66 Galen Street – Case Study
Managing Light by Using Glass Fins
66 Galen Street in Watertown, MA, is
a testament to modern architectural ingenuity and collaborative excellence. Designed by
Elkus Manfredi Architects, featuring glass manufactured by Guardian Glass, fabricated by Press Glass Inc., and installed by Sunrise Erectors. The Class A lab and research life science building spans 224,000 square feet. This state-of-the-art facility offers health and wellness amenities, retail spaces, lounge areas, and stunning views of the Charles River. 231 complex, custom 13/16”, low-iron, and SGP laminated glass fins spanning over 13 feet tall are a spectacular feature added to this job, and they presented a new fabrication challenge for Press Glass.
Challenge #1: Figuring out the Fins
Fabrication of the 231 long, narrow glass fins was a stimulating task. These fins, crucial for the building’s aesthetic and functional design, required precise tempering expertise to avoid issues such as bowing or curving post-heat treatment. Brooke Earles, Senior Estimator/Project Manager at
Press Glass, noted, “Everyone was especially mindful of the fins because quality is top priority, and ensuring there is no bow in 231 very skinny units would be a task.”
Tim Talun from Elkus Manfredi Architects discussed the aesthetic considerations of the fins: “Initially conceived as a means of shading the south and east portions, the fins might provide enough shade to enable the occupants to keep their shades up for an additional few hours a day.” Keeping their shades up in the morning sun would help preserve views toward a new park on this side of the building and the Charles River beyond.
Brian Kennedy, Press Glass sales representative on the project, highlighted the importance of balancing engineering and aesthetics: “We submitted several fin samples to the architect that were fabricated using different techniques such as laminating with colored interlayers or digitally printed acid etch simulation in effort to meet the aesthetic and functional goals.”
The Solution: High Quality Fins
To ensure the quality of the unique fins, Press Glass implemented additional quality checking procedures at
the end of the tempering furnace. Adrian Wezgowiec, Quality Manager at Press Glass, explained, “Each piece was measured by an inline scanner as well as manually by quality inspectors. It was equally as important to refine the furnace recipe used for the fins to lessen the chance of bowing while the pieces were traveling through.”
Moreover, a full-sized visual mock-up was provided to
Sunrise Erectors for review before finalizing the order.
Brian Kennedy emphasized the collaborative effort between Press Glass and the designers, stating, “We were more involved in the design work on the fins because they were more flexible on finding the right mix.”
The Challenge #2: Unexpected Change of Plans Late in the Game
Another challenge arose late in design when the glass coating selected was discontinued. This could cause potential issues in the future should there be a need for replacement glass. Making a new selection was a “pivotal point” in the project’s journey according to Leah Perez Hemling, project manager at Guardian Glass.
Talun added, “The glass was important to the overall aesthetic of the building and controlling solar heat gain. The change in glass, the discontinuation of the glass type, and working with Guardian quickly to get a range of samples was pretty important in helping us establish clear expectations with all stakeholders when making the decision [on another glass type.”
The Solution: New Glass Coating Makes the Difference
Perez Hemling, emphasized the need to understand project specifics: “It’s very important to me to know what the criteria of the architect is and to know what the criteria of the project is.” In this situation, a new glass selection was paramount, and the selection needed to be made quickly.
“We ended up taking along with our client a trip to New Jersey to view a mockup of the glass that was discontinued and the new glass option which was important to making the decision”, remarked Talun. Ultimately, SNR 50 was selected to replace the discontinued product.
The Results: Hard Work and Flexibility Pays Off
The collaborative efforts between Press Glass and Sunrise Erectors and meticulous quality methods at
Press Glass led to the successful fabrication and installation of the glass fins. Earles reported, “We thought the fins would be
a challenge, but our team went above and beyond to ensure they ran through production beautifully.”
Matthew O’Brien, Project Manager at Sunrise Erectors praised the precision and quality of the work especially on the fins where custom holes determined how accurately the fins could be mounted, “The fabricated hole lined up perfectly where we needed it to because there was a very specific custom outrigger that we were attaching to on the curtain wall.” O’Brien also noted the good handling by Press Glass and the crate optimization was great for glass handling when it got to the site.
The installation process was smooth, with O’Brien highlighting, “The job was a huge success, we ordered just over 1,400 units and needed very few replacement units. The need was not due to fabrication but incidences in transport or on the job site.”
Conclusion: A Beautiful 66 Galen Street
66 Galen Street stands as a testament of what can be achieved through innovation, precision, and collaboration. The successful completion of this project showcases Press Glass’s ability to handle complex, custom glass fabrication for monumental architectural projects. The quality requirements were more stringent regarding distortion and anisotropy as well as due to the location. The U-value parameters in New England are some of the tightest in the country which is why IS20 was selected to drive the U-value down. The two coatings worked (IS20 and SNR 50) together to achieve the aesthetic vision and lower solar heat gain.
Kennedy summarized the collective effort best: “The job was a huge success with only a couple of remakes but other than that everything went great and that is largely due to the great coordination of Matthew [O’Brien] and Eric [Pitts] with Sunrise Erectors. The order releases were complete, which streamlined the shipping process. We had ample lead time and clear directions regarding expectations for packaging and shipping. We also made a great connection with the company who was receiving
the glass in Canada which also helped things progress smoothly.”
This project not only reflects the capabilities and expertise of Press Glass Inc. but also highlights the importance of strong partnerships and effective communication among industry partners like architect, Elkus Manfredi, glass manufacturer, Guardian Glass, and contract glazier, Sunrise Erectors in achieving outstanding results together in the glass fabrication industry.
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