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Melville Thomas Architects Create Fresh Ideas with Bendheim Patterned SatinTech® Etched Glass

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A stunning new 22,000 sq. ft. office build out in a complex situated on Pier 4 at the Baltimore Inner Harbor for MMA Financial, LLC. The credit for this successful installation goes to Melville Thomas Architects, who started with just windows and columns, and created the rest!

Melville Thomas was first introduced to  Bendheim’s architectural glasses when Laura Thomas and George Thomas, principals at Melville Thomas Architects, discovered  Bendheim at Build Boston, an annual event for design, building and management professionals.

 

Design challenges meet their match with Bendheim
According to Mark Angielski, the project architect, there were many design challenges with this project. “We wanted to create privacy in all the office spaces and let maximum daylight into the interior at the same time. Other challenges included generating a sense of spaciousness in corridors of minimum code width, and establishing a seamless flow for traffic through the elevator lobby.”

 

Privacy + plenty of natural light
Bendheim’s Etched Fiber SatinTech® patterned glass provided the ideal solution for the aesthetic and functional job specs. As Mark described, “for the interior office walls, we used SatinTech up to door head height and clear glass above. The result is that privacy is ensured and plenty of daylight streams into the interior office spaces through the top portion of the glass walls.”

 

Sense of spaciousness
“Working with corridors of minimum code required width, we installed the same SatinTech glass horizontally, and used the grooved textured side of the glass on the corridor side of the wall. The result is a soft feel as you walk down the corridor – a wider, more relaxed atmosphere.”

 

Natural direction for traffic flow
“In the elevator lobby, SatinTech provides subtle direction for traffic. We installed it in full sliding pocket doors at one end of the space so the doors blend seamlessly with the SatinTech walls on either side. Clear glass doors were installed at the other end of the lobby. The result is a natural flow for traffic to the operative lobby doors.”

 

“Bendheim provided excellent industry and product knowledge, and quick delivery of the product, which helped us stay on track. It was extremely easy working with Bendheim in New Jersey for a project located in Maryland. Delivery and installation was on time and seamless. We look forward to working with Bendheim on our future projects.”

 

From the contractor: A hassle-free installation, finished on time!
The Chesapeake Contracting Group, Inc., located in Reisterstown Maryland, completed the construction. As Michael Ginsberg, project manager, pointed out “the Bendheim staff was great. We didn’t have any problems, and we didn’t have to wait for the glass!”
Thanks to photographer Anne Gummerson for use of project images in this article.

Bendheim Architectural Glass Shines at Godiva

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Bendheim’s decorative Densest White Flash glass now shines from 17 Godiva Chocolatier retail locations across the U.S. White Flash glass was the ideal choice for use in Godiva’s signature backlighted space, and the results prove it.

Densest White Flash glass was developed to distribute light evenly, creating a pleasant, warm glow. White flash opal, when properly back lighted, provides a natural light, like that of sunlight.

 

This product helps to evenly distribute the light across the glass surface, providing a more uniform look.

 

Thanks to Jose Padrone at Godiva Chocolatiers and Tony D’Amico at Parisi, Inc. for the use of photos in this article.

