The architects of the San Francisco office of SOM had a clear vision of the office skyscraper\u2019s lobby in downtown Salt Lake City which would have precious wood components that merge with seven meters high glass elements. However, something like that had never been done before. The first suggestion was to use a photorealistic print. However, that was quickly rejected because the result of a print seemed not real enough to the architects. Therefore, the approach to a solution was to laminate real wood veneers in between the glass units\u2019 layers. Then, integrating a natural, organic material in a glass unit without causing any damages during one of the production steps (e.g. tempering furnace), or losing visual quality almost sounded like a \u201cHerculean task\u201d. Thanks to a lot of experience and know-how in laminating glass, and a close cooperation of everybody involved, sedak found a way to let the vision come true.<\/p>\n
Salt Lake City, 111 South Main Street:
\nNew landmark by the Great Salt Lake<\/p>\n
Salt Lake City, capital of the U.S. state of Utah, is situated at the southern tip of the Great Salt Lake. The 180,000-inhabitant city is the main center of the region with about 1.1 million inhabitants. After a recession, the city has been flourishing during the past years.<\/p>\n
Now, a new point of attraction should arise at the main arterial road. The renowned architecture firm SOM Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP designed a 24-level high tower accommodating apartments, offices, and a representative lobby. This part of the building has an extensive, generous, and elegant design dominated by glass and eucalyptus wood.<\/p>\n
Lamination components for the desired vision<\/strong><\/p>\n By letting the wood appear as if it was inserted within the glass, the building evolves its own effect. To manufacture such glass units, several challenges had to be met:<\/p>\n Glass and wood define the appearance of the entire lobby. \u201cThe inspiration for the transparent fa\u00e7ade was the \u201cApple Cube\u201d \u2013 a perfect all-glass structure,\u201d says Maic Pannwitz, Executive Vice President from sedak in New Jersey. \u201cTherefore the client demanded a transparent supporting structure also for the project \u201c111 South Main Street\u201d. The required glass fins reach a height of nearly 11m. The project managers found the necessary production competence also at sedak.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Quality \u2013 the crucial criterion<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n Interview with Maic Pannwitz, Executive Vice President, sedak New Jersey<\/p>\n How did it come about that the lamination of wood between glass layers was further developed for the project in Salt Lake City?<\/strong> Is laminating wood in a glass unit new technology?<\/strong> \u2026a typically American project?<\/strong> Which static requirements had to be met?<\/strong> Seven-meter glass units with wood veneers, eleven-meter glass fins \u2013 how does that work logistically?<\/strong> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Construction board<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n Location:<\/strong> 111 S. Main Office Building, Salt Lake City \/ US sedak scope <\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
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\nEverybody involved \u2013 client, architect, fa\u00e7ade contractor, and of course we ourselves \u2013 had specified \u201cquality\u201d as the crucial criterion. Although photorealistic printing offers very good options for glass designing, the visual quality was not sufficient. As a consequence, we had enough time to produce samples to find the visually and technically perfect result.
\nWe were also contracted because the number of potential partners was quite limited due to the highly complex production, particularly for the oversize dimension of seven meters, and we are one of the few who can really offer that.<\/p>\n
\nUp until now, this technology was only available in small formats and used in furniture designing e.g. for table tops. Fa\u00e7ades with wood veneers had not been produced before \u2013 at least, I have not heard of any project.<\/p>\n
\nYes. As long as they believe that a measure will have immediate success, Americans are braver and more open to try new things than Europeans. This project shows that they are absolutely willing to globally search for a partner who is ambitious to develop the necessary know-how.<\/p>\n
\nWell, statically, triple laminates would have been sufficient. However, we decided to use a four-layer build-up with a redundant piece of glass for the roof. That made the statics independent of the wood.<\/p>\n
\nThe glass units were shipped in special wooden crates. In Salt Lake City, the temporary storage was located nearby which was perfect because they partly had to block traffic lanes for the transport to the site \u2013 but not only for our glass.<\/p>\n
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\nStandard:<\/strong> green building (LEED gold)
\nArchitects:<\/strong> SOM Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LPP, San Francisco, USA
\nFa\u00e7ade:<\/strong> Contractor Steel Encounters Inc, Salt Lake City, US
\nCompletion:<\/strong> 09\/2016<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>940m\u00b2 glass fa\u00e7ade (lobby):
\nWood-veneer laminates, 7.0m high (3 x 12mm)
\n57 glass units (fa\u00e7ade) up to 10.9m high (2 x 12mm)
\n46 glass fins and beams up to 10.9m high<\/p>\n
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