The goal was to showcase the piece without any obstructions to the view, while maintaining the outdoor atmosphere of the tropical surroundings of the Garden of the Faena Hotel in Miami Florida. What goes on for a fabricator on an oversize glass job, both Tristar and AGNORA provided an example.ĪGNORA was contracted to produce a high-performance glass curtain wall to serve as an enclosure to Damien Hirst’s ‘Gone but not Forgotten’, a gilded skeleton of a ten-foot tall woolly mammoth. It will be the glaziers’ perspective and their insights on oversize glass, including their challenges and positive outcomes.
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Next month we focus on the folks that have to take these gigantic pieces of glass and install them into buildings. “We will continue to see an increase in oversize glass as North America begins to embrace jumbo sizes with new capabilities coming online from companies like Vitro and Guardian Glass who are introducing jumbo coaters,” added James Cole, Senior Project Manager, AGNORA Specialty glass is also trending larger with the industry seeing more requests for oversize bird-friendly glass.
AGNORA is also experiencing growth in high-end homes and retail storefronts, thanks to the trend of larger panes of glass. Tristar Glass noted that they are seeing a significant increase in oversize (length), especially for the first two floors in commercial construction. This task group is lead by Louis Moreau, Head of Technology & Innovation at AGNORA, along with Rick Wright, Director of Technical Services at Oldcastle Building Envelope (and ASTM C14 & C14.08 Chair). To address this phenomenon and establish guidelines for fabricators producing oversize glass, an international group of stakeholders was organized to develop a new ASTM standard test method for anisotropy measurement on glass. This invariably produces the optical phenomena anisotropy, which are observable but deemed ‘inevitable’ physical properties inherent to glass fabrication,” says Louis Moreau, Head of Technology & Innovation, AGNORA, a leading glass fabricator with headquarters in Collingwood, Ontario. “As a manufacturer and supplier of monolithic, laminated and insulating glass panels to the high-end retail markets, we produce larger panels that must use heat-treated components, ionoplast interlayers and multi-layer assemblies.
One area of product quality called “anisotropy” is critical to the look and performance of glass, especially when it pertains to the oversized segment. Higher standards are demanded from today’s discerning clients. The overall quality of glass does matters, and “as is” is no longer adequate. Of course, more training for both handling and visual QC inspection teams on these larger units is also required,” said Tim Kelley, President and Owner, Tristar Glass, a major glass fabricator with locations in Catoosa (Tulsa), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Grand Prairie (Dallas), and Houston (Texas). Investing in a technical team to review all units with regard to load, deflection requirements, edge pull-out, dead load and silicone sight lines is also needed. Initial capital for equipment to handle the weight and size of the larger units is required. The next hardest challenge is deciding how much to invest, and where in the process. As the units get larger, we have to ensure the proper equipment is used training and restrictions are required to guarantee the safety of our employees. These oversize dimensions can create significant challenges regardless of today’s advanced equipment and fabricator know-how.
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Oversize products, according to the architects we interviewed in the first article of this series range from widths of 82” to 98” and heights from a 160” to 220”.
Thanks to supply chain growth and maturity as well as technology improvements and advanced equipment, fabricators have a different attitude and approach to jumbo-sized glass products. Less than a handful of suppliers in North America could produce oversize material, and if you did get it, the glass usually came “as is” with no warranty. A decade ago when an architect designed a structure with openings that were larger than the standard size parameters that the glass fabrication community was geared to fabricate, very few options were available. Second of three stories on this design trend.