser was located and shipped on site.

The battery driven dispenser worked as anticipated and from that point on the application of the Experimental Fast Adhesive at 4:1 was very easy and fast. Measuring and grouping the glass bricks according to their

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Extra attention was given to the continuous pumping of the adhesive through the static mixer, to prevent the application of silicone which had already started the curing action and a maximum of 2 minutes was allowed between the application of the silicone and the positioning of the brick on top.

The local population was trained on how to follow the bonding method. At the end of the construction, all seams were sealed using a transparent sealant to avoid any dirt embedding.

Where there is a will, there is a way There has been an abundance of challenges in this relatively small but exciting installation which have been met thanks to the special collaboration between the project partners.

One of the key challenges was fulfilling the vision for the aesthetic appearance of the pavilion whilst solving the technical and installation complexity with an ideal bonding solution that met the requirements for performance and durability in such a harsh climatic environment. Silicone chemistry was

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Figure 6: Site location. Detail of the steel base of the two semi circular units and build up under tent protection.

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© Konstantin Ikonomidis

Figure 7: Top: The two TU Delft Researchers on site. Wind, rain and cold temperatures were not the only challenges; surprisingly, swarms of mosquitos were making their presence evident, despite the low temperatures.

Bottom: leveling of the glass bricks and application of transparent double-sided tape spacers.

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identified to be the technology of choice by TU Delft. The remoteness of the construction site meant the absence of the technical means one would normally have access to on a construction site. The remote location and tight time schedule for assembly generated further concerns from a logistical point of view. It also demanded a simplified and optimized assembly process to make it suitable for non-professional builders - which is quite the opposite to a conventional highly automated assembly process whereby fast setting bonding solutions are easier to use. The scarcity of many building materials due to COVID19 did not spare this project either and obtaining the needed equipment, from cartridges and nozzles to guns, proved challenging. However, any and all challenges were overcome through combined efforts; at the intersection of architecture, engineering and glass; expertise across three fields were drawn upon to ensure the projects realization.

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Collaborating for success Dow’s dedicated façade and architectural design engineers worked in close collaboration with project stakeholders globally to help address technically challenging and complex designs in building and façade construction.

Early engagement can help support efficiency of design and exploration of innovative solutions, as illustrated on the Qaammat Pavilion project. We are available and ready to support future projects and invite you to contact us at dow.com/contactus.

Figure 8: The application of the Experimental Fast Adhesive in blobs may be visible from top view (top), but in reality it cannot be easily seen from the side view (bottom), and is thus not obstructive. In the image at the top the top two rows are bonded with the silicone, while the rows below are glued with the stronger, transparent adhesive. The white colour of the silicone adhesive fits better with the texture and the reflections of the glass bricks.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the UNESCO Site Manager Paninnguaq Fleischer Lyberth who has been involved since the start of the project, and UNESCO Aasivissuit – Nipisat's team members as well as the members of the Sisimiut Museum. We are thankful to the people of Sarfannguit for their wholehearted support and particularly to Kloe Andersen who has been on-site from the beginning until the end of the construction

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Figure 9: Detail of the glass brick superposition.

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Funding for this project was provided by the Qeqqata Kommunia (the Qeqqata Municipality), NAPA, The Nordic Institute in Greenland, Dreyers Foundation. The financial support from NAPA, The Nordic Council in Greenland made it possible for the TU Delft researchers to travel to Greenland. The Dreyes Foundations funded the architects visit to TU Delfts to learn more about glass as building material.

The authors are grateful to Wonderglass for providing access to the glass bricks. Finally, the authors thank Prof. Fred Veer and Mariska van der Velden from TU Delft, Prof. Dr. Christian Louter and Dr. Christiane Kothe from Technische Universität Dresden for providing technical support.

Valérie Hayez is Global Façade Engineering & Architectural Design Engineer for High Performance Building Solutions at Dow, based in Belgium. She provides technical service to the design community, including façade system manufacturers, architects and engineers and communicates industry needs to Dow‘s Research and Development Community. Valérie has developed a broad expertise in façade engineering, including structural performance, fire safety, thermal or acoustic insulation and is active at standardization level. She holds an MSc and a PhD in Applied Sciences (electronics and optics) from the University of Brussels.

Burak Aksoy is part of the Mobility and Transportation TS&D team at Dow, providing Technical Service and Product Development support to customers in Automotive Lighting, Electronics and Appliances industries. He has been leading product development projects in Adhesive, Sealant and Thermal Interface Material product lines. Burak owns a degree in Chemical Engineering from Bogazici University, Istanbul.

References 1. Oikonomopoulou, F., Bristogianni, T., Veer, F., & Nijsse, R. (2017). The construction of the Crystal Houses façade: challenges and innovations. Glass Structures and Engineering, 3 (2018), 87-108. https:// doi.org/10.1007/s40940-017-0039-4 2. Konstantin Ikonomidis: https://www.konstantin-ik. com/ 3. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1557/ 4. www.Wonderglass.com 5. https://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/ qaammat-pavilion-konstantin-ikonomidis-greenlanddenmark 6. Clarson, S. J.; Dodgson, K.; Semlyen, J. A., Studies of cyclic and linear poly(dimethylsiloxanes): 19. Glass transition temperatures and crystallization behaviour.

Polymer 1985, 26 (6), 930-934

Konstantin Ikonomidis is a Swedish architect based in Greenland. He graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Copenhagen. His work bridges the territories of art, architecture and scientific research with a special interest in extreme climates. He has played a key role in the development of prototype housing that seeks to prevent the transmissions of malaria borne diseases in tropical areas of Sub Saharan Africa. His background in the field has led to his interest in establishing an architectural and creative practice that challenges today's building methods by collaborating with specialists in a range of disciplines.

Faidra Oikonomopoulou (Assistant Professor) and Telesilla Bristogianni (Researcher) have both joined TU Delft in 2014 as PhD/researchers focusing on structural applications of cast glass. They both hold a diploma degree of Architect Engineer (NTUA) and a MSc degree in Building Technology (TU Delft). Faidra and Telesilla were deeply involved in the research and development of the adhesively bonded cast glass block system for the Crystal Houses façade in Amsterdam, designed by MVRDV and have further extended their expertise in cast glass since then, including the development of recycled cast glass components.

7. Andreas T. Wolf , Christoph Recknagel, Norman Wenzel, Sigurd Sitte, “Structural Silicone Glazing: Life Expectancy of more than 50 Years ?” in Proceedings of Glass Performance Days 2017 Sustainable Building with Renewable Energy Withstands Extreme Weather, case study: Princess Elisabeth Research Station, https://www.dow. com/content/dam/dcc/documents/en-us/casestudy/62/62-14/62-1491-01-princess-elisabethresearch-station-antarctica.pdf?iframe=true

© Sam Rentmeester

9. A. Chiavarini, Windows Replacement of Antarctic Marambio Base, Dow presentation, 2019

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The Healing power of Glass

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A new public hospital with 290 beds has recently opened in the Swiss town of Solothurn. Both the distinctive base structure and the wards above are equipped with triple-glazed insulating units from Glas Trösch, creating an ideal indoor climate. The interior features around 3.5 kilometres of glass partitions and doors, which combine functionalities such as fire protection, privacy protection and soundproofing with added daylight. With this design, the planners from Silvia Gmür Reto Gmür Architekten are following the modern aspiration of hospitals giving proper consideration to people’s needs.

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T

he history of the Bürgerspital Solothurn dates back to 1418, when Pope Martin V granted the citizens of Solothurn permission to found a hospital. The building was located directly on the River Aare, which divides the city from east to west. The Bürgerspital has been located at its present site in Schöngrün, on the southern edge of the town, since 1930.

The existing tower block and administration wing, dating from the 1970s and built in the box-like concrete style of the day, was already too small a good 30 years after its inauguration and is now in need of replacement. Swiss architects Silvia Gmür Reto Gmür won the associated international architectural tender in 2008. Their design envisaged an L-shaped

base structure supporting a six-storey block.

This solution won over the competition jury panel, from both an operational point of view and an urban planning point of view. The shape of the building defines an outdoor area that can be used as a sheltered park, and also offers the possibility of expanding the hospital in the same design language at a later stage. Due to its age, the existing 1970s building will be demolished following the occupation of the new building.

Generous glazing in public areas The two-storey base building houses the public spaces as well as the examination and treatment areas. The access routes run along the facades. This creates an area of around

The new Bürgerspital in Solothurn with glass facade from Glas Trösch.

Photo: Glas Trösch

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5,700 square metres per floor, which houses the medical departments. Bright, surrounding corridors provide patients, visitors and staff with a view of the surrounding countryside. The structure of the facade is reminiscent of scales, and offers a series of extremely pleasant spaces.

This is due to the largely floor-to-ceiling glazing, which features an 8.3-metre-high mulliontransom system with a distance of 7.5 metres between the main mullions.

SILVERSTAR SUPERSELEKT 35/14 T triple glazing from Glas Trösch ensures the indoor area is comfortable and with a g-value of just 12 % it offers very efficient heat protection in the summer. As a result, there was no need to install exterior shading, so the base building maintains

TRANSPARENT ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES

Particularly efficient heat protection was required for the glazing of the base structure and is achieved with triple-glazed insulation glass from Glas Trösch.

Photo: Glas Trösch

The partitions and doors by BlessArt are made with glass from Glas Trösch and fulfils a variety of functions whilst making a strong visual impact.

Photo: BlessArt Raumsysteme AG

a clear and distinctive appearance. The insulating glass meets the most stringent safety requirements, as the outer panes are partially prestressed and the central panes are designed as single-pane safety glass. The Ug value is at a very low 0.55 W/m²K whilst still allowing an impressive light transmission of 30.4 %.

