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Versatile Wall-F Glass System from Bendheim Clads Denver Airport Elevator

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Streamlined style suits modern design of expanded concourse

 

At Denver International Airport, a newly expanded gate concourse features the our exceptionally versatile Wall-F Glass system in a new role: as a strikingly simple elevator enclosure.

The Concourse C East expansion project employs a spare, minimalist aesthetic designed to maximize focus on dramatic views of the runways. Seeking to limit visual obstruction, project architects sought to create a clear glass elevator shaft with the bare minimum of visible hardware. Our Wall-F Compression Fitting Glass system, originally designed for exterior rainscreen applications, allowed them to achieve their goal.

Opening ceremony of the gate with Bendheim's clipped glass system at the elevator.

Denver International Airport, Denver, CO by Jacobs. Photo courtesy of Jacobs.

“Our design intent was to maximize transparency for the elevator hoistway,” noted Bryan Smith, Senior Design Architect at Jacobs. “We liked the clean aesthetic of the Bendheim clip system and felt it was more transparent than the typical pin supported system.” Installation was completed by PCI Metro.

Our Wall-F Glass system has been tested to meet the AAMA 509-09 standard for drained and back-ventilated rainscreens, certifying its effectiveness in preventing water from reaching a building’s façade. While originally intended for that purpose, this highly versatile option suits many interior applications as well.

In the case of the new airport elevator, the Wall-F compression fittings secured the glass across the 8-foot spans between steel supports. The 2” x 4” compression fittings were installed at the corners only, without any need to drill holes in the glass. In an elevator application, drilled holes in the glass create weak points that could be negatively affected by the elevator’s vibrations. A compression-based system also ensures easier installation, with greater opportunities to adjust in the field.

Elevator enclosure with Bendheim's clipped glass system.

The Concourse C East project utilized our ½” low iron tempered/laminated glass. The use of tempered and laminated glass was essential for strength and safety, especially given that the hoistway’s ceiling is glass as well. The clarity of low-iron glass allowed the designers to integrate the elevator into the space and provide optimal lines of sight to the outdoors.

The DEN Gate Expansion project, completed last May, increased the gate capacity of Denver’s busy airport by 30%. The Concourse C East expansion added a total of 530,000 square feet, including 16 new gates, 20 new passenger waiting areas, and new traveler amenities such as nursing rooms, charging stations, an outdoor pet relief area, and a large outdoor deck complete with firepits. The additional gates will be operated by Southwest Airlines, making DEN the largest Southwest hub in the United States.

Said Elieh, Vice President for Sales at Bendheim, noted: “We are in an exciting moment when it comes to the renewal of our nation’s infrastructure. The unique capacities of our different cladding systems provide almost unlimited scope for architects’ creativity, whether the project is interior or exterior.”

Elevator enclosure with Bendheim's clipped glass system.

We offer a wide array of glass choices that can be coupled with the Wall-F Glass system. With our Design Assist service, architects, designers, and contractors have the ability to streamline the specification and installation processes. As a true project partner, we can help guide selection from the design stage forward, ensuring that the elements chosen will meet both budget and performance requirements.

Bendheim’s Turnkey Fusion Light Wall System Debuts at World-Class Research Center

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Easy installation, even light, and 360° technical support make vision a reality

 

A cutting-edge medical research facility at the University of Missouri has pioneered the use of our TurnKey Fusion Light Wall system, a complete solution for backlit glass cladding. 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.

Bendheim TurnKey Fusion glass cladding system in a lobby.

NextGen Precision Health – University of Missouri, Columbia, MO by Burns & McDonnell. Photo by Michael Robinson Photography.

Located on the University’s flagship campus in Columbia, Mo., the entryway of the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building features our LE’Diffusion Safety Glass, vibrantly decorated with a custom graphic film. The TurnKey Fusion Light Wall system integrates Fusion LED backlighting panels into the the TurnKey system for mechanical attachment of interior glass. Glass panels are mounted using a simple rail and key system that requires no special tools—and they can be demounted just as easily for maintenance needs, or in the event of a redesign.

While any Bendheim laminated or tempered glass can be mounted with TurnKey Fusion, our LE’Diffusion glass is specifically designed to provide even, shadow-free dispersion of LED lighting over a maximum 8’ span. The Fusion LEDs have also been engineered to provide uniform light throughout the system. Just as importantly, the entire system hugs the wall with its minimal 2 1/16” overall depth.

Designed by Burns & McDonnell, the 265,000 square foot NextGen Precision Health center is designed to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration in the field of precision medicine, an approach to healthcare that is tailored to an individual’s genes, lifestyle and environment. In keeping with the program’s mission of hope, an MU faculty member used magnified cross-sections of her own late father’s lymphoma cells to create the entryway artwork.

