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New +2 Acoustic Glass Collection Delivers Two Kinds of Privacy

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Inspired by the needs of today’s office worker, we are launching this industry-first decorative sound-control glass featuring a delicate brushed aesthetic. Our new +2 Collection is named for its ability to provide combined acoustic + visual privacy. It helps architects create elegant, quiet spaces that promote comfort, wellbeing, and the ability to concentrate.

The +2 laminated safety glass enables A&D professionals to provide an alternative to the “fish bowl” effect – clear glass office fronts and conference rooms that make employees feel on display – by allowing architects to:

  • Create peaceful, quiet spaces – visually + acoustically
  • Provide a sense of openness as light passes through the translucent glass walls
  • Produce a stunning lantern effect at night as the +2 glass walls disperse light from within the spaces

The light-diffusing +2 glass maintains daylight advantages, while controlling unwanted views and noise. It offers outstanding acoustic performance with Sound Transmission Class (STC) 36 or greater. At STC 36, speech becomes unintelligible through the +2 glass. Compare this to the STC 33 of a standard 4.5” thick uninsulated interior stud wall, which cannot mask loud speech nor transmit light.

Pale Bronze Brushed Fiber Acoustic Laminated Glass | Bendheim Architectural Glass

“Pale Bronze Brushed Fiber” acoustic laminated glass

The appeal of +2 continues with its elegant, organic “brushed fiber” design, giving glass surfaces the appearance of freshly skated ice. +2 combines the obscuring brushed effect with a range of neutral color tints, including several in-demand bronzes and a smoked grey. The +2 acoustic interlayer can also be combined with hundreds of other colors or decorative glass varieties, including Bendheim’s ultra-privacy Houdini™ micro-fluted glass.

Here is a visual representation of the acoustic advantages of Bendheim’s sound control glass:

STC data chart

STC data chart depicts the performance of standard tempred and laminated glass in comparison with Bendheim’s sound control glass collections (+2 and Channel Glass)

The combination of translucent and mirrored +2 glass varieties extends the collection’s aesthetic from partitions to wall surfaces. The glass is available in slim standard thicknesses ranging from approx. ¼” to ½”, in sizes up to 60” by 120”.

Design with Channel Glass | Infographic

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Channel glass is making waves in North American architecture of late. In order to understand this exceptional material and use it most effectively, a new infographic presents the key conditions that make channel glass a “must” product to consider for a new building or major renovation.

Channel Glass Infographic | Bendheim

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Bendheim Channel Glass Projects Win Top Architectural Honors

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We are proud to announce that two buildings featuring our channel glass wall systems are winners of the 2017 American Architecture Awards. The prestigious awards honor the best new buildings in the USA. Bendheim’s channel glass is a key design element in both structures, contributing to their striking aesthetics and lighting strategies.

The University of Iowa New Visual Arts Building is a hallmark of contemporary glass architecture. Its channel glass walls provide high-quality natural light, creating an illuminating, inspiring educational environment. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, this structure illustrates how filtered daylight can enhance classrooms, art studios, and lounge spaces.

University of Iowa - Visual Arts Building | Bendheim Channel Glass Project

University of Iowa – Visual Arts Building, Iowa City, IA by Steven Holl Architects

 

The new Blu Dot Showroom in West Hollywood, California, makes a design statement by revamping a 70-year-old façade with Bendheim’s channel glass rainscreen system. Standard Architecture selected our channel glass for its refined aesthetic and ability to transform the light. During the daytime, the textured glass channels shimmer in reflected sunlight. Back-lit at night, they transform the building into a lantern.

Blu Dot Showroom | Bendheim Channel Glass Project

Blu Dot Showroom, West Hollywood, CA by Shawmut Design and Construction. Photo by Benny Chan.

 

Lighting – both natural and artificial – is a paramount element of both award-winning designs. Channel glass contributes to each building’s lighting strategy through its anti-glare, light-diffusing properties and exceptionally long spans.