Ideal climate in patient rooms The ward block marks the intersection of the two legs of the L-shape. Here, the facade has a finer, more delicate appearance. The curtain wall shading system, which consists of 1,740 sculptural elements made of white concrete, is particularly distinctive. The actual thermal facade behind it is fully glazed from floor to ceiling, with a grid of aluminium profiles in dimensions of 4.2 to 3.6 metres. Here, too, a triple-glazed insulating unit from Glas Trösch was selected, but with a different functionality

from the base construction: SILVERSTAR COMBI Neutral 51/26 was used; this combines basic heat protection with excellent thermal insulation. The latter is further improved by an additional coating, achieving an extremely low Ug value of 0.51 W/m²K with considerable 44.5 % light transmission. All in all, this ensures optimal conditions for the speedy recovery of the patients, who enjoy particularly good views thanks to the high colour neutrality of the glass. The consistent consideration of patient needs, described by the planners as a “healing architecture”, makes the architecture part of the therapy. Even the beds on the wards are not positioned next to each other as usual, but are set at around 90 degrees to each other, with the wards having a slightly angled layout.

According to the architects, this layout allows for greater intimacy and privacy. In addition, the distance between the beds has been more

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Glass also dominates inside the Bürgerspital Solothurn: Transparent and translucent walls and doors ensure rooms are flooded with light.

Photo: BlessArt Raumsysteme AG

The high colour neutrality of the SILVERSTAR COMBI Neutral triple-glazed insulating units ensures optimal conditions for the rapid recovery of patients.

Photo: Ralph Feiner

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than doubled, compared to a standard room of the same size. Curtains provide additional shade if required.

The examination and treatment areas of the base building have a landscaped inner courtyard.

Photo: Glas Trösch

Three-and-a-half kilometres of glass partitions Partition walls from Swiss specialists, BlessArt, were installed inside the new building and fitted with SWISSDUREX single-pane safety glass from Glas Trösch. The partition walls, totalling 3.5 kilometres in length, and around 500 doors ensure rooms are flooded with light and meet a wide range of requirements, from particularly high levels of sound insulation in the sleep laboratory and effective radiation protection in the radiology department to reliable fire protection in corridors. Another thing all the walls have in common is that being made of glass, they are particularly hygienic, robust and easy to clean. They are also impressive in terms of design, thanks to a variety of prints and coatings.

High energy standards The Bürgerspital Solothurn was the first hospital in Switzerland to be certified to the Minergie-Eco standard, confirming that it meets building standards for “building ecology” and “health.” The health aspects of “daylight,” “sound insulation” and “interior climate” as well as “sustainable building concept,” “materials and processes” and “grey energy” are taken into account in the certification. The glass solutions played an important role in achieving this high construction standard. The building won the renowned Swiss “best architects award” 2021.

The first construction phase went into operation in the middle of this year and construction phase 2 is expected to be completed in 2026.

Andreas Scheib Andreas has worked for Glas Trösch for almost 20 years in various positions. After completing a Master's degree in corporate communications at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, he became the Group's Chief Communication Officer in 2019. In this position, he is responsible for marketing in the architectural glass business unit. In addition to his professional tasks, Andreas engages in voluntary work for an organisation that offers free-time activities for teenagers in the region, thus preventing them from excessive media consumption.

Key facts: Project:

Bürgerspital Solothurn, Switzerland

Completion:

2020

Client:

Canton of Solothurn, Rötihof Building Department, Solothurn

Architects:

Bürgerspital Solothurn planning consortium, Silvia Gmür Reto Gmür Architekten, Basel

Site management: Bürgerspital Solothurn planning consortium,

Walter Dietsche Baumanagement AG, René Wieland Facade planning: PPEngineering GmbH, Basel Products:

SILVERSTAR SUPERSELEKT 35/14 T triple-glazed insulating units with an additional layer of SILVERSTAR EN2plus

SILVERSTAR COMBI Neutral 51/26 triple-glazed insulating units with an additional layer of SILVERSTAR EN2plus

Glass partition wall system from BlessArt Raumsysteme AG, implemented with Glas Trösch SWISSDUREX single-pane safety glass

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Coming Soon…

IGS Spring 2022

Decarbonizing the Glass Industry Off the back of COP26 – the UN Climate Change Conference, there has been a renewed and palpable sense of urgency with regard to accelerating action towards fighting Climate Change. Despite some momentum to transform the world’s energy systems, coupled with clean-energy developments that give cause for optimism, there’s a huge way to go. Identifying viable ways to manage the decarbonization of “hard to abate” sectors is critical and technology is a gamechanger. Indeed, and as often cited by politicians and the media, the construction sector is responsible for a significant proportion of global carbon emissions.

The glass sector has a vital role to play turning climate rhetoric into climate action.

To date, companies across the industry have been pioneering ways to, for lack of a better and less clichéd phrase, save our planet!

Implementing circular economy principles, recycling, the development of energy efficient glass technology and advances in the use of alternative carbon neutral fuels in production are some of the crucial advances that have been made in recent years.

Propelled by innovation and R&D, we are unlocking additional potential for emissions’ savings in the future.

In the opening issue of 2022, we explore the individuals and companies who are relentlessly driving the decarbonization of our industry. From project case studies to groundbreaking glass technology and insightful thought leadership, IGS Magazine engages with the intrepid leaders of our industry to explore the present over mutual concern for the future - a future where 1.5 degrees is still in reach!

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“We need to rewrite our story to turn this tragedy into a triumph” - Sir David Attenborough at COP26 This is IGS – Nothing more, nothing less…NOTHING ELSE intelligent glass solutions | winter 2021

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T H E BIG I N T E RV I E W

Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet

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When the Swiss brand was looking to expand its historical premises with a museum, they turned to Bjarke Ingels Group. Secluded in a high mountain valley of the Swiss Jura, the spiralling glass creation is a metaphorical extension of an Audemars Piguet timepiece.

In this interview, IGS Magazine’s Lewis Wilson sat down with Otilia Pupezeanu, project designer, to discuss the gravity-defying architecture, a striking, yet subtle creation from one of the most acclaimed architects of our time.

© BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

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Lewis: In 2014, BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) won the architectural competition Audemars Piguet hosted to expand its historical premises. What tipped the scales in your favour for the client to choose your design?

Otilia: The advantage came from BIG’s careful consideration of the brand, the Valley, and the values intrinsic to watchmaking.

Audemars Piguet’s motto, “to break the rules, you must first master them,” guided our design and decision-making process throughout the competition. We found inspiration in the pioneering spirit of the brand, constantly challenging the conventions of fine watchmaking. Our design had to reflect the inner tension between tradition and innovation that characterizes Audemars Piguet and contemporary watchmaking.

We conceived a contemporary yet timeless building that stretches the performance of technology and materials to their outmost capacity. We created a gravity-defying floating architecture free from walls and columns, while simultaneously growing from the ground rooted in the undulating landscape of the Vallée de Joux. Floating yet rooted. Functional yet sculptural.

Contemporary yet timeless. A building conceived as an oxymoron, much like a signature Audemars Piguet timepiece.

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

Lewis: The new addition to Audemars Piguet’s campus is separated from the existing structures. Was it a strategic decision to place the building as a separate entity? If so, what was the thinking behind this?

Otilia: We considered a lot of other options throughout at the beginning of the competition. However, in the end, creating an addition to the existing buildings did not seem like the best choice. Instead of an infill or a third building between the two historical structures on site, we imagined the new museum as a pavilion seamlessly integrated in the surrounding landscape. The museum sits respectful from the existing buildings, preserving the views from the historic spaces to the valley. This way, we could leave the building where Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet set their first workshop untouched, thus truly celebrate its individuality and heritage. The new pavilion, hiding from the street, reunites the historical 100

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© Iwan Baan

buildings with the valley and become fully integrated in the topography. The museum and its exhibits, the watches, become an integral part of the Vallee de Joux – the cradle of Swiss horology.

Lewis: Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet set their workshop up in 1875; How does your architecture respect the rich history, heritage and context of these watchmaking pioneers?

Otilia: The new museum embodies the independent spirit of Audemars Piguet. As the oldest fine watchmaking manufacturer never to have left the hands of its founding families, Audemars Piguet has maintained its autonomy, allowing the company to follow its unique vision. Over the years, Audemars Piguet timepieces have evolved to represent reinterpretations of traditional watches that combine technological innovations with fine craftsmanship learned and passed on from generation to generation of Audemars Piguet watchmakers. The new museum celebrates the innovative tradition of the brand and of the valley. The double-spiral form of Musée

Atelier Audemars Piguet is a striking landmark nested in the landscape of gently undulating Swiss topography; a contemporary yet timeless architecture that blends with the historical buildings to create an intuitive sequence of spaces – old and new.

Lewis: The Vallée de Joux, is a sweeping remote valley, situated in the Swiss Jura Mountains. What effect did the surrounding vistas and landscape have on your design?

Otilia: When we first arrived to Le Brassus in La Vallée de Joux, we were struck by the scenic beauty of the pastoral landscape. The valley framed by mountains. Fields framed by forests.

Historical buildings bundled together to form the village of Le Brassus. How could we fit into the character of the village and the topography of the village? The beautiful views of the valley and the historical significance of the surrounding buildings inspired us to create a new building that becomes an integral part of the valley itself.

And we wanted the roof to recreate part of the local flora – a meadow, rather than a lawn, seamless with its surroundings.

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© Iwan Baan

© BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

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© Iwan Baan

Lewis: It is clear that as you walk through, there is an ebbing spiral flow to the interior that draws/guides you to the center of the building. Could you expand on the thought process and design intentions behind this architectural composition?

Otilia: We wanted to create a museum as a storyline for the visitors. We imagined the visitor experience as a linear sequence of spaces and events connecting the entrance in the main offices through a series of lounges, galleries and workshops to the attic of the heritage building in the workshop where it all began.

A visit is like a narrative sequence of carefully crafted experiences bookended by the two historical structures. To accommodate the linear sequence of galleries and workshops on the compact site, we coiled the galleries around themselves in a double spiral of interlocking spaces. From the entrance connecting the

lower level of the two historical buildings with a lounge overlooking the valley, the galleries and workshops spiral towards a central gallery dedicated to complications. From here the galleries spiral out again to reach the central stair and elevator, leading to the original workshop in the attic. Like a resort spiral that coils up to minimize space and maximize kinetic energy, the double spiral of galleries and workshops compresses a long winding narrative promenade into a compact footprint giving the visitors an almost physical experience of compression and expansion – tension and release - as they move from the perimeter

towards the central galleries to be propelled outwards towards the historical workshop.

Lewis: Were there any significant challenges and obstacles that you faced during the design and construction of the project? If so, how did you overcome these?

