Hungarian Academy of Arts Structural Glass Atrium (Hungary)

All-glass design solutions represent one of the most innovative forms of structural glass facades, predominantly used in high-tech structures such as the iconic ‘glass cubes’ APPLE retail stores. Glass as a supporting structural component is ideal when the architectural intent is maximum transparency and minimal design. The end result is a completely frameless and almost invisible facade, with no use of steel or concrete elements, providing complete air tightness, waterproofing and thermal insulation. Glass fin systems might appear simple in concept, consisting of glass fins set perpendicular to the glass pane at each vertical line of the glass grid, but they require precision engineering and advanced performance.In this project, GLASSCON was awarded the design and engineering for a 2 sided structural glass atrium featuring two glass facades with separate entrances. The atrium serves as an entrance lobby bridging two existing historical buildings, part of the new Hungarian Academy of Arts headquarters. The front entrance façade is 12.00 meters high and consists of a combination of straight and curved double glazing units (DGU) supported by multi-layered single piece safety glass fins. The glass structure is capped off with a transparent glass roof on glass beams of similar structure (multi laminated glass). The glass fins and beams provide all the lateral and horizontal stability of the overall structure, while both elements are interconnected using high efficient structural silicone and customized invisible fittings. The front facade also features one automatic revolving door and one manual operated double leaf door with high thermal performance properties. The rear entrance façade spans to a similar height and is designed exactly as the front façade, lacking the extended glass roof, also featuring a double leaf frameless glass door.With the rising level of complexity involved in modern architectural building facades, innovative system design and engineering are crucial to successful implementation. GLASSCON has the expertise of contemporary façade engineering and a long proven track record. During design phase, our responsibility is to provide advanced end-to-end design and engineering services including structural calculations, predictive thermal model analysis, lighting and acoustic engineering, visual and performance mock-up fabrication, testing, and certification, as well as environmental compliance analysis. Our structural glass facades are comprehensively designed and engineered to meet the stringent energy and building codes according to the EU or foreign standards.