Channel glass offers a stunning alternative to traditional wall systems, creating virtually seamless, luminous glass walls of unlimited lengths. The self-supporting glass channels can stand as tall as 23 feet, while requiring minimal framing. The end result is a uniform appearance with clean design lines.

Bendheim’s channel glass is available in eight decorative textures, in regular and low-iron glass, three thermal performance coatings, and hundreds of ceramic frit colors. The glass contains as much as 40% post-consumer recycled material. It is produced in a super-efficient glass furnace, powered by an ultra-clean mix of oxygen and natural gas.

Over the years, Bendheim channel glass has contributed to numerous award-winning projects, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO, Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton Rouge, LA, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, MA.

Chicken Wire Glass Breathes New Life into Historic NYC Landmark

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Floyd Bennett Field | Textured Chicken Wire Glass

Tucked into Jamaica Bay, on the southeast side of Brooklyn, lies New York City’s original municipal airport, Floyd Bennett Field – built in 1931. Recently, two historic hangars at the airfield were painstakingly restored by a new tenant. Thanks to their complete restoration, featuring Bendheim’s VintageWire™ chicken wire glass, they now sparkle with just as much “golden age of aviation” glamour as they did in their heyday.

Floyd Bennett Field | Textured Chicken Wire Glass

The main objective for Bendheim at Floyd Bennett Field was matching the antique chicken-wire glass panes found on the facade. Our design experts were able to develop a safety-laminated, patterned glass containing true chicken wire for the project. The custom glass meets the aesthetic requirements of the historic restoration, as well as modern building safety codes.

“Bendheim was our first choice for this restoration because of the company’s

exceptional capabilities and access to rare glass designs.”

 

Floyd Bennett Field | Textured Chicken Wire Glass

Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, NY, interior view

 

Chicken wire glass has design applications far beyond restoration projects. Used in doors, partitions, and cabinets, it adds a refined vintage appeal to a range of contemporary styles: from retro-industrial steampunk to romantic farm and cottage décors. The laminated glass is also safety – kid and pet-friendly – offering added security and peace of mind.

"VintageWire™ Gothic" Chicken Wire Glass

Bendheim VintageWire™ Gothic chicken wire glass

 

Femenella & Associates, the window restoration team for Floyd Bennett Field, had only the best to say about working with Bendheim: “Our relationship with Bendheim spans generations. We share a passion for glass,” said Art Femenella, President of Femenella & Associates. “Bendheim was our first choice for this restoration because of the company’s exceptional capabilities and access to rare glass designs. We are very pleased with the way this project turned out.”

Floyd Bennett Field | Textured Chicken Wire Glass

Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, NY, a hangar before restoration

 

Today’s visitors to Floyd Bennett Field can enjoy the quiet serenity of its wide-open seascapes. The restoration offers a visual immersion into the early 20th century. It is a reminder of the aviation history made here, including headline-making flights by Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, and Wiley Post. The two restored hangars, featuring Bendheim’s chicken wire glass, also house a natural gas delivery connection, serving the energy needs of approximately 1.8 million present-day New Yorkers.

In addition to the virtually unlimited range of designs available to A&D professionals through our consultative design process, Bendheim offers homeowners and remodelers more than 150 decorative glass varieties online for a range of applications, including chicken wire glass.

New Houdini™ Glass Collection Addresses Evolving Office Privacy Needs

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Bendheim is announcing the latest addition to our family of micro-fluted privacy glass: Houdini Unlocked. The innovative architectural glass collection delivers the highest levels of visual and acoustic privacy. It also enhances interiors with its refined aesthetic and daylighting abilities.

Houdini’s fine linear texture obscures the shapes of people and objects to such an extent, they seem to disappear, transformed into abstract glimmers of light and motion. This unique optical quality provides the ultimate balance of daylight and privacy. In laminated form, Houdini also adds sound control benefits. It is a cost-effective, foolproof alternative to complex daylight control devices.