Otilia: Designing a building of this size and shape without walls or columns was completely new. Even if all the calculations were correct and allowed for some redundancy, how could we guarantee that

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© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

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the concept worked? How could we ensure that the façade and the clerestories work well together? How could we make certain that the curved glass maintains the right transparency and clarity when tempered to gain its performative qualities? How could we get a sense of the layered quality of the space inside? Very early on, we encouraged the client to build a full-scale mock-up of a slice of the actual building. The mock-up worked and looked great. It bestowed confidence in the concept to the entire team – clients, architects, engineers. In later design stages, we ended up using the mockup to test materials, finishes and architectural details, both interior and exterior.

to allow daylight and views to seep between the sheets. From the exterior, the pavilion appears like a shockwave of concentric rings of grass expanding outwards – with only glass to define the interior from the surrounding landscape. Sophisticated technology and careful craftsmanship deployed to achieve a deceptively simple architectural expression.

Lewis: Can you expand on the engineering behind the curved glass expanses that adorn the exterior façade and interior of the building? Besides the clear aesthetic value, what practical role does this play in the structural engineering of the building?

Lewis: It is evident that glass is a prominent feature in the architecture of the museum. What characteristics of this building material influenced your decision to use it so extensively in the design?

Otilia: The curvilinear glass walls form both the enclosure and structure of the pavilion, defining a layered experience of the exhibition and permeating the pavilion with transparency and lightness. The ultralight roof, a steel structure clad in brass, is floating on sheets of glass. The resultant architecture is experienced from within as a thin sheet of brass – cut and coiled

© BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

Otilia: When entering the museum, one is struck by the absence of walls and columns.

The curved glass walls replace typical solid elements in supporting the vegetated roof of the building. Structurally, the curvature enhances the structural stability of the glazed walls, providing stiffness in multiple directions.

The façade is made of a triple insulated glass unit which, in addition to the structural performance, also provides controlled heat transfers between the interior and exterior of the building. The interior layer of the unit consists of triple laminated glass planes,

© Iwan Baan

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which are the main structural elements in the building. The mid-layer of the IGU unit provides shading from the sun, meeting thus the local energy requirements, while the exterior layer of the glazed façade provides security for the valuable exhibits inside. The system is thought so that in case of failure, of one or more glass panes the load is redistributed, and the structure remains safe.

© BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

Lewis: Are there any other instances within the architecture and museum where glass was used in a unique and intriguing way?

Otilia: All interior walls in the museum are glass, creating a layered experience of the exhibition spaces and workshops, with the Vallee de Joux always as the background.

Moreover, as one enters the spiral, a large semicircular skylight frames a view of the historic building housing the original Audemars Piguet workshop. Glass fins ensure the skylight can support its own weight as well as up to a meter of snow, as winters in Le Brassus tend to be harsh.

The exhibition cases are also featuring glass in different ways. To preserve as many views to the valley as possible, the watch showcases had to be minimal. Glass tops, brass and glass © BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

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spherical showcases or hanging glass boxes with minimal details allow the transparency of layers while ensuring the right protection for the watches.

Lewis: With the success of the Museum, BIG were commissioned to design a hotel, currently in construction a few steps away.

What exclusive insights can you give to IGS readers into this project?

Otilia: The Hotel des Horlogers completes the Audemars Piguet building campus and, together with the Museum, reinterprets the watchmaking tradition of the region. The hotel redefines the program typology: instead of importing a generic slab building into the Vallee de Joux landscape, the new hotel seamlessly rises from the surrounding landscape and gently unfolds along the site, challenging the idea of ground. The weaving of building and topography engages both the Vallee de Joux local and the visitor, defining a new public landscape.

The amenities - two restaurants, a bar, a spa and a conference center - are tucked under the inclined slabs and oriented towards light and views of the landscape. The zigzagging roof slopes invite guests to descend on skis towards the Vallee de Joux. © Iwan Baan

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Lewis: Many of the world’s most famous architects have something unique about their architecture by which any observer can instantly identify a building designed by “such and such”; for example, in many of Zaha Hadid’s buildings was the undulating Z shape, Gehry’s eccentricities for origami style buildings is almost legendary, Oscar Niemeyer was renowned for designing curved buildings which reminded him of the mountains of Rio. Is there a distinguishing feature/ element in BIG designs which an onlooker can say without hesitation, that’s a BIG design?

Otilia: At BIG, we try to free ourselves from trademarks or a certain style. A style keeps you confined to who you were, and inhibits you from who you could become. We see each building as a sum of its programmatic requirements, the context, the culture and the climate. In the design process, rather than

trying to seek for the right answer, we are trying to ask the right questions. Each design is shaped by its function and its surroundings in the best possible way.

Lewis: And finally, can you introduce us to some of the projects that you are currently working on, and perhaps give us a heads up on some projects in the pipeline that look set to gain traction and change the game in 2022 and beyond?

Otilia: I’m currently working on a new ballpark for the Oakland As in California. The project, together with the adjacent masterplan, is to revitalize Oakland’s waterfront and to return the game to its roots: a meeting place for the local community. The roof, an elevated park, dips down towards the waterfront to offer views of the game for the public and views out towards the water and the city for ticketed guests. The roof will become a neighborhood park to be enjoyed 365 days a year.

© Iwan Baan

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Otilia Pupezeanu, Senior Designer at Bjarke Ingels Group Otilia Pupezeanu joined BIG NYC in 2013, and has contributed to widely published projects and competitions of various scales and programs, like the Smithsonian Institution South Campus Master Plan in Washington DC, Google North Bayshore in Mountain View, The Spiral, and 2 World Trade Center in New York City. Since 2018, Otilia has been the Design Leader for the Oakland A’s Stadium in Oakland, California. Otilia recently completed the Audemars Piguet Museum and Exhibition in Le Brassus, Switzerland. She followed the project throughout all design stages, from the competition at the beginning of 2014 through completion of construction this year. Otilia also led the concept design for a new hotel on the Audemars Piguet Museum Campus in Switzerland, which is currently in design development.

Most recently, Otilia completed WeGrow - a school facility in New York, New York commissioned by the We Company.

Originally from Romania, Otilia received a Bachelors of Arts in Architecture and Mathematics, with Honors, from Princeton University and a Master of Architecture from Yale University, where her work was rewarded with honors and exhibited in the 2012 Venice Biennale.

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© Evabloem

Shaping sustainable futures

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Hadrians Tower. © Hufton + Crow

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Freedom in Curtain Wall Design and Performance Facades have the ability to transform how we see architectural spaces and, in recent decades, glazed curtain walling systems have become increasingly popular – on commercial and residential buildings alike.

Enclosing the envelope of the building, there are two main types of curtain walling: stick and unitised facades. These can be adapted from their standard design to create bespoke features which are engineered to emphasise geometry or a particular aesthetic appearance.

As a result, curtain wall systems equip architects with the freedom to create an aesthetically led façade which meets the specific performance requirements of the building.

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Performance Spanning multiple floors and covering a large surface of the building, curtain wall forms a significant part of the envelope. As such, systems can directly impact key performance considerations, including water tightness and thermal characteristics, daylighting, ventilation regimes and acoustics. Another fundamental part in selecting the correct curtain wall is the accommodation of building movement.

The taller a building gets, the more movement can be expected, creating the potential for a range of building movements such as

windsway, inter-storey drift, differential slab deflections, settlement, creep and even seismic loads. Although some types of movement are more typical outside the UK, it is important for every aspect of the building envelope to be designed to accommodate such movements.

Acoustics is another area where curtain wall systems have a part to play. As urban areas become increasingly populated, controlling noise levels within a building increases comfort for occupants. Curtain walling can reduce noise concerns such as flanking sound transmission, which is particularly relevant for multiple-

Hadrians Tower. © Hufton + Crow

Hadrians Tower. © Hufton + Crow

Hadrians Tower. © Hufton + Crow

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occupancy buildings. Accommodating the large glass thicknesses and glass weights associated with acoustic glazing, alongside the inclusion of profiles that stop direct transmission, Reynaers curtain wall can directly support acoustic performance.

The systems’ test data speaks for itself, with each different curtain wall type offering varying levels of performance, depending on characteristics like profile design, gaskets and openings. CW 50, for example – the leading curtain wall system from Reynaers – offers all-round performance having passed CWCT Sequence B testing, providing independent accreditation. Different technical variants can also accommodate specific fire resistance requirements where needed.

Elevating aesthetics While the technical performance of curtain walling is a primary consideration for those specifying systems, there is one clear benefit to including them in a building’s design –

aesthetics. As a fast and cost-effective way of introducing large volumes of glazing into a building, these systems hold the potential to define a building’s appearance.

For occupants, the benefits are clear to see.

Large and often full height windows flood rooms with natural light, making spaces more comfortable, practical and modern. Alongside the positive impact this can have on wellbeing, curtain wall systems can introduce greater connections between inside and outside spaces and maximise views, further elevating the appeal of buildings for occupants. From the outside, curtain walling equips buildings with a distinctive appearance which defines their unique character. To achieve this, it is crucial for architects to specify systems which facilitate creative freedom, without compromising the performance benefits required.

Ensuring correct specification To unlock the full suite of benefits which are made possible through curtain walling, it is crucial to work closely with suppliers and collaborate with design teams from the very outset of a project. Particularly on large scale projects, such as high-rise buildings where curtain walling is most in demand, this approach ensures success.

It is for this reason that Reynaers encourages direct collaboration with its partners. Through its Consult programme, in-house specialist consultants, engineers and technicians work closely with architects and building professionals to offer technical assistance.

This close collaboration facilitates a deeper understanding of a project’s specific requirements and allows for the correct systems to be specified, including bespoke systems which are tailor-made to meet the specific demands of a project.

Complementing this hands-on approach to working with our partners, Reynaers offers a broad selection of profiles and tested systems and has the capability to test systems in-house, ensuring every system performs as required.

By working together with partners throughout the supply chain, architects and building professionals can lean on the expertise of the wider supply chain and bring their visions to life with glazed curtain wall systems, while weaving uncompromising performance and quality into the fabric of their buildings.

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ALUMINIUM SYSTEMS FROM REYNAERS FRAME ICONIC VIEWS AT ONE TOWER BRIDGE Multiple product solutions from leading aluminium systems company Reynaers have been installed at Berkeley Homes’ development at the foot of London’s landmark Tower Bridge.

