Project: The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Museum of Art
Location: Savannah, Ga.
Architect: Sottile & Sottile; Lord, Aech & Sargent; and Dawson Architects
Glass: Pilkington Profilit™ Hurricane LT
Glazier: Glass Systems, Inc.
Glass Supplier: Technical Glass Products, Snoqualmie, Wash.
Set atop the 19th-century brick remains of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Museum of Art is an 86-foot tall, semi-transparent channel glass tower. It is the first application to use hurricane-rated channel glass in a horizontal, dual-glazed configuration without additional support.
To meet code, the installation needed to satisfy hurricane-rating requirements. In this instance, the glazing needed to be approved only for the Small Missile Impact Test since the tower starts 30 feet above ground level. However, at the onset of the project, only Large Missile Impact Test approved channel glass was available. While such channel glass provides extra protection, the strict design and glass orientation limitations necessary to meet code hindered the original design intent.
To satisfy aesthetic goals and adhere to building codes, TGP developed Pilkington Profilit™ Hurricane LT. The heat-strengthened and filmed cast-glass channels and extruded perimeter frame were tested and approved in accordance with ASTM E 1886-06 at +45 PSF and -72 PSF, as well as ASTM E1996-06 for exterior windows impacted by windborne debris in hurricanes. The glass channels can be installed in horizontal and vertical applications, allowing for greater design versatility.
The Pilkington Profilit Hurricane LT tower at the SCAD Museum of Art illustrates how design professionals can overcome code challenges and create stylish, impact-resistant glass applications in storm-prone regions. By providing adequate protection without secondary lamination or shutters, design professionals can use the system to create large, unobstructed walls and façades that let in great amounts of natural light or that provide visually engaging focal points, regardless of geographical location, as was the case with the SCAD project. The grey-blue tower punctuates the city’s skyline and serves as a beacon for the museum – especially when backlit at night.
Labeled, “a contemporary intervention,” by Christian Sottile, a dean of SCAD and principal of the firm Sottile & Sottile, in an Architectural Digest article, the beautiful old-meets-new project will serve as a landmark for years to come.
For more information on Pilkington Profilit Hurricane LT, along with TGP’s other specialty architectural glass and framing, visit www.tgpamerica.com.
Technical Glass Products
800.426.0279
800.451.9857 – fax
sales@tgpamerica.com
www.tgpamerica.com
