Project Profile: Sapphire Towers in San Diego, CA
Architect: AVPR Studios
Contract Glazier: Starline Windows
Product: NFRC Certified SuperLite II-XL 45 IGU in GPX Framing with Majority of the Units Shop-Glazed and Shipped as Modular Units
Project Description: Sapphire Towers is a luxury condominium in San Diego that affords residents views of the San Diego bay from their individual units. In order to provide panoramic views of the bay and waterfront, every façade had to have maximum possible window openings. However, this vision was met with a challenge. The building’s south facing elevation was in close proximity to the adjacent property and due to code regulations, the south façade either had to be solid, which was contrary to the design, or have openings with a minimum fire protection of 45 minutes. This included the windows and glass balconies on all 32 floors.
With glass figuring prominently in the building’s exterior, keeping a uniform look was very important to designers. The fire-rated glazing on the south-facing elevation had to match the non-rated glazing systems used throughout the building. Starline Windows, the glazing contractor, looked to SAFTI FIRST, to engineer a system that met the uniform design demands and performance requirements of the project.
For Sapphire Towers, SAFTI FIRST supplied a complete insulating assembly of ¼-inch Versalux Blue glass for the outboard lite with ¾” Superlite II-XL 45 minute fire-rated glass with a low-E coating on the No. 3 surface. The assembly uses GPX framing with aluminum covers that feature a silver powder coat finish on the exterior and Akzo Nobel white finish in the interior. The Versalux Blue on the outboard lite and the powder coat finish on the frames matched the rest of the non-rated glazing systems used in the building, making everything appear seamless.
This complete fire-rated assembly was used for 182 openings on all 32 floors on the south-facing elevation, totaling approximately 10,000 square feet of fire-rated glazing. The opening dimensions range from 48 inches by 90 inches to 82 inches by 130 inches.
In this case, Starline and Swinterton Builders, the general contractor, asked SAFTI FIRST to deliver the majority of the fire-rated glazing systems as assembled modular units because they felt there would be more control and less risk during the installation. The majority of the fire-rated glazing systems used for the punched openings were shop-glazed in SAFTI FIRST’s factory in Merced, CA and the bigger openings used in the higher floors we shipped knocked-down and glazed onsite.
Having most of the fire-rated glazing systems assembled and ready to go into the openings eliminated having a lot of parts and pieces held at the job site. Furthermore, SAFTI FIRST worked with Swinerton Builders on a tight shipping schedule to make sure that the glass was installed in the opening as soon as it arrived on the job site.