Nine apartment blocks form the structure of One Tower Bridge, offering residents a vast swimming pool and luxury spa, as well as a state-of-the-art gymnasium, business lounge and virtual golf facility. With wide pedestrian boulevards that take visitors through landscaped communal gardens, retail outlets and restaurants, the development is at once a self-contained community and a well-connected location in the very heart of London.

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Reynaers’ aluminium glazing systems have been applied across seven of the nine apartment blocks, selected for their ability to meet the look, feel and quality required by the architects at Squire and Partners.

Curtain walling systems were supplied

by Reynaers for One Tower Bridge, which comprise of extensive runs of CW 60 and CW 50 uncapped curtain walling.

Bespoke solutions for a non-90 degree open-corner patio and a 2-track running into a 3-track patio were developed especially for this project.

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Most apartments boast balconies or terraces, which are completed with a total of more than 300 large CP 130 and CP 155 lift-andslide doors. Three-chamber CS 68 and CS 77 windows and doors were also installed throughout the development.

John McComb, Technical Director at Reynaers, said: “One Tower Bridge demanded a superior suite of products that would provide excellent acoustic performance given its bustling location, as well as market-leading security and weather performance given the height of the apartment blocks.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES AND TRENDS GAINING TRACTION

© Reynaers Aluminium

© Reynaers Aluminium

“The build also required a design that looked spectacular, complementing the highspecification décor of the apartments and offering unparalleled views of its enviable location. The systems chosen allow residents to have panoramic views over London, without compromising on insulation or ease of operation.”

Recognised by Sunday Times' British Homes Awards as Best Interior Design and Large Development of the Year, the development has now been completed alongside planning consultant Barton Willmore, structural engineer Meinhardt and fabricators M Price Limited, Prater Ltd and Scheldebouw.

© Reynaers Aluminium

© Reynaers Aluminium

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THE CURTAIN, LONDON: MODERN TECHNOLOGY RESPECTS HERITAGE WHILE IMPROVING THERMAL EFFICIENCY DISCOVER SLIM LINE WINDOWS, SLIDING PATIO DOORS AND CURTAIN WALLING FROM REYNAERS ALUMINIUM

The Curtain is a beautiful industrial jewel located on the site of a former 1970s office block. Leading aluminium systems company Reynaers has helped to develop this complete new building into a beautiful industrial jewel.

Situated in the heart of Shoreditch, The Curtain boasts nine storeys, which encompass three glamorous restaurants, four bars and a hotel, as well as a private members’ club. Its unusual name hails from the street where it is located.

Architects Dexter Moren Associates drew inspiration from the area’s 19th-century warehouse heritage and Reynaers’ aluminium 116

windows and doors have helped create the look perfectly.

Lead architect Zoe Tallon scooped the prestigious Creative Spark Award for her work on the ambitious project. The award recognises the best-designed new hotel, and is voted by delegates of the TOPHOTELPROJECTS World Tour London, comprising a wide selection of influential industry peers including fellow architects, hoteliers, investors, interior designers, suppliers and the media.

Hotelier Michael Achenbaum wanted his highprofile restaurants, hotel and members club

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© Andy Stagg

© Reynaers © Andy Aluminium Stagg

© Andy Stagg

to reflect the area’s architectural tradition, industrial history and creativity.

the original design but offering a thermally improved solution.

The facade consists of red brick and features Reynaers’ CS 38 slim line windows, CP 130 sliding patio doors and CW 50 curtain walling.

Large-framed slim line windows complement the industrial aesthetic and gives the building a unique character and identity of its own. The fabricator on the project was AWS Turner Fain Ltd, part of AWS Group.

The next generation of CS 38 is now available from Reynaers – Slim Line 38 (SL 38) is a highly insulated inward and outward opening aluminium window and door system, that combines elegance and comfort with a unique design. The special slender steel look offers the perfect windows and doors for modern architecture and the renovation of steel-frames, respecting

The Curtain incorporates a live music venue, a state-of-the-art gym, spa area with treatment and steam rooms, ballroom, pop-up barbershop, screening room, co-working space and a 1,600ft2 rooftop terrace with a restaurant bar. There is also a Moroccan-style heated pool offering stunning views across the City skyline.

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CAMLEY STREET, LONDON: REYNAERS ACHIEVES MAXIMUM COMFORT AND SAFETY FOR NEW LONDON HOMES HIGH INSULATED ALUMINIUM WINDOWS AND SLIDING PATIO DOORS FROM REYNAERS ALUMINIUM

Camley Street, London: Reynaers achieves maximum comfort and safety for new London homes Nestled in the exciting Kings Cross district of London, Onyx Apartments offers residents the best of everything: comfort, ideal location, unmatched views and an array of restaurants, shops, parks and galleries.

Working closely with developer Taylor Wimpey, contractor United Living and Cross Border partner Skonto Plan, Reynaers has ensured residents receive the highest level of thermal insulation and safety.

Onyx Apartments is an 11-storey building that offers 117 bespoke homes with one, two and three bedroom options. Comfort and safety were two top priorities in bringing this project to life and Reynaers was brought on board to achieve those aims.

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© Reynaers Aluminium

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© Reynaers Aluminium

John McComb, Technical Director has been at Reynaers for over 24 years. Involved in countless panel discussions over the years, including the recent Glazing Summit Sustainability panel, he is recognised as a true industry expert in the world of fenestration. John breathes Reynaers core values of respect, excellence, innovation and loyalty into large scale projects across the UK including the BBC Building, One Tower Bridge, and the Wembley Quintain Development.

© Reynaers Aluminium

The CS 86 ‘High Insulated’ (HI) aluminium window was specified, as it offers an overall insulation value (Uf) of 1.0 W/m²K, making it one of the most energy-efficient windows on the market. RB Glass was also used, an add-on glass balustrade that offers an additional layer of security without compromising the transparency and design of the windows. To further enhance the insulation level of the apartments, Reynaers’ CP 155 ‘Lift and Slide’ (LS) aluminium door was specified to create maximum glazed areas while also maintaining comfort.

Commenting on the development, Neil Garner, Reynaers’ International Project Consultant said: “At Reynaers, our mission is to enhance the living and working environment. I believe we achieved that at Onyx Apartments through the comfort and security that our doors and windows offer the new residents.”

© Reynaers Aluminium

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ONE ON ONE WITH JEAN-PAUL HAUTEKEER “Never let a crisis go to waste”

Intelligent Glass Solutions

THE SCALPEL A protagonist in London’s urban drama

Intelligent Glass Solutions

Intelligent Glass Solutions

L O N D O N A M S T E R D A M F R A N K F U R T B A R C E L O N A O S L O D U S S E L D O R F L E U S D E N Z U R I C H WA R S AW

THE CONSEQUENCES OF CARBON Increasing expectations for ‘responsible façade innovation’ SPACE AND LIGHT Great architecture can play with these to infinity and beyond

“Glass is the most visually animated, expressive material that exists” – Eran Chen, Founder, ODA New York has The Glass Word

BIOMIMETIC-INSPIRED FAÇADE RETROFITS Design-thinking with UNStudio

A TRANSPARENT VERTICAL CITY Twenty-three vertical glass planes at 22 Bishopsgate

FROM HOLE IN THE FLOOR TO PANORAMIC VIEWS

Spring 2021 www.igsmag.com

Autumn 2021

Spring 2021

Winter 2020

Winter 2020 www.igsmag.com

+ what is radical? to ifes an architect’s man by ian ritchie F E AT U R I N G T E C H N O F O R M | K U R A R Y | A R U P | R M J M | B U R O H A P P O L D | O C TAT U B E K N I P P E R S H E L B I G | G A R T N E R | E Y R I S E | S A G E G L A S S | E U R O P E A N S PA C E A G E N C Y G E N S L E R | I A N R I T C H I E A R C H I T E C T S | A E S G | S A I N T- G O B A I N

Rethinking the possibilities of façade retrofits and adaptive reuse

An IPL magazine

“THE GLASS WORD” WITH BEN VAN BERKEL An exclusive interview with an architectural visionary

An IPL magazine

An IPL magazine

European Special Edition

Autumn 2021 www.igsmag.com

GLASS RETROSPECTIVE

THE AGE OF

INNOVATION

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, GLASS & ARCHITECTURE

TURNING FORMER WASTE INTO FUTURE VALUE Glass recycling initiatives capture the spirit of urban mining

THE LOOKING GLASS: A WATCHMAKER’S CHALLENGE The Curved glass boxes of P.C. Hooftstraat’s façade

WORLDS COLLIDE

Renovating Seattle’s iconic Space Needle

F E AT U R I N G UNSTUDIO | WSP | JOSEF GARTNER | ECKERSLEY O’CALL AGHAN | WILKINSONEYRE O L S O N K U N D I G | S E E L E | N S G P I L K I N G T O N | O C TAT U B E | A R U P | B K S K A R C H I T E C T S A G C G L A S S E U R O P E | P L P A R C H I T E C T U R E | D O W | B E N T E L E R | S A I N T- G O B A I N | O D A N E W Y O R K

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AIM FOR NEUTRALITY NEW COOL-LITE®

XTREME 61/29 AND 61/29 II

© Image used under license from Shutterstock.com

annealed & to-be-tempered extremely selective solar control coating with new truly neutral aesthetic

BUILDING GLASS

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The

Missing link: A Digital (glass) footprint intelligent glass solutions | winter 2021

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©Saint-Gobain ISOVER

T

he construction industry is responsible for the highest consumption of resources; from raw materials to energy; it produces the highest quantity of waste of all industries [1, 2]. Due to the increasing scarcity of resources and the subsequent environmental burden, focus has been placed on ensuring construction materials are kept in closed, environmentally sustainable (and consistent) cycles. This applies to both new constructions as well as refurbishments.

Indeed, the rise of easy to dismantle prefabs, urban mining and material banks are a sign of a changing mentality within the industry and are viable means to managing the anthropogenic waste of raw materials – the latter positioning buildings as a new form of material storage.

Dynamically and flexibly designed buildings can be incorporated into a circular economy – where materials in buildings sustain their value.

