flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Retaining Fallingwater’s Iconic Connection Between Indoors & Outdoors

Sponsored Content Glass and Glazing

Retaining Fallingwater’s Iconic Connection Between Indoors & Outdoors

Starphire Ultra-Clear® glass reduces the visual barrier between the inside of the house and its iconic location. 


By VITRO ARCHITECTURAL GLASS | October 20, 2020
Fallingwater
Starphire Ultra-Clear® glass has been used for glass replacement projects at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater for the past several decades. 
 
Photography courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

In September 2019, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, owners of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, sought to complete restoration work on the window and door glass of the architect’s celebrated masterpiece. As it has done for many years, the organization turned to two trusted sources for their products and expertise: Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) and Dlubak Specialty Glass Corp., a member of the Vitro Certified Network. 

One of Wright’s primary goals in designing Fallingwater was to reduce, as much as possible, the visual barrier between the inside of the house and its iconic location above the falls of Bear Run in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands. This guided Wright’s 1934 decision to specify Waterwhite glass, a low-iron glass that PPG Glass (now Vitro Glass) had recently introduced. Because Waterwhite glass is no longer made, the staff of Fallingwater today relies on its more sophisticated successor, Starphire Ultra-Clear® glass, to preserve its fabled exterior views. Manufactured by Vitro Glass using a proprietary low-iron formulation that continues to be refined, Starphire® glass has been chosen for all of Fallingwater’s window glass replacement projects over the past few decades.

One of Wright’s primary goals in designing Fallingwater was to reduce, as much as possible, the visual barrier between the inside of the house and its iconic location.

Photography courtesy of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

Fallingwater is the only major work by Frank Lloyd Wright to be brought into the public domain with so much of its original furnishings and artwork intact. While regular maintenance is performed to keep it in prime condition, its caretakers work diligently to ensure that all efforts to preserve the property are made with his legacy in mind.

Window and door restoration is a continuous task, says Scott W. Perkins, director of preservation and collections for Fallingwater. “The window glass is replaced on a somewhat routine basis and usually in conjunction with steel conservation,” he explained. 

Although the last major round of window preservation took place in 2015, the Conservancy determined in September 2019 that 69 of Fallingwater’s window and door sashes needed to be repaired, including 16 windows that required complete replacement of the glass. 
To enhance the strength and performance of the refurbished windows while preserving their historic integrity, the Conservancy specified Starphire® glass with a SentryGlas interlayer by Kuraray. In addition to offering five times the strength of ordinary laminating materials and 100 times the stiffness, the interlayer helps protect furnishings by limiting their exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.

While the interlayer gives strength to Fallingwater’s window glass, Starphire® glass preserves its beauty. With visible light transmittance (VLT) of 91% in a standard ¼-inch (6-millimeter) thickness, Starphire® glass delivers the virtually unobstructed outdoor views Wright envisioned for Fallingwater when he first specified Waterwhite low-iron glass in 1934. “The clarity of the glass allows for it to appear invisible, a feature Wright admired,” Perkins explained.

Nearly 25 years after Starphire® glass was introduced, it remains the clearest, most transparent commercial float glass available to architects today – containing 87% less green than ordinary clear glass and offering pure, undistorted transmitted color with absolutely no grays or yellows.

To learn more and request samples, visit www.vitroglazings.com/starphire.

Related Stories

Sponsored | | Mar 30, 2014

Ontario Leisure Centre stays ahead of the curve with channel glass

The new Bradford West Gwillimbury Leisure Centre features a 1,400-sf serpentine channel glass wall that delivers dramatic visual appeal for its residents.

| Mar 13, 2014

Austria's tallest tower shimmers with striking 'folded façade' [slideshow]

The 58-story DC Tower 1 is the first of two high-rises designed by Dominique Perrault Architecture for Vienna's skyline.

| Mar 7, 2014

Thom Mayne's high-tech Emerson College LA campus opens in Hollywood [slideshow]

The $85 million, 10-story vertical campus takes the shape of a massive, shimmering aircraft hangar, housing a sculptural, glass-and-aluminum base building.

| Feb 27, 2014

12 facts about heat-treated glass: Why stronger isn’t always better

Glass is heat-treated for two reasons: the first is to increase its strength to resist external stresses such as wind and snow loads, or thermal loads caused by the sun’s energy. The second is to temper glass so that it meets safety glazing requirements defined by applicable codes or federal standards. 

| Feb 27, 2014

PPG earns DOE funding to develop dynamically responsive IR window coating Technology aims to maintain daylighting, control solar heat gain

PPG Industries’ flat glass business has received $312,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a dynamically responsive infrared (IR) window coating that will block heat in the summer to reduce air-conditioning costs and transmit solar heat in the winter to reduce heating costs.

| Feb 5, 2014

Extreme conversion: Atlanta turns high-rise office building into high school

Formerly occupied by IBM, the 11-story Lakeside building is the new home for North Atlanta High School.

| Feb 5, 2014

PPG creates new BIM library, adds custom BIM file creation to tool

PPG Industries announced that it has created a new library of  building information and modeling (BIM) files, and that architects and specifiers can now use PPG Glass eVIEW to generate custom BIM files for any conceivable PPG glass configuration.

| Feb 5, 2014

7 towers that define the 'skinny skyscraper' boom [slideshow]

Recent advancements in structural design, combined with the loosening of density and zoning requirements, has opened the door for the so-called "superslim skyscraper."  

Sponsored | | Jan 30, 2014

Transparent, fire rated stairwell enhances design of renovated Cincinnati Art Museum

When the Cincinnati Art Museum embarked on an $11 million renovation, the architects wanted the entrance and main stair to be as inviting as possible. Transparent, fire rated glazing from SAFTI FIRST was a key component of the design solution.

| Jan 28, 2014

2014 predictions for skyscraper construction: More twisting towers, mega-tall projects, and 'superslim' designs

Experts from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat release their 2014 construction forecast for the worldwide high-rise industry. 

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021