Vitroplena’s Glass Quarters: Transparent by Design

Transparent by Design

Abstract

Vitroplena has designed and engineered the Glass Quarters, its new headquarters dedicated to commercial operations and research in structural glass applications. The architectural concept is defined by a transparent, see through volume enclosed by opaque side walls and roof elements, with fully glazed front and rear façades. The front façade consists of 6 m high insulated glass units (IGUs) structurally bonded to 260 mm deep glass fins. The rear façade employs a conventional aluminium curtain wall system with IGU infills. The interior features an open plan office supported by all glass structural frames composed of laminated glass beams and columns made from four plies of 12 mm thermally toughened glass combined with SentryGlas® interlayers. These two span frames have a height of approximately 3.1 m and span a total length of almost 9 m. The space between the individual frames equals 3.85 m. These elements are extended to the outdoor environment with frames supporting a terrace that is accessible from the first floor. The design required the consideration of fracture and post-fracture limit states in addition to ultimate and serviceability limit state design to ensure robust structural performance. All glass components and connections were analysed using finite element modelling, accounting for the viscoelastic behaviour of interlayers, stability challenges associated with the slenderness of the members, and local stress concentrations near connection details. This paper presents the architectural vision, structural design philosophy, and installation methodology of the glass components used in the Glass Quarters. The project demonstrates the potential of structural glass as a primary load bearing material in architecture.