Decorative Possibilities
Decorative glass continues to offer architects and designers increasing possibilities for innovative design. 

Polytronix Inc. was introducing a new LED glass in its booth at the show. Sam Shao, program manager for the Richardson, Tex., based company, said, “Architects want to know how it works; they see the glass and get ideas for what they want to do with it.”

Max Perilstein, vice president-marketing, Arch Aluminum & Glass Co. Inc., Tamarac, Fla., reported that his company was showing a new digital image product that can show any image as an interlayer. “It’s also green—laminated and helps in meeting some LEED related categories,” he explained.

Nathan Allan Glass Studios Inc. had a new booth at the show, an open glass cube with its new “pillowy” looking glass on the walls and Sandpaper flooring and decorative glass ceiling. “This new pillowy-looking glass looks like glass block but it is a single sheet;” said Barry Allan, director of the Richmond, B.C. based company. “It can also be frosted.”

Spymirror, a specialty one-way mirror, was featured in the Glas Troesch booth.

Volker Hermann, representing the Swiss company in the booth, said that one-way mirror has the highest growth rate of any interior glass.

“Furniture companies have picked up on the application of one-way mirror in the product and incorporated it into their furniture, mainly for bath or living room furniture,” he said. “You can buy a microwave oven with a TV in the glass space so that Mom can cook while the children watch TV,” he explained. “Once the furniture industry does something like this, the consumer becomes aware of it and this opens up opportunities for the design community,” he added.

Marc Deschamps, business development manager, Walker Glass, Montreal, found architects very interested in the company’s decorative glass offerings. “Whereas last year we met architects who didn’t know about acid-etched glass, this year we are meeting more who are aware of it and have used it in projects,” he said. “They want something distinctive and ideas for using it.” Deschamps also said that architects are not aware they can use acid-etched glass for exterior applications.

Safety in Numbers 
A prominent trend in architectural design today is balancing the need for safety or security of a structure and still making it attractive. Attendees at the AIA show in San Antonio were seeing an array of solutions for doing this by architectural glass and metal industry companies.

Don McCann, manager, architectural design group, Viracon, Owatonna, Minn., said that he is seeing a lot more protective glazing in the market, specifically insulated laminated units. “It gives protection, but also gives sound control,” he said. “We see it in urban areas, and particularly in condos.” 

Another trend McCann sees is floor-to-ceiling glass. “It puts more pressure on the HVAC system because it is longer, heavier materials,” he said, “so that is where the new coatings being developed come into play.”

McCann also said that he expects to see a lot more protective glazing in the market. “Even if your building is not a target, it can still be an issue with flying glass from another structure,” he said.

Jon Hughes, manager, architectural sales, AFG Glass, Kingsport, Tenn., also cited growth in the use of security glass, particularly hurricane. “The whole system has to be tested, and approval is based on what they test to,” he said. Hughes said, however, that the focus is on energy efficiency. “Everyone is looking for the lowest solar heat gain coefficient and to get LEED certified.”

Brian Brunette, national sales manager, Saint-Gobain Vetrotech, Auburn, Wash., also pointed to the trend of seeing more complete systems for security glass, including fire-rated. “We’re being asked more for this dual function—fire rated as well as security,” he said. “This requires more innovation and testing, because you can’t end up with a glass product that is 5 inches thick.”

Joe Erb, product manager, Edgetech I.G. Inc., Cambridge, Ohio, said that the company’s Uvekol A single component used to laminate glass to glass is being used for both safety and security. “We get lots of calls from architects about the product,” he said. While the product is new in the North American market, he pointed out that it has been in the international arena for 25 years.

Diana San Diego, marketing and communications manager for SAFTI, San Francisco, said that the combination of safety/security and fire-rated glass is growing because there’s a need for it. “After Katrina, we’ve taken hurricanes more seriously,” she said. “And after 9/11, there has been more interest in bomb blast. The need comes and then we develop the technology. We wouldn’t develop a hurricane fire-rated product if there wasn’t a need for it,” she said.

More Ideas
Arch’s Perilstein also sees a range of opportunities in the market for laminated glass. “It’s green and it helps in meeting some LEED-related categories,” he said. However, he also said that laminated glass could be utilized in interior partitions and in schools as a traditional white board as well as a projector. “Educational, hospitals and the military are all strong construction categories,” he said. “Hospitals are getting so much more design oriented and that includes more use of laminated glass. They’re really pushing the envelope because there’s competition among the hospitals and that has spurred design.” 

Green Thoughts
At the AIA show, Greg Saroka, president, Goldray Industries Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, said he found architects interested in the subject of green. “One thing we have in our AIA presentation is how decorative glass fits into green building—daylighting, getting light into the structure but still having privacy,” he added.

Dave Hewitt, director of marketing, EFCO Corp., Monett, Mo., also sees green. “We’re a green source,” he said at the show, standing in the company’s new booth whose theme was the nature of efficiencies. “We call it the nature of performance because of the energy efficient features of our products.”

Architects' Guide to Glass & Metal
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