Bendheim SatinTech® Architectural Glass Complements an Old Glass Warehouse

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Something caught the eye of the architects on an initial walk through of a warehouse being converted to new offices for general contractors Dan Matarozzi and Dan Pelsinger, owners of Matarozzi/Pelsinger Builders, located in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Douglas Burnham, principal of envelope Architecture + Design, located in Oakland, California, and Michael Cotton, project architect, were taken by the history of the old warehouse, the exterior of which blended perfectly with the eclectic mixture of other neighborhood warehouses, homes, and apartment buildings.
As Michael explained, “we discovered that the space was at one time a glass warehouse. One of the buildings still had glass stored in it, in a very simple, yet beautiful way. Vertical stacks of raw uncut glass.”
And that was the inspiration for an idea that became a reality and satisfied several design challenges for the new space. The old interior was too small – tight and noisy. The intense, frantic environment had to go.
Bendheim’s 1/2″ low-iron SatinTech® Low-Iron Etched glass was the ideal solution for the interior partitions. As Michael noted, “we felt that glass was potentially a good material to incorporate into the space, providing a sense of the refined skills of Matarozzi/Pelsinger Builders, a top notch contracting company proud of their craft. The low iron content makes the glass less green – an important consideration as you look at the edges. The 1/2″ thickness provides a sense of solidity and lets you appreciate the substance of the product. We also went with an unpolished edge on the glass. It’s hard to explain, but that edge treatment provides a sense of the material as more elemental – getting at the essence of glass as a refined but also a pure material, like the glass originally stored in the warehouse.”
“This was the first time we used Bendheim architectural glass, and we’ve been using them ever since. We were very pleased to find a solution that evokes the history of the building, performs very well as an acoustic barrier, and is aesthetically beautiful. The partitions refract light from the skylights above, and provide a striking contrast to the warm Hemlock wood and rugged exterior. Bendheim’s local California representative provided samples, and quickly relayed information, shortening the decision making process and paving a smooth road for implementation.”
The final challenge came with the installation. As Michael commented, “it was important to minimize gaps for sound isolation. Recessed aluminum channels were installed in the walls and central cabinet piece, and the glass was installed vertically and caulked into the channels (butt-glazed at corners). It was critical to keep a clean, level line across the tops of the glass partitions and that there be a minimum gap at the floor, but the refinished hemlock was uneven. Nickel shower enclosure brackets from C.R. Laurence were used, with custom-made metal shims under each bracket. Supreme Glass installed the glass once the brackets were in place.”

HOK Makes a Distinct Statement with Bendheim Colored SatinTech® Etched Glass

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A brand new 450,000 sq. ft office complex – one that spans 10 floors and includes a cafeteria, technical center, meeting facilities, and a wide variety of office spaces – and at the same time, provides a great, friendly work environment. Just a few of the challenges Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc. (HOK) faced when designing new corporate offices for Marsh and McLennan Companies. The new site is located in Hoboken, New Jersey.

According to Rick Focke, Design Director for Interiors at HOK, “another challenge was to create a completely unique design for the complex, given that a sister building is located only fifty feet away. The goal for our team was to provide a new environment that enhances the workplace and is the only one of it’s kind – truly distinctive.”

 

Partner with the experts!
The design process has always been complicated. And this project wasn’t any different. Today’s construction projects demand speed and depend on the contributions of a reliable team. And partnering with Bendheim was a definite advantage.

 

As Steven Jayson, Vice President of S. A. Bendheim, points out “the company was founded in 1927 by our Grandparents, Sem and Margaret Bendheim, as an importer and distributor of specialty glass products. Today, we stock over a half a million square feet of clear textured glass – over 2500 different types! We understand the fundamental qualities of each and every glass, and know how to combine them to create the desired look and feel. We combine interlayers, textures, and colors to create entirely original effects, and strongly urge our customers to use us as a creative bank of knowledge, creating exactly the right product for the project.”

 

Bendheim simplifies the process, enhances creativity
As Kimberly Seigal-Rogan, Project Designer, notes “Bendheim’s staff was accessible, responded in a timely manner, and worked with us to find creative, practical solutions. The goal was to identify materials that fit with a wall system that accepted a standard glass size of approximately 1/4”, create the needed privacy, and also meet safety standards.

 

A visit to Bendheim’s New York showroom early in the design process helped us understand the full range of available glass colors and textures.” One of the sampled combinations provided just the right result – a more natural look, along with a real sense of quality and glass. “This streamlined the decision making process and we were able to develop the design based on what was realistic.”

 

Making a Mark
Bendheim’s SatinTech glass was laminated to machine antique glass (also referred to as drawn antique glass) in an assortment of colors, providing the ideal solution for the aesthetic and functional job specs. As Rick described, “it was critical that natural daylight flow into the far reaches of the office spaces. The machine antique product was a very good fit – a wide color palette and larger sheet sizes lent themselves to the interior partition design we had in mind.”

