Volume 37, Issue 6, June 2002

Technology

All-Glass House Sold for $850,000; Made of 13,000 Glass Lites

Two young Dutch architects who live in Leerdam, the Netherlands, have designed a house with walls made entirely of glass. The house was designed by Paul van der Erve and Gerard Kruunenberg, who have spent the past five years designing the structure, known as the Laminata House.

The original idea for the design came when the two entered a competition held by the Leerdam housing corporation Central Woningbeheer Lingesteden (CWL). CWL was hoping to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Leerdam, which is known as Holland's glass capital, with an unusual house that would be both experimental and functional. A jury chose five designers from a pool of 160, and paid them to design a glass house. Van der Erve's design won, but local glass shops and the city decided they weren't interested in helping make the design a reality. However, CWL had committed to the cause, so it contacted Paris-based Saint-Gobain, which agreed to collaborate on the project by developing and manufacturing the glass for a fixed fee. 

The house was comprised of 13,000 glass plates glued together. For the five years prior the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) investigated how glass could be used as a primary building material.

The fabrication of the home began in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Leerdam and a temporary shed was erected so the glaziers would have a controlled environment in which to build the home. The 13,000 lites of glass were cleaned and beveled on-site, and United States-based GE Corp. created a special glue to adhere the lites to one another.

A retired man and his wife, an artist, purchased the house for $850,000.

USG