This will lead to waste reduction and the use of fewer virgin resources.

The key considerations which arise are: how we know and validate what can still be used (not all materials are reusable), to what extent (as complement elements, in parts or as single 124

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© Saint-Gobain, CalumenLive

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components) and what guidelines do we use to judge the efficacy and viability of reuse (environmental product declarations, product labels, or simulation tools). In addition, when is the optimal time? (on-site, planning phase or post construction). All of these important questions need to be answered in order to create a viable and pragmatic circular economy in our industry and work towards the goal to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings.

Across the globe, public and private agencies have already started collecting data on material use in buildings. Among the pioneers was Statsbygg, the Norwegian government’s building commissioner, property manager and developer. The data of almost 2,300 public buildings, in Norway and abroad, has been collected, stored and utilized in their facility management. As outlined in their mandate, the company has clear objectives

in sight, “in addition to providing appropriate and functional spaces for the public sector, we also realise current political objectives regarding architecture, planning, preservation of heritage sites and environmental issues.”

[3] This approach is unique in that it leverages practical knowledge of how well a building runs in order to establish new standards and avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

This comparative strategy of design vs build data will eventually lead to better performing buildings.

Numerous material databases and tools have emerged in recent years, providing guides on sustainable products and systems. From the German ‘DGNB Navigator’ to ‘Better Materials’ by the GBCI and the ‘Green Guide’ from BRE, specifying ‘sustainable’ materials has become a mainstay in construction.

The Cradle-to-Cradle design principle from EPEA (part of Drees & Sommer) aims to ensure that the selected healthy materials used in the buildings are easy to disassemble, can be separated according to type and are fully regenerative. This turns buildings into durable and valuable raw material banks that release the resources again after the end of their service life, thus contributing to the value-retention of the real estate.

Madaster, founded by the Dutch architect Thomas Rau, is another key example of circular economy ideals put into practice. Madaster is an online registry for materials and products.

On this digital platform, buildings are registered, including the materials and products that were used in their construction. Documenting, registering and archiving of the materials applied in buildings and construction objects makes their reuse easier, encourages smart

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design and eliminates waste. By doing so, each building becomes a reservoir of materials.

Both EPEA and Madaster utilize material passports that contain information about the quality, origins and location of materials and products used in the construction of buildings and other construction objects, providing insight into the material, circular and financial (salvage) value of these projects [5].

Historically, the construction industry has, of course, used data in every phase of a projects lifespan: early drawings with millimeter accurate scaled build sizes, material and product databases, performance values data, test results, calculations and warrantees.

Admittedly, most paper records ended up stored in boxes in a dark and seldom visited room. It seems the modern digital databases have, in most cases, followed suit and end up stored in the recesses of the offices computer folders; nothing much has changed, except the demand for more accurate data at any given time. While BIM has gone some way in providing a solution, it is not what it could or should be - a continuous data flow across all stakeholders – from the material manufacturers to the end-consumer. Russell Cole, Director and Leader of Facades UK at Arup gave a thought-provoking presentation focused on these ideas, “Riding the data wave to deliver the golden thread and sustainable

targets”. For him, making information on products, processes and the project readily accessible to project stakeholders is of paramount importance.

©Andreas Bittis, Aachen

Supporting architects and consulting engineers during the design phases, Saint-Gobain provides product related data through its freely accessible and easy to use glass specification tool CalumenLive [6]. The platform provides data on the spectral, energy, thermal and acoustic performances of glass. With the next update users will also be able to determine carbon footprint figures based on verified EPDs included in the tool. For more in-depth information or detailed calculations, please get in contact with our specification team. [7] The support team can present recommendations on the right glass composition for your project,

backed by technical data and also provide physico realistic renderings using the Saint-Gobain GlassPro platform. GlassPro is an interactive software which simulates a realistic image of different glazing products on facades of buildings. The visualization can be done under different angles, various lighting conditions (overcast or sunny), several interior design settings (with or without white/grey blinds), and urban or rural environments. This cutting-edge technology is the fruit of 10 years of thorough research and continuous improvement of physics-oriented 3D modelling, with real glass samples as a starting point to render the physical characteristics of coated glass products. The result is accurate predictive imaging and daylight simulation matching the real world.

More issues arise between the tender to construction phase of a project. Concepts and designs are taken, changed and ‘improved’ in the name of efficiency, savings and pragmatism; often, all efforts to ensure a final goal: to keep the delivery date of a project. In principle, there is nothing wrong with this. However, it is these redesigns and changes that make tracking and collecting product and project data complicated and time consuming. Coming back to Russell Cole’s presentation, would it not be more efficient to provide data WITH the product?

©Saint-Gobain

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iWin® - proof of concept at Züblin Headquarters, Stuttgart, Germany © Saint-Gobain, Olaf Rohl, Aachen

iWin® - proof of concept at Züblin Headquarters, Stuttgart, Germany © Saint-Gobain, Olaf Rohl, Aachen

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iWin® - proof of concept at Züblin Headquarters, Stuttgart, Germany © Saint-Gobain, Olaf Rohl, Aachen

The current use of attached delivery papers and even NFC tags are subject to their own plights – lost or made dirty in the chaos of construction sites or even removed with product cleaning, these ‘old-school’ methods are just inefficient in the age of digitalization and BIG data. The resulting ‘post processing’ and gathering of all project data by sheer man power and the comparative analysis of the design vs build data off-site is not only time and budget consuming, but subject to human error.

With iWin®, Saint-Gobain now offers a digital service that enables its clients and their customers the ability to track the glazing units before delivery, on the construction site, after installation, and during its usage.

Each insulating glass unit is equipped with a RFID transponder with a unique identification number (ID) that can be read with commercial 128

RFID readers. This ID is stored in a database where clients can retrieve information and data about the product (for example glass build-up or coating) and order and shipping details. iWin® becomes the link between the digital (the data) and its analog counterpart (the product) – a product-integrated, digital delivery bill.

The database can be accessed via a web browser, an app or directly via an API, so that the information is accessible from anywhere, at any time. Customer have access to a detailed overview of each project and the status of their corresponding orders. Clients are also able to edit information themselves: technical details of the frame and façade, installation manuals and plans, reducing the amount of paper on construction sites. In addition, the targeted upload of product data supplied by iWin®

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into BIM models enables efficient and reliable comparative data between the planning and tendering phase to actual construction and delivery. If glass is damaged or needs to be repaired in the future, it can be scanned and reordered via its iWin® ID. Glass with the ability to store and access data and a global database linked to glass units is the missing piece of the puzzle towards the digitalization of the construction industry.

With iWin®, it is possible, for the first time, to clearly identify building components now and for years to come – a digital footprint that makes documentation accessible, accurate and efficient for all involved. This digital anchor allows us to track an analogue product during its entire life cycle and most importantly access its data – A bridge between the digital and real world.

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[1] https://www.iea.org/reports/global-statusreport-for-buildings-and-construction-2019 [2] https://www.mdpi.com/20711050/11/13/3638?type=check_update&version=1 [3] https://www.statsbygg.no [4] https://www.dgnb-navigator.de, https:// bettermaterials.gbci.org, https://www.bregroup. com/greenguide [5] https://epea.com, https://madaster.nl [6] https://calumenlive.com [7] please contact us at glass.facade@saintgobain.com.

Andreas Bittis, International Market Manager at Saint-Gobain Glass, BU Facade Educated as an architect and urban planner at the RWTH Aachen University in Germany, Andreas Bittis was editor for ARCH+ and a freelance journalist for various architectural magazines on and offline. Consequently he worked in several architectural practices; Rhinescheme (Beijing) ingenhoven architects, (Dusseldorf, Sydney, Singapore) and Eller + Eller Architekten (Dusseldorf, Berlin, Moscow) to name a few, as project manager in different domains. With this background he joined Saint-Gobain Building Glass in 2012 as Architectural Specification Manager working not only on advising architects and façade consultants but also on topics like Sustainability and BIM. In 2015 he joined the German marketing team as Product Manager for all coated glass and Market Manager for the glass façade projects. Most recently, Andreas joined the Business Unit Façade as Market Manager in Paris

Glass exchange with iWin®: tracking the product and providing the production data for upload into the BIM model. © Saint-Gobain, Olaf Rohl, Aachen

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Glass Performance Days 2021 Edition: A Special 30 Anniversary th

FEBRUARY 16-18, 2022, TAMPERE, FINLAND 130

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Program highlights • Over 70 face-to-face and online glass technology presentations for effective learning • Opening ceremonies with distinguished professionals • Step Change innovation: state of play and call for actions • In-depth workshops to review industry-specific topics • Networking activities for information sharing and building business partnerships

Expo at GPD 2019

Growth through partnership – moving together into the future In February 2022, Glass Performance Days (GPD) will celebrate its 30th year of serving the glass industry with a first-ever hybrid conference format.

Given the new normal we live in today, the upcoming conference is set to address the new challenges shaping our lives in building design and architecture as we move forward.

Even more importantly, this year’s rescheduled GPD 2021 edition event opens up opportunities for us to become key resources providing the right solutions. We believe the glass industry must adopt an interdisciplinary approach to tackle newly identified issues and achieve our desired goals.

Going through major changes alone may be convenient, but it’s not the most productive way. In the midst of the current uncertainty, one thing is clear – growth is only possible through partnership!

That’s why we’ve chosen the theme, “Growth through Partnership,” to move ourselves, our businesses and the entire industry ahead as one. Together, we can make a difference.

Moving toward carbon-free and sustainable buildings At GPD 2021 edition, we’ll be addressing some of the most pressing challenges of our times.

Designers and architects, especially, need to stay at the cutting edge of the latest trends and discussions.

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Conference dinner at GPD 2019

How can we continue to set the bar higher and focus on smart, sustainable buildings as one solution to the new climate plan? In the nottoo-distant future – if we aim to phase out fossil fuel and realize net-zero energy buildings – do we really know how to take full advantages of glass properties to realize sustainable masterpieces?

Glass as a material can play a vital role in building energy efficiency into each new construction – and actively supporting net-zero energy buildings. Higher performance glazing solutions in buildings have been proven to contribute to considerable energy savings.

Innovative glass units are actively working toward a more sustainable tomorrow.