In opaque form – back-painted or laminated to mirror – Houdini Unlocked allows design professionals to extend the contemporary linear aesthetic to wall surfaces. The micro-fluted glass creates a crisp, sparkling appearance, adding dimension and rhythm to the space.

The new Collection can enhance any setting that calls for elegance and privacy, including healthcare, educational, and office facilities. For example, an architect designing a new workspace for a tech startup may need a tailored alternative to the open-office concept. However, blocking natural light with opaque walls and doors detracts from employee comfort and productivity. Both collaborative and concentrated work is fostered by daylight-friendly, anti-glare Houdini glass partitions. Engineers preferring privacy can disappear behind the obscuring glass. Collaborative teams are still connected through open-plan workstations, with daylight pouring in through the peripheral glass walls.

“We are adding the ability to specify Houdini in a color or style

that complements each unique project.”

 

The range of the new Houdini Unlocked Collection includes: ultra-clear (low-iron) and bronze laminated glass, woven patterns, plaid and chicken wire interlayers, back-painted colors, as well as gold and bronze mirror finishes.

Pale Gold Houdini™ Laminated Mirrored Glass

Pale Gold Houdini™ laminated mirrored interior glass wall

 

“The original Houdini glass has been very well received by the design world. Now, we are expanding the palette,” said Steven Jayson, Bendheim’s Vice President. “We are adding the ability to specify Houdini in a color or style that complements each unique project. We’re excited to see designers take it to the next level.”

As a valuable partner, Bendheim’s team brings decades of specialty architectural glass experience to building and design professionals throughout the design process, from concept to completion.

Custom Glass Illuminates Museum of African American History & Culture

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National Museum of African American History and Culture | Bendheim Architectural Glass

The Contemplative Court, one of the key attractions at the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, features a one-of-a-kind, copper-bronze Bendheim architectural glass. Developed and produced exclusively for the museum, the metallic glass creates a sense of luminosity and warmth, contributing to the serenity and elegance of the space.

As the latest addition to the National Mall, the new museum pays homage to African American art, tradition, history, and culture. Defined by sweeping walls of custom glass, the Contemplative Court serves as a space for pause and reflection, providing visitors an opportunity to process the weight of the museum’s contents.

“Our grandfather started this company because he was passionate about glass…

He would have been proud to see Bendheim glass

in a building of such national significance.”

Bendheim faced major challenges in the creation of a glass that needed to meet the highly sensitive needs of the museum: the glass had to display a subtle luminosity and a balance of opacity and translucency, while providing sound control and safety.

National Museum of African American History and Culture | Bendheim Architectural Glass

National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC by David Adjaye Associates. Photos by Anna Lorente.

We collaborated with lead architects at Adjaye Associates, lead designers for the museum, and Davis Brody Bond to conceptualize and produce the glass. The Bendheim design team created multiple glass types over a period of three years, as the architectural concept evolved.

Through all the communications, and all the samples, a glass with a core of specialized bronze-metallic mesh brought the architects’ vision to light.

The luminous bronze colored walls of semi-transparent glass separate museum gallery traffic from the Court, where visitors can quietly contemplate what they have viewed. The laminated glass offers enhanced safety and sound control. The resulting “quiet” aesthetic contributes to the design objective – to promote reconciliation and healing.

“Our grandfather started this company because he was passionate about glass,” said Steven Jayson, Bendheim’s Vice President. “He wanted to supply quality, timeless products that made meaningful contributions to our architectural history. He would have been proud to see Bendheim glass in a building of such national significance.”

For four generations and 90 years, Bendheim has built our company on collaborations with building professionals, providing unprecedented knowledge and expertise. We have had the opportunity to contribute to several historic architectural landmarks, including The White House in Washington, DC, Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton Rouge, LA, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO.