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Introducing Turnkey™ Fusion™ Light Wall System for Backlit Glass Cladding

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We are happy to announce announced the introduction of TurnKey™ Fusion™ Light Wall, a complete solution for interior glass cladding that combines uniform, integrated lighting with easy installation and a slim, space-saving design.

TurnKey Fusion Light Wall builds on the success of our TurnKey system for mechanical attachment of interior glass cladding. With TurnKey, glass panels are mounted with a simple system of rails and “keys” (one-inch clips that turn like a key to lock the glass into place). Contractors need only the familiar tools in their bags, with no special installation training required.

People walking in front of a back-lit wall

Now, TurnKey Fusion provides a completely integrated solution for even, shadow-free backlighting, with our new Fusion LED panels built right into the attachment system. Available in a variety of color temperatures, the Fusion LEDs are specifically designed to provide exceptionally even illumination for glass cladding. Designers also have the option of using our new LE’Diffusion Safety Glass, specifically engineered for even dispersion of LED light. Able to accommodate panels up to 8 feet in height for floor-to-ceiling illumination, the entire TurnKey Fusion Light Wall system is UL listed.

While providing a complete technical infrastructure for backlit applications, the TurnKey Fusion Light Wall System also meets’ designers’ needs for aesthetic flexibility.  The entire attachment system requires minimal space, standing only 2 1/16” from the wall, thus preserving room for other design objectives. TurnKey Fusion Light can be used to mount any kind of interior glass cladding from our extensive interior portfolio, including etched, textured, laminated, or digitally printed glass or dry-erase glass marker boards as well as LE’Diffusion glass. If building systems behind the glass need to be serviced, or if future needs change, the glass panels can be demounted with ease.

The TurnKey Fusion Light Wall System enables us to partner with architects and installers to provide a true all-in-one “turnkey” solution for backlit glass cladding designs. In addition to providing panels of the selected glass, Fusion LED lighting, and a complete mechanical attachment system (tracks, keys, and cover plates in any RAL color), we can provide shop drawings, wiring diagrams, engineering calculations, a portable testing unit for the light panels, along with additional technical support. Our capabilities include the ability to provide highly accurate IES files which measure light from the surface of the glass, rather than the surface of the LED.

Said Elieh, Bendheim’s Vice President for Sales and Marketing, expressed his pride in our advances: “The TurnKey Fusion Light Wall system allows us to provide our customers with a complete solution for backlit glass cladding, eliminating many of the usual sources of stress and frustration. Nothing gives us greater satisfaction than solving problems for our partners in design, at every step along the way from vision through complete execution.”

Artwork on feature image: Enduring Impermanence, Digital Transparency Artwork by Katina Bitsicas

New Prospero™ Collection Expands the Design Palette

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New Linear Pattern Glass Collection Balances Visual Privacy and Daylight

We are expanding architects and designers’ material palette with a new privacy-friendly linear glass collection, Prospero™. The collection comprises five etched and carved designs in low-iron (ultra-clear), grey, and bronze 3/8”-thick tempered glass. Ideal for elegant frameless partition walls and shower enclosures, the monolithic glass balances visual privacy, daylight, and value.

Prospero™ combines an intricate decorative aesthetic with shorter lead times. It is also a cost-effective solution for applications blending a decorative pattern and color, which typically require more costly lamination fabrication.

“Delivering projects on time is a major pain point for the architect, installer, and building owner,” said Ben Jayson, Bendheim President. “Glass is one of the last interior finishes on the project, and the market needs speedier decorative glass solutions with guaranteed quality. Today, we can turn around a fully fabricated, polished, and tempered Prospero order in as little as two weeks.”

Prospero™ glass is ideal for privacy partitions in offices, transportation, hospitality, and healthcare projects. It is also perfectly suited for frameless shower enclosures in hospitality and multi-family residential applications.

Grey Carved Corduroy Glass Rendering

Rendering of Prospero Grey Carved Corduroy glass in a frameless shower enclosure.

