Floating glass wall highlights Denver courthouse

Bill Trainor, project manager, Trainor Glass.

The basics:To achieve the design goals of transparency and light, the five-story, 317,000-square-foot Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse in Denver features a sweeping folding wall of glass along the east side of the building. The 92-foot tall complex glass wall is hung from a secondary steel structure, making it appear to float. The building was designed to achieve Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

The players: Architect, Klipp Architecture, Denver; curtain wall system supplier, Kawneer Co., Norcross, Ga.; general contractor, Hensel Phelps, Greeley, Colo.; glazing contractor,Trainor Glass, Alsip, Ill.; glass fabricator, Viracon, Owatonna, Minn.

The basics: 54,500 square feet of glass, the majority VRE1-59 coating with 20 percent clear, 60 percent horizontal frit pattern and 20 percent full frit sandblast in spandrel areas; a modified 1600 SS (Screw Spline) Unitwall system that incorporates GLASSvent (concealed vent) systems throughout the judges’ chambers.