Is the End Near for Architectural Glazing?

Article Written By: happyclap

Over the past few decades, glass and glazing has been used increasingly architecture, often with astounding results. Buildings such as the Gherkin in London, The Pyramid in the Louvre in Paris and the amazing Glass Nelson-Atkins Museaum in Kansas City are all impressive displays of using glass in architecture, and are testament to the successful marrying of industrial design and architecture as an art form.

These buildings are undoubtedly beautiful and can often be environmentally friendly. The Gherkin Tower uses around half of the amount of energy that a traditional structure standing at its height would use. The Gherkin employs many different energy saving methods, for example, gaps in each floor create six individual shafts throughout the building, acting as a natural ventilation system.

This in turn creates what is like almost a supersize double glazing system. The air is compressed between the layers of glazing, and as in traditional glazing, this insulates the entire building. Meaning that heat is retained during the summer months and loss of heat is prevented during the winter.

However, it can be difficult and extremely cost effective to create such architectural glazing and this may mean that, with an ever increasing interest in the environment, architects prefer to opt for more traditional structures. A study commissioned by Robert Adam Architects back in 2007 showed that traditional buildings, i.e - those built with solid walls; cost about 15-20per cent less to heat or cool than glass structures and equally the manufacture of glass results in hefty co2 emissions.

Not only this, but there seems to now to be a movement away even from traditional building materials into a new trend of "eco homes" being made primarily from natural materials such as earth and straw. Does this mean then the end for impressive glass structures? This seems unlikely, as the Gherkin shows, there are various possibilities for creating beautiful and grand structures with impressive architectural glazing that are also environmentally friendly.

Perhaps there may be a movements towards making more sustainable "eco homes" though I think for grand architectural statements and commercial units glazing still very much has its place. Investing in extra planning to make sure that your building answers any heating issues that other glass buildings may face, it is still the material of choice for modern and architecturally impressive and beautiful buildings.

About the Author

architectural glazing expert at Greenberg Glass.

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