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For us it was trying to
enhance the experience
of visitors as they rise up
through this lift and expand
their perception of the
landscape. Then there are
the technical challenges.
CECILIA WELLS, ARCHITECT
What was the major reason for sourcing your glass through
Viridian?
We turned to Viridian for glass reliability and quality.
Nickel sulphide failure is always uppermost in our minds.
I'm not so sure it's such a big issue now with glass quality
improving worldwide. We did look at using cheaper overseas
alternatives. It became a huge challenge to test that and
arrange for proven functioning assemblies, all installed on
time. Viridian really had all of that expertise right here.
What about solar loads?
We had to develop the design specifically to suit the
site and climatic considerations. There were also safety
considerations about how breakable or prone to impact
the glass may be. Then there are cleaning and shading
aspects. The solar shading co-efficient is a very important
consideration, so the frit was a very important aspect of the
design to reduce the lift-car heat load.
Does such an exposed site present any other challenges?
A significant rooftop passive ventilation system draws
in cool air from the main cultural space, as well as
mechanical fans to provide back-up on very hot days.
It's not air-conditioned, but the modeling shows it should
perform well with the selected glazing providing
a high shading co-efficient.
Any other climatic issues?
The prime challenge is keeping water out, so we came up
with a complicated series of channels, drains, overhangs and
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