Bendheim TurnKey Fusion glass cladding system in a lobby.

The wall of glass in the facility’s entry gave the architects a blank canvas–for a design which would be easy to update in the future. “We could have provided the graphic laminated inside the glass, but we chose to go with an applied film,” said Bendheim Vice President of Sales Said Elieh. “This allows us the ability to change the graphic later on. In addition, in order to meet the install deadline, we needed to order the hardware and glass before the graphic was finalized. We were able to complete the installation while the owner and architect finalized the design. This is a ground-breaking project, and we are excited to be part of it.”

“We sought a high quality of light from a technical, space and budget standpoint,’’ said Clint Blew, Senior Design Architect at Burns & McDonnell. “Bendheim’s system met those criteria. The light quality before the artwork was applied to the glass was incredibly clean and even, virtually no ghosting. Many claim to be able to achieve this, but few truly can, at least not on a budget that every client can afford. The Bendheim system is also engineered in such a way that we were able to integrate it into the building pretty effortlessly and flawlessly.”

With integrated Fusion LED panels and specially engineered LE’Diffusion glass, the TurnKey Fusion Light Wall system creates even, shadow-free illumination in the entryway of the NextGen Precision Health building.

“Bendheim’s was the most cost-effective solution for this project and the installation was a smooth process,” added glazier Ray Wells, owner of Central Missouri Glass. “The glass is right at the heart of the building, and it creates a visually striking appearance. We are proud of this work. It’s an important project for everyone here in Missouri.”

Bendheim TurnKey Fusion glass cladding system in a lobby, seen from outside.

The TurnKey Fusion Light Wall system allows us to offer our project partners an all-in-one solution for backlit glass cladding. We can provide shop drawings, wiring diagrams, engineering calculations, and other forms of technical support at every stage. With no drilling and no adhesives, TurnKey Fusion Light Wall provides easy installation and gorgeous light quality–with flexibility for the future.

Artwork: Enduring Impermanence, Digital Transparency Artwork by Katina Bitsicas

Transformed West Side Pier Features Our Channel Glass

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Manhattan’s iconic Pier 57 has been transformed by an ambitious redevelopment project, with walls of our channel glass to help blend old with new.

Designed by Handel Architects, the $410 million restoration and revitalization project created 350,000 square feet of mixed-use space on the midcentury structure, with an additional 50,000 square feet on the ground floor for public amenities. With Google as the anchor tenant, Pier 57 will also offer a food hall curated by the James Beard Foundation, a public gathering place called the Living Room, and flexible meeting space for booking by community organizations.

Channel glass facade at Pier 57.

Pier 57, New York, NY by Handel Architects. Photos by Michael Young.

The building’s rooftop park, nearly two acres in size and open to the public, is the largest of its kind in New York City. The venue will also provide outdoor screening space for the annual Tribeca Film Festival.

Perfectly positioned to reflect Hudson River sunsets, the building’s walls are made of 6,400 square feet of our channel glass in our SF60 frame system, installed by David Shuldiner, Inc. The lower-level walls are primarily made of Clarissimo glass, a clear glass allowing extensive river views from the lobby and restaurant areas on the ground floor.  The walls of the second story offices and other selected panels are made of glass with the 504 Rough Cast texture. The choice of a translucent finish for the glass on this floor shields the workspace from glare while creating a glowing exterior. Throughout the building, low-e coatings serve to minimize the amount of ultraviolet and infrared light that is allowed to pass through the glass walls, while maximizing the transmission of visible wavelengths.

Channel glass facade at Pier 57 with people standing at the railing.

Jessica Levine, Senior Associate at Handel Architects, described the role of the channel glass at Pier 57 as follows:

“As a new structure built on a historic building, we wanted the pavilion on the roof of the Pier to read as a light intervention, both in material selection and the language of design. The channel glass achieves this balance for us by acting as a diffuser of light and also in its industrial appearance–complimenting the nature of a historic shipping pier. The channel glass allowed us to have a cohesive design by providing the flexibility between translucent and transparent finishes.”

Bendheim co-owner Robert Jayson commented, “We are proud to participate in the ongoing revitalization of New York City, including this important development. Our channel glass allowed the architects to build walls that are both functional and beautiful, making the most of Pier 57’s spectacular setting on the Hudson.”

Channel glass facade at Pier 57 at sunset.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Pier 57 was originally completed in 1954 as a project of the New York City Marine and Aviation Department. First used as a shipping terminal for the Grace Line steamship company, it was the largest dock ever built by the City of New York. With the decline of maritime shipping in New York, the pier became a parking garage for New York City Transit buses in 1969, then closed down altogether in 2003. The Hudson River Park Trust, a public benefit corporation established in 1998 to develop and operate public park space along Manhattan’s West Side shoreline, began efforts to redevelop the pier in 2008. The current project represents a significant public-private collaboration, with contributors including Google, RXR, Young Woo & Associates, The Baupost Group and Jamestown in addition to the Hudson River Park Trust and the City and State of New York.

