Hearst Tower

When we last wrote about Guardian SunGuard, we explored how the company’s high-performance glass panels covered the exterior of the world’s tallest building, the Burj  Khalifa in Dubai. Now, we’re back to bring you some of Guardian’s best glass facades, featuring projects from all over the globe and designed by some of the architecture  world’s heaviest hitters. Sure, Frank Gehry alone can’t really compete with a Hollywood blockbuster,  but what about Frank Gehry plus Sir Norman Foster plus  Massimilian0 Fuksas plus Guardian SunGuard Advanced Architectural glasses? Together, they’re a force to reckon with, as our the dramatic large-scale buildings that follow from them.

These facades are notable for their exuberant use of glass. Whether employed in the service of Foster’s strict high-Modernist geometry at New York’s Heart Tower or sculpted in fractured, boulder-like form at Coll-Barreu Arquitectos’ Department of Health in Bilbao, the buildings exhibit a clear aesthetic and functionality that’s concomitant of Guardian’s initiave to “Build with Light“. Each of the following projects, of course, had their own fair share of challenges, especially when engineering giant walls of curved glass to fit the more complex geometries. Still, the architects were able to find the right glass for the job(s), and the results are, well, pretty stunning, as you’ll soon see…

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Designed by Norman Foster, the Hearst Tower was New York’s first LEED Gold certified skyscraper. The diagrid, the triangular structure which rises out of the historic structure at the ground floor, is filled in with Guardian’s SuperNeutral 63 (#2), a high-efficient glass that filters the radiation from the flood of light entering the space.

The Art Gallery of Ontario

Frank Gehry’s renovation of the Art Gallery of Ontario marked the architect’s first work in Canada, and which is characterized by the billowing corner portion of the all-glass facade. Typical of Gehry, a timber-and-steel structure supports the wavy exterior, itself made of SuperNeutral 68 (#2) insulating glass panels that wrap around the main structure.

Milan Trade Fair

We’re not exactly sure how much glass went into Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas’ Milan Trade Fair, but judging from the 1300-meter long, 32-meter wide glazed canopy that runs through the heart of the project, there’s a whole lot. The campus consists of series of pavilion structures and circulation routes woven together by monumental whorls of glass, specifically SN 62/34 (#2) glass that lends a sea-greenish color to the whole project.

E8 Building

The facade of the sprawling E8 Building in Álava, Spain is comprised of giant shards of Light Blue 52 (#2) glass that peak in all directions. The faceted exterior glass shell is tethered to the main structure, filtering the light that passes inside the extensive interiors, while creating a formal statement all on its own.

Bilbao Department of Health

A massive crystalline facade sheaths the Bilbao Department of Health, which from the street appears like the peak of a rocky precipice. Coll-Barreu Arquitectos chose Guardian’s Neutral 40 (#2) glass to give the complex a neutral gray sheen than reflect Bilbao’s grey skies.

There’s plenty more awesome work to be viewed on Guardian’s profile page–be sure to go check it out!

by Architizer Editors

posted in Uncategorized

tagged frank gehry, glass, guardian sunguard, Hearst Tower, Massimiliano Fuksas, norman foster

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