 

“When it comes to product knowledge and service, it’s very hard to beat Bendheim. We know that when Bendheim is involved, the job runs as it should.”
Thanks to HOK and Steelcase for use of project images in this article.

Bendheim Art Glass – Crowning Jewel in the Restoration of an American Treasure

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In 1995 during one of the worst winter storms on record, 100 mile-per-hour winds tore through San Francisco, leaving one of the city’s most beloved landmarks in tatters. 40% of the glass tiles that once sheathed the Victorian-era Conservatory of Flowers lay smashed on the ground. Inspecting the building after the storm, Department of Public Works officials despaired to find that the years of extreme moisture both inside and outside the building had rotted the infrastructure extensively. It was clear that something had to be done to save this fragile, decaying glass palace. But what?

“This was a totally unique animal,” says Edgar Lopez, a project manager for the City and County of San Francisco’s DPW Bureau of Architecture. “Here was this pre-fab, one-of-a-kind 19th Century greenhouse and no existing drawings. No one knew how to put the building back together.” Indeed little was known about the construction of the building.

 

Perhaps the biggest decision that the team faced in the rehabilitation project was the question of historical accuracy. As Edgar noted,” Bendheim’s vast selection of art glass provided the perfect palette to draw from when restoring the conservatory’s glass dome. Each glass color was matched to the dome’s original colored glass and provides a stunning accent to the otherwise completely white building.”

 

As Edgar explained, “the conservatory is whitewashed once per year, just as it was originally, which satisfies the solar requirements of the plants housed within the conservatory. The whitewash automatically comes off through the rainy winter months when the plants need the sun, and when the conservatory is re-coated each spring, the plants are well protected from the intensity of the summer rays.”

Cast Glass Centerpiece: Shaw Center for the Arts | Bendheim Channel Glass Facade

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This editorial content was originally published in Architecture Week, June 2005 edition.