Landmark Community Center Features Channel Glass from Bendheim

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The Brotherhood Sister Sol, a prominent youth development organization based in upper Manhattan, has unveiled a dramatic new headquarters featuring our channel glass. The building’s striking façade expresses its mission to serve as a beacon for the community.

The Brotherhood Sister Sol (also known as BroSis) has been serving the personal and academic needs of Black and Latinx youth from economically distressed communities since 1995. When the organization outgrew its longtime base of operations in a century-old Harlem brownstone, BroSis chose the firm of Urban Architectural Initiatives, a participant in New York State’s MWBE (Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise program), to design a new headquarters at the same location.

Exterior shot of Brother Sister Sol with Bendheim channel glass

Brotherhood Sister Sol, Harlem, NY by Urban Architectural Initiatives. Photo by Chris Cooper Photography.

And no ordinary building would do. As noted by BroSis Executive Director and Co-Founder Khary Lazarre-White, “From the very beginning of working with our architects, we challenged them to design a building that was about the enlightenment of children. Architecture speaks volumes about what happens within an institution.”

The new BroSis center creates a sense of life and motion through its remarkable flaring design. Each elevation appears to fan outward, cantilevering over the elevations below. The selection of our channel glass helped make this striking result a reality.

Channel glass is a U-shaped, translucent, machine-rolled architectural glass. Its unique geometry allows it to withstand imposed forces in ways conventional flat glass cannot.  Channel glass can create sweeping, virtually seamless glass walls uninterrupted by metal frames, including serpentine curves.

Exterior shot of Brother Sister Sol with Bendheim channel glass

In the case of the BroSis building, the design incorporated approximately 875 square feet of our 504 Rough Cast channel glass with low-e coating for thermal performance enhancement. The frame is our SF60 System for exterior double glazed façade applications in a custom Mineral Brown Metallic finish. The use of these products permitted the architects to design obtuse angled corners of continuous glass. The lightweight channel glass (weighing only 12 pounds per square foot) was also advantageous for the building’s iconic overhang design.

The channel glass also allows natural light to pervade the interior without glare. In the building’s aptly named Light Room, floor-to-ceiling walls of the channel glass help create a calm and uplifting atmosphere.

Interior shot of Brother Sister Sol with Bendheim channel glass

Bendheim co-owner Donald Jayson noted, “We are excited to contribute to that rarity for New York City, a building that will be entirely devoted to community educational use. We hope the beauty of the glass façade will draw attention to the life-changing work taking place within”.

Other members of the BroSis project team included LMW Engineering Group, EMTG Engineers, Krypton Engineering, Liz Farrell Landscape Architecture, Raymond/Raymond Associates, Noel Building Consultants, MaGrann Associates and Gilbane, Inc.

Historic New York Church Windows Restored with Our Lamberts® Mouth-Blown Glass

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All Souls NYC, a Unitarian church of historic significance, has completed restoration work to its 90-year-old sanctuary on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. As part of this ambitious project, the church’s large neo-Georgian windows were completely replaced using our authentic mouth-blown glass.

The Unitarian Church of All Souls traces its origins back to 1819, and its members have included such prominent New Yorkers as William Cullen Bryant, Calvert Vaux, and Peter Cooper. The present Colonial Revival church, designed by Hobart Upjohn, was dedicated in 1932.

By the early 21st century, this Depression-era structure was in serious disrepair. Major problems included a crack in the steeple, leaks in the slate roof and periodic failures of an outdated sewage pump system. Many of the church windows had broken panes or could no longer be closed with the original hand cranks.

restored window diffuses tinted light into the church

In response to this situation, All Souls raised over $15 million in support of an extensive renovation effort. To design and direct the work, All Souls chose Studio Kraeher Architects, whose principal brought experience with the renovation of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Repairs began in early 2019 and were essentially complete by July 2020, although the impact of COVID-19 prevented an immediate return to normal services. By the spring of 2022, All Souls could resume public worship in a refreshed and rebuilt space.

The replacement of the large sanctuary windows was a critical portion of the project, given their importance to the building’s Colonial aesthetic. When the quality of the glass proposed by subcontractors proved disappointing, All Souls embarked on a search for the right material. Ultimately, the church selected Bendheim’s authentic mouth-blown glass, which recreates the wavy “antique” appearance of preindustrial glasswork.

detail showing distortion typical to antique glass

Each pane of glass was hand-made in Germany by the glassblowers at Glashütte Lamberts; please see 1-minute video below on How It’s Made. For the work at All Souls, the architect specified a subtle tint for some of the panes, in one of seven different shades. Light entering the sanctuary is gently diffused, with the slightest hint of color. The new windows are double-paned for energy conservation and now meet ANSI standards for water and air infiltration.

