| Glass |
Spandrel glass
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Glass has become one of the most important materials used in construction, especially for high-rise commercial buildings. As it typically covers a large part of exterior surfaces the correct choice of glass is most important to obtain the right final result.
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 Today, different curtain wall systems allow the entire building exterior to be covered with glass. To cover non-visible areas a so-called spandrel glass is used. Spandrel's primary function is to cover materials or construction elements from being viewed from the exterior of the building. Examples of such areas include areas between floors, hung ceiling areas, knee-wall areas below vision lights, and sometimes even columns or partitions.
Aesthetically, it can be applied in two ways. One is to contrast the appearance of the vision panels through the use of color, while another is to match it with the vision area, so that from the outside the structure maintains a uniform glass skin making it virtually impossible to distinguish where the start and finish of the window and wall. When trying to create an exterior uniform appearance colors and the optical properties of the vision area glass must be considered. As for the different lighting conditions behind the spandrel and other factors, it is practically impossible to obtain a perfect match, however paying attention to details usually produces greater uniformity.
Spandrel glass is usually produced by a fired-on frit process in which a ceramic frit is applied to annealed glass and then tempered to fuse the frit with the glass. The result is a non-vision glass panel that does not fade. As this glass is heat-treated during the manufacturing process, it supply adequate resistances to thermal stresses. This glass can also be insulated to increase its thermal performance.
Find out more about spandrel glass through selected links.
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Photos: Pilkington
Last review: March, 2005 |
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