Other growing trends in architectural glass With the latest innovation in glass technology and improved thermal performance, glass has become a key building material for architects and builders for sustainable properties.

Since many of us are spending more time at home, it is more important to create the right environment to increase productivity and enjoyment. By using more glass, we allow natural light to enter the buildings and enhance wellbeing.

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Face-to-face meetings at GPD 2019

Over the last decade, we have seen a shift to more expansive glass structures, with glass extensions accelerating in popularity since mid-2020.

Another big emerging architectural glazing trend is glass walls and large floor-to-ceiling windows. Full height glass-to-glass corner windows with minimal frames is one of the fastest-growing architectural glazing trends of 2020 and shows no signs of slowing down.

At GPD 2021 edition, we’ll be covering the latest trends in architectural glass for 2022 and beyond.

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Raising business performance Additionally, we need to take a closer look at every aspect of our businesses.

Now is a good time to rethink how we plan, design, produce and distribute goods and services. How might we keep our financial stability while safeguarding the quality of our offering?

If we haven’t looked at all this yet, it’s a good time to do so – and to embrace the changes needed to meet the specific demands our industry faces today.

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES AND TRENDS GAINING TRACTION

The statement, “if we don’t change, we don’t grow,” has always been relevant. Only now, change is no longer an option – it’s a must.

Well-timed with the UN International Year of Glass Last May, the United Nations approved 2022 as the International Year of Glass (IYOG 2022) to acknowledge and celebrate the heritage and importance of glass.

For us, it is especially meaningful to celebrate GPD’s 30th anniversary during the International Year of Glass.

Guests at GPD 2019 listening intently to conference presentations

In addition, it is a great opportunity to support IYOG 2022, promoting the essential role glass has in our society today and its continuing contribution to a sustainable and greener world.

Getting read for the farewell party at GPD 2019

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Sustainability as part of the conference DNA Sustainability and low-carbon materials were hot topics at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow, Scotland, in October–November 2021. New buildings must now reach a much higher sustainability bar to meet net-zero carbon goals.

Using sustainable glass is one solution.

For GPD, sustainability has always been a natural inherent topic and an important part of the conference from the start. Over the years, we’ve addressed how glass innovations are providing solutions to global challenges, including sustainable architecture for present and future societies.

The upcoming GPD edition is no exception.

With environmental issues again a part of the agenda, we will look more deeply at glass as a tool to support the UN’s global sustainability goals.

Our ongoing efforts will make an impact on our future. We are happy to be at the leading edge.

GPD 2021 edition: First-ever winter edition!

Our upcoming three-day Glass Performance Days conference will be held in Tampere,

Info sharing at GPD 2019

Finland, February 15–18, 2022, and will be in hybrid format.

This means you can participate in this year’s notto-be-missed GPD conference either in person or virtually. Either way you choose to join, our modular program will combine the best of both physical and virtual events to give you the greatest advantages as you move ahead.

Info exchange with start-ups

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At the onsite event, we’re expecting between 350–400 participants. Participant registrations will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

To save your seat, please visit www.gpd.fi #GPD2021 The virtual part of the event is a great option for

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES AND TRENDS GAINING TRACTION

those not able to attend in person. All sessions will be broadcast live February 17–18 via our virtual conference platform. As a virtual guest, you have the option to register for just one day or both.

We want to make sure that anyone can join this special happening from anywhere in the world.

To sign up to attend virtually, please visit: www. gpd.fi #GPD2021 Program for the special GPD 2021 edition February 15–16, 2022: Workshops GPD workshops are 4–8-hour intensive courses focusing on techniques and skills in a particular field.

February 17–18, 2022: Conference and business networking The conference includes four parallel technical sessions organized each day. In total, over 70 face-to-face and online presentations will be given by glass industry experts over a contentrich two days.

Interactive networking activities at GPD 2019

Business networking – something that GPD has become world-renowned for – happens during lunch and coffee breaks.

Please note: this special GPD edition will not feature our usual exhibition format. Instead, we will be creating a unique environment to facilitate business and networking discussions on both conference days.

February 16–18, 2022: Evening networking activities All conference days will be crowned by our popular GPD evening activities: February 16 – Welcome reception February 17 – Conference dinner February 18 – Farewell party Thrills for the winter edition GPD Finland has become known for its popular evening networking activities held outdoors during the long sun-filled Nordic summer evenings. This year, for the first time ever, our conference will take place during winter in

Learning is fun

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Finland – with fun-filled activities and other super cool surprises!

When attending GPD 2021 edition in person, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy the Finnish winter nature, breathe the crisp air – and experience a wide range of other adventures.

Although we can’t promise Northern Lights – you may just have a lucky evening and see the spectacular mysterious colors dancing in the starry sky!

On stage at GPD 2019

Keep your eyes open for more to come on our ultra-special winter GPD event.

In-depth hands-on workshops Every GPD conference offers special in-depth hands-on workshops held on the first two days.

One on one meetings at GPD 2019

These special workshops are tailored to visitors who want a comprehensive understanding of specific subjects. The selection of subjects is wide – ranging from market opportunities, smart and thin glass, tempering and laminating to glass technology and features. Each workshop provides a thorough overview of one of the glass industry’s most pressing issues.

Designed for effective learning, we aim to make GPD workshop content valuable and actionable, even for the most experienced and widely recognized glass professionals.

Opening session at GPD 2019

Memorable evening programs For many GPD guests, evening networking activities are some of their favorite times. These are great opportunities to meet old friends, make new ones, catch up on the latest news and simply enjoy the evening. This more relaxed part of the conference has always played a big role in the success of the event.

Frequent GPD visitors know the organizers make every conference night a memorable one. From very special guests on stage to awe-inspiring entertainment or interactive participation, there’s always plenty to see and do.

Even the themed farewell party is an annual treat. Over the years, GDP has become a place to create great memories and lasting friendships forever.

Start-up corner at GPD 2019

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Heard during past conferences “GPD provides an ideal and unique mix – people in top management and younger generations; presentations and networking time; business and fun!”

Come join us!

Here we’ve outlined only some of the elements that together make the upcoming Glass Performance Days conference truly one not to miss.

We look forward to welcoming you in person or virtually to this unique winter GPD edition!

Let’s venture out into the unmarked snow together – and really grow.

For more info, visit: www.gpd.fi

“The conference provides an intense relationship-building environment in open, casual surroundings.”

“The interaction at GPD and great organization lead to good contacts and business. I felt the energy and synergy – which is a key to moving forward.

Innovation only happens when we communicate.”

Brown Onduso, Conference Manager, Glass Performance Days (GPD) Brown has over a decade of experience in organizing, managing and execution of GPD activities in Finland and other parts of the world. He has an all-round responsibility in GPD, from pre-planning, through the event days, and post-event activities. He is well versed in cultivating competitive environments that provide effective learning through information sharing leading to business opportunities. ‘Creating environments for people and businesses to thrive in multiple ways’ is his passion.

“I’m expecting to hear more about what the next 5 to 10 years will bring to the facade industry.”

“GPD is important to bring people from the glass industry together!”

Social networkign at GOD 2019

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XXXX

United Nations International Year

of Glass

OPENING CEREMONY Building a sustainable, equitable and better world with glass

THE FUTURE IS CLEAR 138

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XXXX

Palace of Nations, Geneva 10th – 11th February 2022 For more info: www.iyog2022.org

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THE GLASS WORD

Architectural values in a changing world “Creativity and innovation in architecture work through the investigation of memory, context, the nature of the materials which we transport and transform to build, and the way buildings are constructed and their relation to their environment”

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THE GLASS WORD

Fluy House + pigfield © ritchie studio

INTRODUCTION More than 40 years ago, in Northern France, I designed and self-built a 300 m² house wrapped entirely in glass in the corner of a pig field. The pigs did not mind, but the planners wanted it hidden, which suited the client’s desire for privacy, and earth from the cellar excavation was used to create a mounded landscape perimeter.

The budget was restricted, so the design was minimal, rational, functional and userdetermined. It was reductive yet energy intelligent, composed as a kit of prefabricated parts: lightweight steel frame; semi-stressed ply roof deck; glass walls - including passive solar collection panels. It cost £30,000.

Ian Ritchie portrait Fluy House 1977 © ritchie studio

The activity spaces follow the sun’s movement: bedrooms face east, activity space south, living areas face west, with the transparent garage and workshop acting as an energy buffer to the north. In summer, the interior is kept cool by air circulation and sunshades. In winter, the house was designed to be warmed by the sun. Fresh air is preheated by a solar collector, passed into the cellar and mixed with recirculating warmed air. The warmed air comes from solar panels on the east and west facades, designed to exploit the low sun angle in winter. These

Fluy House 1977 © ritchie studio

Fluy House 1977 © ritchie studio

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Fluy House 1977 © ritchie studio

THE GLASS WORD

walls are based on the Trombe principal but instead of the heat being stored immediately in the wall behind the glass, it is transferred to ceiling height and thence to the cellar, where it is stored in the underside of the suspended concrete floor and metal/rock storage zones in the earth surrounding the cellar. This ‘outer’ cellar is used as the heat sink, for storing wine, and growing mushrooms, and within the cellar is a playroom, an exercise room, storage, and the air circulation fan and back-up heating plant.

Four decades later, the house still functions perfectly and maintenance and running costs are minimal.

This is an (admittedly simple) example of what I call ‘intelligent design’. In design and construction it is efficient in its use of resources, including money, land, materials, and energy, as well as being aesthetically pleasant to live in.

It does not require electronics, sophisticated sensors, or ‘smart’ devices, because it is already ‘smart’ - finely tuned to the specific environment within which it stands and the people who inhabit it.

WHERE DO WE STAND NOW? Fast forward twenty-five years to 2003, at the height of the ‘starchitectural’ era of selfaggrandising and selfish architectural stuntmaking, when I gave a lecture describing

Ian Ritchie collage 1987.

Homo neanderthalensis -faber - sapiens

Tech as an expression of energy consumption

why I believed there was an imperative to develop a new ‘intelligent’ design paradigm – a movement in urbanism and architecture derived from a creative synthesis of science, ecology and ethics. Since that time, and much more quickly than was anticipated by even pessimistic scientists, a global ecosystemic crisis has developed in which urbanisation – and so, inevitably, architecture – is central.