Tower Insulating Glass of North Bellmore, NY incorporated the artisanal glass in IGUs. Project Manager Eduardo James supervised on-site assembly of the windows for the construction management firm E.W. Howell, uniting the glass with frames that had been made to order by MHB in the Netherlands. Bronx-based Kilroy Architectural Windows performed the installation.

Detail image of the windows of All Souls NYC comprising of Bendheim's Lambert's mouth-blown glass

All Souls NYC Unitarian Church Restoration, New York, NY by Studio Kraeher Architects. Photos by Michael Del Rossi.

All Souls was fortunate in numbering several experienced architects among its members, allowing the church’s Building Advisory Task Force to bring professional expertise to the project. For example, Task Force Chair Louis F. “Fritz” Reuter IV had previously served as Executive Director of the Capital Master Plan for the United Nations and as Senior Vice President for Facilities Management at NewYork-Presbyterian. Reuter and his colleagues understood how important the choice of glass would be to the final outcome, and were willing to make it a high priority.

“We knew what we were looking for, and luckily, someone connected us with Bendheim. Once they had supplied us with samples, we could see that their product was superior to everyone else’s in terms of quality, color, and impact,” explained Reuter.

Architect Rolando Kraeher visited our warehouse in Wayne, NJ to select the exact range of glass colors required for this historic restoration. He was assisted by our co-owner, Steven Jayson. Steven credits Glashutte Lamberts’ centuries-old artisanal mouth-blown method for the wide range of glass hues available to clients. Colors can be created in relatively small batches through the addition of precise amounts of metal oxides, such as cobalt, silver, and gold.

“We are extremely proud of our partnership with the artisans at Lamberts, and of our ability to supply glass of this quality for historic restoration projects,” he added. “When recapturing the style of times past, only authentic mouth-blown glass will do.”

Dazzling Downtown Marketing Suite Features “Magical” Privacy Glass

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Prominent architectural firm Eastlake Studio specified our Houdini™ Privacy Glass in a high-end marketing suite on the 12th floor at 1 South Wacker, a luxury office tower in Chicago. The design seeks to bring the outside in and uses advanced materials to create a work environment that combines glamor and functionality.

Houdini™ glass features a precision-rolled micro-fluted pattern to transmit maximum daylight while providing a high level of visual privacy. The name refers to the remarkable visual effect it creates, whereby people and objects seem to disappear behind it even as light continues to shine through. In addition to diffusing light, Houdini™ reduces glare and minimizes reflections.

“Our design team was drawn to Houdini glass because it creates a unique blur effect that is different from other fluted options,” noted Emily Koss, Technical Designer at Eastlake Studio. “The combination of the vertical flutes and the horizontal striation creates a dynamic visual which allows natural light in, but also created division and privacy,” Koss added.

Eastlake Studio’s design for the 37,000 square foot marketing suite uses elements such as breezeway block, recessed lighting, and plants.  A key aspect of this outdoor theme is the inclusion of as much daylight as possible.  Eastlake used approximately 1,000 square feet of laminated Houdini™ glass for the office partitions, allowing high-quality natural light to fill the space.  Other uses of Houdini™ glass throughout the suite reinforce this fundamental of the design.

Glass office partitions with Houdini textured privacy glass

1 South Wacker suite renovation by Eastlake Studio. Photos by Hall + Merrick + McCaugherty.

As Emily Koss explained, “We used the glass throughout the space to help form the cohesive design story. It appears in full-height walls in meeting rooms, as a feature in the break room, and as booth dividers. In addition to being aesthetically interesting, the glass filters light in, while keeping a focus on what is in the foreground, and limiting distraction beyond.” Installation at 1 South Wacker was carried out by MTH Industries.

Houdini™ glass can be customized through combination with a virtually unlimited range of color interlayers, prints, and other textured and etched glass varieties. It can also be back-painted or laminated to mirror for wall cladding applications. The glass is an ideal solution for environments where privacy and natural light are vital, including educational facilities, retail applications, healthcare and laboratories, along with offices.

“There are multiple benefits to Houdini™ glass in this application,” Bendheim co-owner Steven Jayson said. “It establishes visual privacy, while managing daylight and bringing high-quality natural light into the core of the space. We have seen substantial growth in the popularity of linear privacy glass, and it’s great to see it contribute to projects that represent the leading edge of design.”