Architectural Glass Plays Key Role In Design Trend Toward Improved Occupant Well-Being And Comfort

Bendheim Glass Contributes to Today’s Human-Centric Hospitality, Retail, and Entertainment Environments

Modern architecture places increasing emphasis on products that promote physical and emotional health and well-being. Bendheim’s architectural glass enhances multiple aspects of the user experience in several recent hospitality, retail, and entertainment building projects.

Our channel glass, textured glass, and ventilated facade systems are among the products that illustrate how architects can use glass to improve occupant comfort. These thoughtful solutions balance a variety of often conflicting needs by creating spaces that are functional and emotionally impactful, as well as durable, flexible, artfully-detailed, and budget-friendly.

“Over the past year we’ve seen a conscious effort to use richer, multi-functional architectural glass to provide a higher level of aesthetics and comfort, encompassing occupants’ emotional and experiential needs,” said Donald Jayson, Bendheim Co-Owner and Executive Vice President. “Glass is expressive. It is associated with openness, modernity and prestige, as well as a higher satisfaction with the building design.”

South Street Seaport’s Pier 17, New York, NY by SHoP Architects.

Pier 17 in New York City is among the recent high-profile examples of our glass used to improve the visitor experience. The new building, clad in an LED-illuminated channel glass facade, activates the public plaza, creating a welcoming spot for relaxation and socialization. The glass is sustainably produced using renewable electricity, and is bird-friendly.

EMC2 Autograph Hotel, Chicago, IL by Rockwell Group. Photo by Michael Kleinberg.

At the EMC2 Autograph Hotel in Chicago, the interior features crisp, low-iron textured glass and mirror. The alternating translucent and opaque textured glass surfaces lend a dynamic quality to the design. They add a chic vintage vibe and divide the space, while maintaining a sense of openness.

Kinnick Stadium Renovation, Iowa City, IA by Neumann Monson Architects

At Kinnick Stadium, home to the University of Iowa football team, our ventilated glass facade blocks rain and snow during the cold fall and winter months, while maximizing natural ventilation and facilitating smoke mitigation. The facade features a high level of transparency that promotes a sense of openness and connection to the outdoors. The linear pattern-fritted glass is also bird friendly.

Buildings are increasingly designed and constructed with an eye toward enhancing the well-being of the people who interact with them. “We have to design for all dimensions of wellness,” architect Veronica Schreibeis Smith said at the Global Wellness Summit.

Bendheim is the first decorative architectural glass supplier to adopt and nurture a “consultative design” approach, collaborating with architects and designers to develop unique solutions to their complex, evolving needs. In 1989, Bendheim became the first in North America to open a decorative architectural glass showroom. Twenty years later, in 2019, we established our new glass design lab on the top floor of the New York Design Center. The lab enables A&D professionals to collaborate with our design consultants and create new, tailored glass solutions. It showcases hundreds of specialty glass samples and a full range of customizable glass systems. Please visit www.bendheim.com/professional/design-lab to learn more and schedule an appointment.