Creating a spectacle

When the facade of a building is clearly visible from several areas of a city, its design needs to have a recognisable point of difference.

To create the required look for the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf hotel, the architects decided to specify a glass facade for the front entry and side wall.

Heritage Glass Products won the contract to provide a high-quality facade that included 7m-high mullions and minimal horizontal members. Finishes had to incorporate all mullions and transoms wrapped with polished stainless steel, to provide an attractive, low-maintenance framing system where all glazed edges were concealed.

The design team's brief to Heritage Glass was to develop a project-specific glass that incorporated both the reflective qualities of the stainless steel framing and a print design featuring the project theme of an offset barcode pattern. The pattern had to be visible from both sides and be low maintenance, so Heritage Glass's solution was to laminate the pattern into a glass sandwich.

"This concept was challenging as the technology to incorporate a printed mirror pattern into heat-strengthened, oversized glass had to be developed quickly and at a reasonable cost," says Heritage Glass manager Bob Taylor.

"Our team worked with ceramic ink manufacturers and a high-quality glass fabrication plant overseas to produce samples for approval. The tight construction programme meant glass sizes needed to be developed from a three-dimensional model and ordered prior to fabrication. To do this we had to achieve a tolerance of +/-2mm," he says.

Heritage Glass sourced, designed, constructed, engineered and certified the facade, which was completed within the required tolerances, on time and to meet the budget.

For more information, contact Heritage Glass Products, 91 Cook Street, Port Melbourne, Vic 3207, phone (03) 9763 1388, fax (03) 9763 4729. Email: bob@heritageglass.com.au, or visit the website: www.heritageglass.com.au.

Story by: Trendsideas