Linear glass remains timeless yet trendy. Demand for our linear patterns has increased more than 120 percent in the past few years. Architects and designers also gravitate towards ultra-clear or neutral glass colors for their projects. Prospero™ glass combines the in-demand linear design aesthetic with several important functional benefits. The maintenance-friendly glass resists permanent stains from water and fingerprints, diffuses light, and reduces glare. Stocked and fabricated in the United States, it also offers controlled lead times and premium quality.

We fabricate the glass to the desired size, shape, aesthetic, and safety requirements of the project. Maximum panel size depends on the application. Our tempered Prospero™ glass meets building safety codes, the requirements for ANSI Z97.1, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission CPSC 16FR, Part 1201 – Safety Standard for Architectural Glazing Materials.

Our design consultants can also work with architects to tailor the glass, creating completely new aesthetics. Mirrored or back-painted, linear-pattern glass can serve as unique, maintenance-friendly and durable wall cladding with dynamic qualities. Architects can conduct project consultations in person or live-remote via our Design Lab: https://bendheim.com/professional/design-lab/

Our Blue Glass Rainscreen Clads Major New York Train Station

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Quick Installation of 4,500 Square Feet of Our Textured, Tempered, Fritted Glass Helps Bring $95 Million MTA Project to a Close

 

Approximately 400 panels of our textured, tempered-and-laminated, blue glass rainscreen were installed as part of a $95 million renovation at the MTA train station in White Plains, N.Y., just outside of New York City. The glass serves an intuitive wayfinding and branding function.

We developed a tailored, “slim” Wall-F compression fitting for the project to achieve the required aesthetic and expedite glass installation. The miniaturized fitting was the right fit for the design and the scale of the glass panels, while still capturing as many as four glass corners at a time. Installation required just two months, as workers placed up to 20 panels per day.

Bendheim glass rainscreen system installed at the MTA White Plains Train Station.

MTA Train Station, White Plains, NY by Sowinski Sullivan Architects. Photo by Michael Del Rossi.

The glass features a blue ceramic frit, specified by Sowinski Sullivan Architects and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as a match to the MTA logo color. Cladding each of the station’s platform entrances, the colorful glass guides commuters to the nearest approach. In total, it covers 4,500 square feet.

While the glass provides an important visual aesthetic, the swift installation was a key decision factor. Our precision engineering and shop drawings provided installers the necessary support and on-site flexibility to bring the project to a timely close.

Bendheim glass rainscreen system installed at the MTA White Plains Train Station.

“The glass and the fittings were new for us,” said Sean Forrest, Project Manager for AFI Glass & Architectural Metal. “Bendheim provided a good explanation on how to install it and was quite informative.”

A steel sub frame was placed over the walls to support the glass. The fittings were attached to the steel, then the glass panels were clipped into place. The walls holding the glass were quite tall, sometimes slanted both vertically and horizontally, as well as different sizes, creating an installation challenge.

“The fittings have a great degree of adjustability, so we didn’t have to be super exact,” Forrest said. “Most times, there is some adjustability, but not to this degree. The adjustability definitely played a huge part in helping us install quickly. It made a big difference.”

Bendheim glass rainscreen system installed at the MTA White Plains Train Station.

The entire renovation started in 2018 and took three years to complete. The White Plains station first opened in 1844 and is just 22 miles from New York City. It is the third largest in the Metro-North Railroad system, with an annual pre-pandemic ridership of more than 87 million.

Rainscreens stop more than 90 percent of wind-driven moisture and can completely transform and elevate a building’s appearance. Fritted glass is extremely durable and offers multiple benefits. Produced by permanently fusing powdered ceramic colors to the glass surface, fritted glass creates colorfast, UV-stable, scratch-resistant hues for exterior and interior use. The glass can be customized with various surface textures, designs, prints and graphics, and is available in hundreds of translucent and opaque colors.

Other recent major infrastructure projects featuring Bendheim glass include Omaha’s Eppley airport renovation and the new Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge Welcome Center.