Human activity has altered our planet so profoundly that we have pushed the earth and biosphere into a new geological epoch: the

Anthropocene. The idea of the Anthropocene has a wide range of implications, but the most important is the collective acknowledgement of a new ecological reality, and the perception of our place and our role within it. The most critical problems, challenges, and unique opportunities we now face demand a radical shift in our built environments and our lifestyles.

I think it is clear that the paradigm I was referring to is far more than some architectural style. It must be more than a conventional notion of ‘sustainable’ architecture or

The Earth will carry on with or without us

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The Circle of Progress © Ian Ritchie

POLITICS: IT HAS TAKEN +100 YEARS TO ACT ON CO2

development. For those of us living in economically powerful post-industrial societies it is about a fundamental change in the way we think, behave towards each other, design and make things.

RESEARCH 1896

1924 In the West we have become the product of our own economic thinking to the point where the greatest financial rewards are obtained from being socially and ecologically irresponsible, from not caring for others or our environment, and we have exported these values worldwide.

We live to produce, to consume and to waste.

Capitalist culture continues to deny the natural environment by exploiting it. Measuring growth (progress and success) by GDP, or the stock market, is still deeply embedded in our society’s idea of civilisation, despite laments about the state of our biosphere.

Only recently has significant doubt arisen about the direction in which the developed world has been ‘progressing’. A collective awareness is dawning that any notion of progress that does not recognise that we are sharing this planet with others and with all life will be fatal.

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Arrhenius establishes link between Greenhouse Effect and atmospheric CO2 from coal Atmospheric CO2 predicted to double in 500 years due to industrial activity

1988

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is set up

1992

Rio Earth summit – to stabilise emissions at 1990 levels

1997

Kyoto Conference sets 5% ‘token’ reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions

2001

US rejects Kyoto Protocol

2005

G8 backs down on global climate action under pressure from US

2007

Bali Climate Conference –“US, please get out of the way!”

2008

Obama ‘Green Team’ suggests US coming aboard on Climate Change action

2009

Copenhagen Conference – the new post-Kyoto CO2 emissions to be agreed

2015

Paris COP21: commitment to <+2OC and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

1938

Callendar states global warming due to increasing CO2 is already underway

2016

Marrakech COP22

1958

First reliable long term measurements of atmospheric CO2 begin

2017

Bonn COP23 Greta Thunberg demonstrates outside Swedish Parliament

1967

Manabe & Wetherald calculate a global rise of 2OC if atmospheric CO2 doubles

2018

Katowice COP24 Thunberg addresses the conference

1987

Antarctic ice cores confirm link between atmospheric CO2 and global temperature.

2019

UN Climate Action Summit ‘How Dare You’ – Thunberg address

2001

Evidence of warming in ocean basins match predictions for global warming

2019

Madrid COP25

2021

Glasgow COP26: UN Climate Change Conference

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Ongoing global research on CO2 levels / deforestation / ocean temperatures and pollution

Secure global net zero by midcentury

Fossil fuel sponsorship in the West challenged

Mobilise finance / Work together to deliver

Protect communities and natural habitats

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HOW ARE WE BEHAVING AS DESIGNERS? Architecture is an expression of culture. The architecture we produce reflects our worldview.

At the moment, most architecture we create in the west, no matter what its visual reference or theoretical underpinning, maintains to a greater or lesser extent the status quo. There are inescapable contradictions between producing architecture within the present economic model and helping to create a more intelligent world in which ecological, moral and social altruism rather than economic imperatives prevail.

At the same time architecture, because of its difficulty and expense, is a profession dependent upon individuals, organizations and communities with enough wealth and power to commission architects. Often architects find themselves complicit in accommodating and reinforcing those with power and privilege.

clients and their ethics, and many projects have disappeared as a result. But occasionally we find clients that share our ethos.

Most recently, in Malta, one such enlightened client engaged with our aspirations to synthesize aesthetics and ethics with the science of construction and ecology – to begin with gardens not buildings, not to use traditional air-conditioning despite the local climate and global warming, to have openable windows, not to build high with dependency upon lifts, to plan the layout of buildings to shade each other, and to help educate local politicians, consultants and manufacturers and builders in advancing a common and intelligent future heritage. It is interesting to note that uptake of office space in this development has

been far greater than in surrounding high-rise schemes.

‘Sustainability’ is so general a term, interpreted and appropriated by countless governments, companies, institutions and agencies, as to render it almost meaningless. Although the interrelationships between the environment, architecture and society are increasingly clear, complex ecological issues are still reduced and oversimplified to sets of separate environmental problems. This focus limits the understanding of these (and architectural) issues as primarily technological/functional, leading to the idea that they can be remedied through technical fixes. Architects are still often principal actors in presenting ‘greenwashed’ images of sustainable architecture.

If how we live together on this planet is to change, a new type of education will be required for the architect - and for the clients, developers, planners and politicians who hold the purse strings, and for economists to reject the current economic model based upon profit for its own sake and exploitation of the poor, and for the public to enable them to hold those in power to account.

This is by no means an impossible dream. In my own practice we have sought to challenge

Malta, Trident Park 2021 © ritchie studio

Milan Vertical Forest Tower - photo Ian Ritchie

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However, I think most designers mean well.

Nowadays, when we attempt to solve a problem or derive a design solution we try to expand our analyses to include a more complex global vision of interdependence. But in simple terms, most of us believe that a sustainable approach is one which gets more value out of less material, pollutes less, wastes less, recycles more and does not reduce the next generation’s choices. Yet to do this in a greater urban and worldwide context is very difficult. It is an honourable objective, but a relatively naïve approach.

The tragedy is that in our present society design remains judged, both qualitatively and quantitatively by the question: does it attract the consumer? Designers may think they have more noble standards – of providing functional artefacts that are environmentally and culturally sensitive – but are we deluding ourselves?

Do we actually need most of the things we design? Do they simply serve to perpetuate the unsustainable status quo?

HOW SHOULD WE DESIGN TODAY? This question is based upon the assumption that our ecological and socio-economic irresponsibility cannot continue, and that the processes of decision-making and progress are as much the result of our humanity and intelligence as are the tangible artefacts that result from our application of science, technology, and economics to the material world.

Mumbai towers and slums - super rich in the clouds, and the poor in dirt

Wadala Tower proposal Mumbai

Cities are growing everywhere as population increases, and because of their undeniable and extensive effects on the biosphere, they might be considered a primary source of global ecological degradation. The process of planetary urbanization comes with a subsequent increase in environmental pressures: demand for food and water

increases, and for energy and material resources to provide shelter, infrastructure and transport.

As matters stand now, human exploitation of these resources degrades the surrounding agricultural lands and recreational landscapes and creates industrial wastelands, which lead to additional economic, socio-political and humanitarian problems.

Yet cities are now central to the global ecosystem because they are the predominant human nest, and this social-ecological reality will not change for the foreseeable future.

We must seriously reconsider the nature of these nests since their immediate qualities not only affect us, but cities and architecture are simultaneously central to the problem of the global ecology and central to the solution. The way they adapt, change and possibly grow will be decisive in defining our ecological future.

Cathedral Termite Mound, Litchfield National Park, Northern Territory, Australia

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Termite mound ventilation and solar powered a/c

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Can cities evolve to become better balanced with nature, to give us cities with a healthier culture? Perhaps we should begin by redefining the city as an organism: an ‘eco-polis’

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what is the relationship between architectural design and industrial innovation? Despite our pretensions to importance, architects’ power is essentially formal because that is where architects’ skills have been applied most significantly until now.

Architects are rarely able to determine in any consequential sense the context, use, production, cost-relationship, profitability, marketing, durability, ecology, etc. of the materials from which we make architecture; this limits the possible architectures that could exist. Some of us try, and just occasionally we are successful in influencing industry, and thus architecture as a whole.

Urban poverty

embodying ethics, concepts and programs for ‘eco-logical’ restoration. An understanding of what is genuinely global, and what is essential locally, would aid in creating a new model of an ecologically sound, interdependent economy.

To effectively address major environmental issues, many interrelated ecological, architectural, and social aspects must be considered in all aspects of urban and building design. These include the local climate and bioregional conditions; the locally available natural resources; ecological flows and cycles of materials, energy, water, nutrients and waste.

This is not to ignore technical issues such as C02 emissions, but to place them within a given context and connect them into a consistent and coherent whole.

France-Japan Monument Screen 1989 © Poïesis Generateur

The entire design and building process must be addressed, as must urban and landscape integration, building occupation, use and re-use, adaptation to context and cultures, as well as cultural and socio-economic factors.

In the late 1960s Ian McHarg’s ‘Design with Nature’ became the mantra for a small subset of architects and urban designers. We need to go further, and let nature lead us: ‘Nature First’, and this means we need more and deeper knowledge about it, locally and globally.

Engineers are generally better positioned to imagine and help develop new technical products, but until now improvements in materials and construction have been largely based upon one single objective: to be able to better predict their performance, thereby improving performance and reducing costs.

This is no longer sufficient to meet the demands of the new paradigm: the goal of building a culture that increases the earth’s biological abundance instead of depleting it.

We need new materials capable of endless recycling, and low energy production methods.

There must be a basic re-design of products in conjunction with new standards for recycling, toxic elimination, energy and resource efficiency, de-materialisation, etc.

Understanding such context must become the first investigation of architecture.

Context is physical, intellectual and sensual.

Architecture has a haptic and physical quality.

It is fundamentally a material construct. The architectural process and architecture itself is synthesis, not separation: the synthesis of ideas, of people, of materials and ultimately of a sense of man’s union with nature. Creativity and innovation in architecture work through the investigation of memory, context, the nature of the materials which we transport and transform to build, and the way buildings are constructed and their relation to their environment.

And, as we begin to analyse the eventual transformations in product life-cycles and industrially produced material with the potential for endless utility and human health and safety, it is evident that new intellectual and creative alliances are needed in our industry.

Architects, engineers and designers must no longer regard themselves as members of autonomous disciplines, but must collaborate with each other, and with chemists and physicists and neuroscientists, funders, politicians and industry to seek more ambitious outcomes. Recognising our interdependencies will begin to enable such new alliances.

