limestone and brown, blue and copper metal panels. Engineering a glass that ticked all of the boxes was
A Lesson
“
We designed with the thought that the day-to-
a key factor in our selection.”
in Design
night appearance, color and transparency of the
glass was an expressive façade material,” he says.
Energy Considerations
The design team initially considered triple glaz-
ing to increase thermal performance. However, this
would have increased the cost of the façade radically
continued from page 15
“
This building is used extensively after hours as
well. There is a gymnasium, an auditorium, a caf-
eteria, and a library that are used not only by the
district but by the community as well. The use and due to the custom curtainwall system that would be
placement of glass on the facades allows the build- required for a complex laminated glass make-up.
ing to glow and expose its inner activity, and be a
lantern to the community.”
Instead, it settled on an Argon-filled insulating
glass unit with the SunGuard IS coating, which
can help bring the U-value performance of dou-
ble-glazed units near that of a triple. The glass com-
bination used on the project combines a 60-percent
visible light transmission and a 0.26 solar heat gain
coefficient for a light-to-solar gain ratio of 2.34.
Multiple Functions
Highland Associates needed to design a build-
ing with a high-performing envelope in order to
meet LEED requirements, and one that would
qualify for the enhanced acoustical performance
credit. While the building team naturally exam-
ined high-performance, low-E glazing options,
it also knew that incorporating laminated glass
would greatly reduce the amount of outside noise.
And the laminated glass selection played a key
Collaborative Effort
The design team worked extensively with
Guardian architectural design manager Eddy Scott.
“By having Guardian involved early in the pro-
cess, it helped us avoid any challenges that may have
role in the most critical design goal: occupant safety. otherwise manifested themselves during the design
“
Security was the primary reason we selected
and construction phases,” says Degnon. AGG
the makeup of the various types of glass on this
project,” says Degnon. “In light of recent events,
security and schools have become synonymous.
Nick St. Denis is the editor of Architects’ Guide to
Glass & Metal. He can be reached at nstdenis@glass.com.
R
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