Our Architectural Glass Products Win Three Innovation Awards

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Exterior and Interior Glass Cladding Solutions Win Best of Year Recognitions by Architectural Products Magazine

Bendheim's projectable glass rainscreens and Hexalite glass with the award logo

Our Lumi Frit™ Projectable Glass Rainscreen and HexaLite™ lightweight glass cladding have received three 2021 Product Innovation Awards (PIA). Architectural Products’ annual PIA program “awards manufacturers based on attributes, qualities, functionality and/or performance beyond industry standards.” It introduces architects and designers to new “products pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.”

Our Lumi Frit™ Projectable Rainscreen won an award in the Exteriors & Panels/Cladding category, as well as a Project Application award for its contributions to The Momentary in Bentonville, AR, by Wheeler Kearns Architects. These became the latest major design awards for the system, following recognitions by The Architect’s Newspaper and Interior Design magazine.

The system fit this year’s PIA theme of award-winning products that balance aesthetics and functionality, “performing better than ever before and doing it beautifully.” PIA judges recognized its ability to blend artistic application and functionality, noting, “The addition of a rainscreen to any building provides benefits on energy performance and many other considerations. This product offers a simple installation with a huge upside in transitioning the facility to a vibrant new life.”

The Momentary blue back-lit glass rainscreen

The Momentary, Bentonville, AR by Wheeler Kearns Architects.

Our fully customizable Lumi Frit™ Projectable Rainscreen functions as a virtually shadow-free, building-scale projection screen. It simultaneously offers tested moisture protection, and meets budgetary and installation targets. Our patented compression clips eliminate the need for holes through the glass, saving installers time and money. Embedded directly into the building’s structural walls, columns, or floor slabs, the clips also eliminate costly, carbon-heavy steel sub-structures.

Bendheim’s clipped rainscreen system is fully adjustable in multiple directions, allowing contractors to order the glass based on the approved drawings, rather than precise field measurements. This built-in flexibility can expedite the construction schedule by months. We can engineer the system to the unique requirements of each project, and can provide the projectable glass imprinted with any pattern, including bird-safe designs.

Moving to the interior of the building, our ultra-lightweight HexaLite™ laminated glass became a winner in the Wall Coverings category. Judges recognized the honeycomb-reinforced cladding product for its contribution to the reduction in elevator cab weight and motor size, together with its biophilic and naturally hygienic qualities. They noted that HexaLite™ was “another example of Bendheim’s commitment to research and discovering needs.”

HexaLite Glass Samples

HexaLite™ honeycomb-reinforced laminated architectural glass

HexaLite™ is intended for elevator interiors and lobbies, as well as applications featuring large glass panels and long spans, particularly in high-traffic hospitality and healthcare settings. The fully customizable glass can feature biophilic colorways and designs, as well as optical textures that lend a sense of depth and dimensionality, but are perfectly smooth to the touch and do not trap dirt. The glass can be repeatedly cleaned and sanitized without risk of color fading.

The three Bendheim PIA awards placed us in the exclusive group of 2021 Architectural Products best of year winners, including giants such as Vetrotech Saint-Gobain, YKK, Armstrong Ceilings, CertainTeed, Masonite, BILCO, Mitsubishi, and Owens Corning. The awards were judged by a panel of 19 distinguished architects, designers, lighting specialists, and editors.

Bendheim’s New Ventilated Glass Facade System Wins Third Major Design Award

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Projectable Glass Rainscreen Garners Best of Year Recognition by Architect’s Newspaper

Our latest facade product – a projectable glass rainscreen system – has won the Architect’s Newspaper editors’ choice award for Best Glass Building Material. The eco-smart clipped glass system eliminates carbon-heavy steel sub-structures, thus turning buildings into virtually shadow-free, immense media screens.

The customizable system consists of projectable glass cladding panels, clipped into adjustable metal fittings. We can engineer all system components to the unique requirements of each project, and is frequently involved in design-assist.

The patented compression fittings can be embedded directly into the building’s structural walls, columns, or floors, eliminating stark shadow lines behind the glass. They do not require drilling holes through the glass, saving time and money.

The customizable clips are also fully adjustable in multiple directions, allowing the contractor to order the glass from the approved drawings, rather than precise field measurements. On projects, this built-in flexibility can expedite the construction schedule by months.