Better design makes for better architecture, but we must also ask ourselves whether we can influence the evolution of design in general, and if so, how to go about it. For example,

WHAT ROLE AESTHETICS? There are increasing numbers of studies into the neurological basis of relationships between the architectural environment and the

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emotions and physiology of the people who inhabit it. We are beginning to learn what kind of architecture and urban design has the capacity to sustain and nourish healthy minds, and a meaningful human existence.

Buildings are not inert; they promote, generate and make possible cultural and ecological interfaces, and can be a catalyst for wide sociocultural and environmental transformations - for good or bad. This implies that architecture is a process, with dynamics, complexities and ecologies. It also implies a much greater accountability for the architect, because what is designed inevitably creates a relationship between the

built environment and the life that goes on within and around it.

I am convinced that beauty is in large measure non-linear - the beauty of the flickering flame or curling wave, endlessly mesmerising. My view of architecture and architectural space is that they are part of nature, intrinsically dynamic, and should exhibit non-linearity. There should be a contribution from the surface which is beyond reflection and beyond itself as a skin.

It should reveal transformational qualities, sensitivity to light and shadow, to burning sun or pouring rain, to change, albeit slowly.

Terrasson Cultural Greenhouse 1992 -4 - © ritchie studio

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And developing or choosing materials that allow the environment to change the surface is an aesthetic design decision which embraces not only appearance, but becomes a metaphor for designing with rather than against nature, of beginning to unwind the long recent past, and to put nature first.

Aesthetic intent might be considered useless (non-quantifiable) work. In any project, efficiency and economy are rightly expected by most clients, and represent the two tangible aspects of time and money. Combined with appropriate spatial organisation and materials, these should provide fitness for purpose. Aesthetics involves the designer in

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investigation, research, and analysis of ideas of space, feeling and appearance. These take time, and do not appear to profit the client directly. Often the client sees no real point in paying for them. It is vital that designers invest in them nevertheless. And if these intangible issues are driven by the moral dimension of aesthetics, embracing the idea that we design not just to satisfy the immediate needs of our client, but for future generations, then the aesthetic issue becomes far more significant.

The power of aesthetics is measured in the mind, sometimes in the heart - not in the bank balance. The lack of it is like drip-water torture; it numbs the mind. It is the lack

The Louvre inverted pyramid (1993) RFR

of this aesthetic dimension which renders the cumulative effect of much of the built environment so demoralising. And the aesthetic dimension must include all our senses: these hidden dimensions, as much as those that we see, determine our quality of life.

By giving value to the moral aesthetic as well as the appearance of the work, the resulting architecture or urban planning will indicate how responsibly we have acted with regard to future generations. In a world where our goal is the quality of life and a healthy ecosystem, I believe that we must re-define and expand the criteria for determining whether or not design solutions are functional and meaningful.

Functionality can ultimately be defined as ‘impact’. A definition of environmentally positive design might be: ‘Where any manufactured by-product of the design solution has a net contributing value when analysed in terms of environmental and social impact.’ Meaning reveals values within the ultimate art of all: the art of living together, in our homes, our community and our planet.

CONCLUSION The discipline of architecture is complex and in some ways analogous to the human condition: it demands that we continually address the same basic questions, while expecting diverse answers that are appropriate to specific times and places. What distinguishes architecture from other kinds of art is that it intertwines with life itself in such a fundamental and significant way.

Like Janus, we always sit on the boundary between the past and the future. Yet at this most critical moment of human history, we are finally coming to realise that all the human and non-human things we once imagined were separate - biology, architecture, science, morality, law, politics, religion, finance, technology - are in fact inseparable from each other. Just as our minds are inseparable from our bodies, it has become clear that we can never isolate ourselves from the non-human world, that our cultures, our technologies, and nature are irreversibly entwined, and we shall live or perish together. Interdependence not independence, collectivism not individualism, must be our way forward.

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Ian Ritchie Ian Ritchie CBE RA is director of ritchie*studio, poet, writer, artist, Royal Academician and member of the Akademie der Künste. He is Honorary Visiting Professor at Liverpool University and advises Backstage Trust.

He is a former Governor of the RSC and advisor to The Ove Arup Foundation. He has chaired many international juries including the RIBA Stirling Prize, and has received three international innovation Awards Robert Matthew Commonwealth Award, the Academie d’Architecture Grand Silver Medal and Premio Internazionale Ischia di Architettura (PIDA). His practice has won more than 100 national and international awards, and recently completed the Royal Academy of Music’s Theatre and Recital Hall, and the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour at UCL. He has written many books, and a number of international museums hold his art.

Inverted Pyramid Louvre © Rene de Witt

The late writer Barry Lopez expressed the present paradigm clearly:

“Because mankind can circumvent evolutionary law, it is incumbent upon him, to develop another law to abide by if he wishes to survive...

He must learn restraint....Not because he must, because he lacks inventiveness, but because herein is the accomplishment of the wisdom that for centuries he has aspired to. Having taken on his own destiny, he must now think with critical intelligence about where to defer.” © 2021 Ian Ritchie 150

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EXECUTIVE BOARDROOM COMMENTARY

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Article written by Marc Everling subsequent to an interviewwith Laurent Delmotte, Head of Sustainability and Product Stewardship at AGC Glass Europe

TRANSPARENT ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES

TRANSPARENT ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES The AGC Technovation Centre is at the heart of AGC’s technological know-how in Europe, an R&D facility that focuses on glass innovations that will shape our future way of living, moving and communicating. Photographer: Jean-Michel Byl © AGC Glass Europe.

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Please contact me by Tel to discuss subscription options ¨ Please send me a subscription form by fax or email ¨ (Tick as appropriate) Post this form to: Nick Beaumont, Intelligent Publications Limited, 3rd Floor Omnibus House, 39-41 North Road, London N7 9DP, United Kingdom. Or Telephone: +44 207 607 9907

9

This landmark development was inspired by old sailing vessels, drawing on Chongqing’s status as a gateway to western China

Authors Penny Cheung, Lu-Lu Du, Gary Ge, Antony Ho, Michael Kwok and Allen Sun

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1: Chongqing’s past as an important trading centre is reflected in the design of Raffles City Chongqing, which was inspired by historical Chinese sailing vessels

GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES AND TRENDS GAINING TRACTION 52

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Freedom in Curtain Wall Design and Performance Facades have the ability to transform how we see architectural spaces and, in recent decades, glazed curtain walling systems have become increasingly popular – on commercial and residential buildings alike.

Enclosing the envelope of the building, there are two main types of curtain walling: stick and unitised facades. These can be adapted from their standard design to create bespoke features which are engineered to emphasise geometry or a particular aesthetic appearance.

As a result, curtain wall systems equip architects with the freedom to create an aesthetically led façade which meets the specific performance requirements of the building.

Hadrians Tower. © Hufton + Crow

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AUTHORS DETAILS W I N T E R 2021

MARC EVERLING Marc Everling Nachhaltige Kommunikation Founder Heinrichstr. 40 D – 38106 Braunschweig me@marceverling.de +49 176 64076171 www.marceverling.de AGC GLASS EUROPE Avenue Jean Monnet 4 1348 Louvain-La-Neuve Belgium +32 2 409 30 00 www.agc-glass.eu SIMONE STARNINI Sir Robert McAlpine Head of Façade Engineering Eaton Court, Maylands Avenue Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP2 7TR information@srm.com +44 (0) 333 566 3444 www.srm.com ANDERS HALL European Solar Shading Organisation (ES-SO) President www.es-so.com/

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ANDREW KITCHING Guthrie Douglas Managing Director Gartnerstraße 20, 89423 Gundelfingen an der Donau, Germany andrew.kitching@guthriedouglas. com +44 (0)1926 310850 www.guthriedouglas.com HELEN SANDERS Technoform North America General Manager Technoform North America 1755 Enterprise Parkway, Suite 300OH 44087 Twinsburg, USA info.otsde@technoform.com +1 330-487-6600 www.technoform.com ARUP 8 Fitzroy Street London W1T 4BJ United Kingdom london@arup.com +44 (0) 20 7636 1531 www.arup.com JOSEF GARTNER GMBH Gartnerstraße 20, 89423 Gundelfingen an der Donau, Germany gartner@permasteelisagroup.com +49 9073 840 www.josef-gartner. permasteelisagroup.com

intelligent glass solutions | winter 2021

VALÉRIE HAYEZ Dow Global Façade Engineering & Architectural Design Engineer Bachtobelstrasse 3, 8810 Horgen, Switzerland +41 44 728 21 11 www.dow.com ANDREAS SCHEIB Glas Trösch Chief Communication Officer Glas Trösch Holding AG Industriestrasse 29 CH-4922 Bützberg, Switzerland info@glastroesch.com +41 800 118 851 www.glastroesch.com BJARKE INGELS GROUP (BIG) Kløverbladsgade 56, 2500 København, Denmark newbiz@big.dk +45 7221 7227 www.big.dk REYNAERS ALUMINIUM LTD 111 Hollymoor Way Birmingham B31 5HE reynaersltd@reynaers.com +44 (0) 121 421 1999 www.reynaers.co.uk

ANDREAS BITTIS Saint-Gobain International Marketing Manager SAINT-GOBAIN Les Miroirs 18, avenue d’Alsace 92400 Courbevoie FRANCE +33 1 47 62 30 00 www.saint-gobain.com BROWN ONDUSO Glass Performance Days (GPD) Conference Manager Vehmaistenkatu 5 33730 Tampere Finland brown.onduso@gpd.fi +358 10 500 500 www.gpd.fi IAN RITCHIE ritchie*studio Director 110 Three Colt Street London E14 8AZ mail@ritchie.studio +44 (0)20 7338 1100 www.ritchie.studio

SHARING OUR PASSION FOR GLASS WITH YOU! AGC IS YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR SUSTAINABLE FACADE GLAZING SOLUTIONS AGC Glass Europe offers one of the world’s most comprehensive and diverse glass ranges to tackle any façade challenges.

We are committed to producing sustainable products that provide you with the perfect technical and aesthetic solutions for your projects.

Our passion for glass and our expertise can support you and your projects from design conception to project completion.

AGC Glass UK - T +44 1788 53 53 53 - sales.uk@eu.agc.com - www.agc-yourglass.com

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