 
Cast Glass Centerpiece
by James McCown
Take a spicy mixture of the visual and performing arts; add a wide range of support from university, government and civic sources; cover with an unusual application of glass and stir; serves 250,000. That’s the “recipe” for the Shaw Center for the Arts, which Baton Rouge, Louisiana is counting on to lift its civic profile.
This building might seem more likely in Rotterdam or Paris than in a medium-sized, generally conservative southern U.S. city. Its form was driven by a complex program that sought to accommodate the two lead “anchor” institutions, the Louisiana State University Museum of Art and the Manship Performing Arts Center.
At one end of the building, a 322-seat theater is served by a fly loft at the upper reaches. The opposite end stretches north over the lobby and extends as a cantilever above the 1930s-era “Auto Hotel” parking garage and terminates with an upward thrust that marks a clerestory window for the museum’s changing-exhibition gallery. A clear glazed central space serves as the main entrance for the entire complex.
The drama of building’s exterior massing is heightened by a facade clad in hundreds of multilength cast-glass channels. The Shaw Center is said to be the largest building in the United States to be completely clad in U-shaped cast glass and the first to use the channel glass as the rain screen for a wall system.
The Shaw Center, which opened in early March, 2005, is the result of a collaboration between Schwartz/Silver Architects as design architects, New Orleans-based Eskew + Dumez + Ripple as executive architects, and Baton Rouge-based Jerry M. Campbell and Associates as associate architects.
“The building’s facade is conceived to evoke many local associations: a paper lantern, glass beading, the meandering Mississippi,” says Warren R. Schwartz, FAIA, principal of Schwartz/Silver.
“It may at first seem counterintuitive to glaze an entire building that has relatively few windows,” adds Christopher B. Ingersoll, a principal at Schwartz/Silver and project director for the Shaw Center. “But the end result is a building that protects the valuable collections within while forming a memorable image on the city’s skyline.”
Design Evolution
When Boston-based Schwartz/Silver was hired in 1998 to design a new art museum for Louisiana State University 12 miles (19 kilometers) east of downtown Baton Rouge, the architects proposed a low-rise building with wide overhanging roofs and deeply shaded loggias. This design approach was grounded in the regional traditions of Louisiana, which boasts some of the nation’s most iconic southern plantation houses.
But even as that design was being approved, a new chancellor at the university, in meeting with city and state officials and major nonprofit entities like the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, recognized an exciting potential: combine the museum with the LSU School of Art, with the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge’s adaptive reuse of the Auto Hotel, and with a performing arts center already in the planning.
Halting its original plans, LSU presented a challenge to Schwartz/Silver in 2000: create a new design for the LSU Museum of Art, this time atop the Auto Hotel, and develop a master plan for a multiuse “Arts Block” in the heart of downtown Baton Rouge.
Rain Glass
Early in redesign, Schwartz/Silver considered a number of cladding systems, among them prepatinated copper and glass channel. While the initial budget would not accommodate the glass channel system, there was some enthusiasm to pursue that option, so mockups were constructed on the site to demonstrate to the steering committee that channel glass would give depth and visual complexity to the building’s surface while serving practical ends.
Specifically, the proposed facade was composed of two layers – an outermost layer of channel glass and an inner layer of corrugated aluminum – serving as the weather barrier, with an air gap between layers to create a rain screen configuration. During the development of the cladding system, technical tests demonstrated that even in the heavy rains common in the region, the channels reduced the water to a mist in the cavity, thus functioning as a true rain screen.
To heighten the visual effect of the vertical channel glass, the architects specified channels in two different widths and various lengths. The channels are supported in the usual way, at top and bottom by horizontal aluminum members, but the horizontals are broken and sometimes overlapping, lending a syncopated rhythm to the exterior.
The channels are braced back to the structure with aluminum clips where required to resist wind pressure. Two-inch (5-centimeter) gaps between the channels allow them to perform the rain screen function for the aluminum wall system located six inches (15 centimeters) behind.
Rethinking the Material
U-shaped channel glass is most commonly used with the flanges facing inward for applications where natural light with translucency is desired, as in a hospital. However, Schwartz/Silver found that outward-facing flanges added more texture to the building’s outer surface and added to the visual complexity.
The facades of the Shaw Center have channel glass with the flanges outward over most of their surface. However, at the building’s lower levels, the flanges are pointed inward to prevent accidental damage. This is especially important given that the plaza with an interactive fountain outside the building is a favorite gathering spot for locals and a venue for concerts and other public events.
Baton Rouge is only 60 miles (100 kilometers) inland from the Gulf of Mexico. To test the glazing system against hurricane-force winds, a mockup was produced and placed in front of an old DC-3 airplane propeller to simulate wind-driven rain and for 100-mile- (160-kilometer-) per-hour wind pressures. Additional tests were done in Germany by the glass channel vendor, Bendheim Wall Systems.
Another dramatic design element of the building is the 40-foot (12-meter) cantilever over the existing Auto Hotel. Accomplished through the use of multiple steel trusses, the cantilever prevents the older structure from being overwhelmed by the new. It also frees up roof space to allow the informal display of sculpture.
A bar/restaurant leading to a roof garden and sculpture terrace cap off the Shaw Center and have already become one of the city’s most photographed destinations. This diverse mixture of uses is at the heart of the vision for the Shaw Center, which within three months of opening had begun to show signs of being the economic catalyst that was the founding group’s intention.
The Shaw Center is an important part of an emerging “arts and entertainment district” in Baton Rouge which will include a new state history museum, Louisiana’s Old State Capitol Center, the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, the USS Kidd Museum, and a hotel/casino. Schwartz concludes: “the Shaw Center is the centerpiece of the whole district, so it had to command attention.”
James McCown is director of marketing and communications for Schwartz/Silver Architects