Our Lumi Frit™ white projectable glass, the other key system component, is a specialized tempered-and-laminated surface #1 fritted glass. It is bird-friendly and fully customizable, too. It can be imprinted in a range of standard or custom patterns, ranging from 50% to 100% surface coverage.

During the day, the glass creates a brilliant facade, as sunlight reflects off the white fritted surface. At night, it bounces projected light to create a sharp image. LED lighting installed behind the glass cladding can also transform it into a lantern facade.

The Momentary white frit glass rainscreen

Photo by Tom Harris Architectural Photography

The Momentary in Bentonville, AR by Wheeler Kearns Architects is the world’s first building to use our projectable glass rainscreen as a 6,000 sq. ft. media screen. It incorporates four unique fritted glass designs, created by Osage artist Addie Roanhorse. The adaptive-reuse project transformed a former Kraft Foods cheese factory into a contemporary arts museum. During the museum’s opening, the system was tested as both a projection surface and “stage.” A dance group performed a gravity-defying vertical ballet on the glass facade, while a dynamic light show was projected onto its surface.

The latest award for our projectable rainscreen follows an Interior Design NYCxDESIGN award and an Architectural Record Editors’ Choice Award for Best Building Envelope Product. The system also became a triple finalist in the Architizer A+ awards for Innovation, Building Envelopes, and Glass & Glazing.

For more information on our glass rainscreen systems, please visit www.bendheim.com/system/flat-glass-rainscreen-systems/.

Etched Dichroic Glass Brightens Utah Project

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2,300 Feet of Our Optichroic® Architectural Glass Installed at New Tech HQ

Our Optichroic® architectural glass was installed at a technology education company’s new headquarters. Architects from Rapt Studio in San Francisco selected our customized etched dichroic glass to add kinetic color to nine elevator lobbies at Pluralsight in Draper, Utah.

Developed by NASA in the late 1950s, dichroic glass is innately interactive in nature. As the viewer’s angle to the glass changes, so does its color.

Bendheim introduced large-format Optichroic® dichroic glass to the architectural market in the early 2000s. We recently added three new colorways to expand the palette.

Pluralsight Headquarters | Bendheim Architectural Glass Project

Pluralsight Headquarters, Draper, UT by Rapt Studio. Photo by Beth Hockett.

Pluralsight offers video training courses to software developers and IT administrators. The company recently consolidated its operations into a new state-of-the-art, 350,000 square foot headquarters. According to a press release, a key design objective was to “foster a feeling of connectivity and collaboration to further Pluralsight’s mission to democratize technology skills.” The four-story building includes a café, medical clinic, fitness center, bike room, and walking path with access to a nearby trail system.

Our dichroic glass clads the elevator lobbies throughout the building. It features a white back-paint, making it opaque for wall cladding purposes, as well as a “soft” etched surface to diffuse reflections. The maintenance-friendly SatinTech™ acid-etched surface also resists fingerprints and staining. B & D Glass installed the glass.

Pluralsight Headquarters | Bendheim Architectural Glass Project

Pluralsight Headquarters, Draper, UT by Rapt Studio. Photo by Beth Hockett.

Optichroic® glass has gained appeal with architects and interior designers due to its space-age aesthetic and versatility. Bendheim can tailor the glass with a wide range of finishes, textures, and light-diffusing interlayers to create different effects. Used in partitions, the laminated glass also provides added safety and acoustic privacy, with a minimum improvement of 4 points to the STC rating.

The glass’ versatility is illustrated in its wide range of applications. Optichroic® glass was installed in the main terminal at Hamad International Airport in Qatar, where it interacts with daylight through skylights, creating a dynamic play of color and light throughout the day. It was also installed at the City University of New York Science campus, where triple-laminated, custom-curved dichroic glass guardrails hug the contours of a six-story interior staircase.

Our new colorways of Optichroic® dichroic glass build on the products’ design flexibility. The glass is available in sizes 52” x 120” and thicknesses up to 3/4 inches. From subtle “color sans colors” partitions to vibrant feature walls, it allows architects to specify the color and intensity that works for their unique project.

Learn more about Bendheim’s new dichroic glass colors at https://bendheim.com/video/new-dichroic-glass/.