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glass box

aemkei

Alright, so I have this 20x45 feet and 20 feet tall structure with glass walls on all sides. With that hight it's of course hard to construct the glass walls without some form of support for the glass itself. (the roof is carried by pillars)
Any suggestions what kind of glass system I should look at/how I should construct the walls if I

1. don't want to use a whole lot of structures on the inside of the glass, since the room inside is sort of (too) small as it is

2. want as slim joints as possible for that aquarium-esque look.

Thanks

 
Apr 21, 06 9:10 am
aemkei

Yeah, I'm aware of both these options and I have used them in the past, but either of them applied to all four walls of the uh, box would mean that I'd lose, not alot but still, significant floor space since the fins/cables/fixtures would sort of pertrude into the room (which by the way is a cocktail bar... of sorts).
Apart from that they're not bad ideas.

Apr 21, 06 10:59 am  · 
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joed

the scary thing is that this question sounds like it's coming from a professional architect working on a real project. so let me get this straight, your big idea for this space is... make it all glass! and, now that you've realized that in the real world that might not work so well, you've come to an online forum to have somebody give you the solution?

i think j was way generous with actually making suggestions in response to your inquiry. do some research you lazy bum.

Apr 21, 06 12:33 pm  · 
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Living in Gin

What J said. You can try putting the fins and/or cables on the outside of the "box" if you're trying to maximize floor space.

I've also seen some systems where the glazing is supported by a "net" of high-tension cables that span the opening... The new Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in NYC has such a system, and it's only a couple inches thick for a system that spans well over 100 feet in both horizontal and vertical directions.

Apr 21, 06 1:15 pm  · 
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aemkei

Ok, first of all, calm down, joed - and second of all, I appologize, I should have made that clear - it's not a real project in that sense but my inquiry is not inSTEAD of research, it's in addition TO research, and after what seemed like, well, too long a time without satisfying results I started to think maybe there's some other approach to this I have missed and I posted my inquiry here and that's that.

Apr 21, 06 1:18 pm  · 
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aemkei

Checked out that Time Warner Center system, LiG, and at a first (and also at a second) glance it looks like something that might work really well for me. Thanks a bunch.

Apr 22, 06 10:17 am  · 
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postal

20 feet not that large of a span...you can do post-tenstioned cable supports clsoe to the glass, no fins required...

http://www.mero.us/project_portfolio/details.php?id=65
(the fins on the exterior are decorstive, as well as the dichromic glass on the interior)

Apr 22, 06 10:50 am  · 
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joed

You do realize that those cables are being tensioned against a massive frame, right? It doesn't really sound like aemkei's glass box has an enormous bearing wall or steel moment frame nearby to resist the tension of the cables.

Apr 22, 06 10:55 am  · 
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postal

just an ideer joed...

...in order to lighten up the glazing system

Apr 22, 06 2:44 pm  · 
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postal

of course there's always skyhooks...

or my personal favorite...fairies...

i hear they're currently being deveopled for the missile defense shield (dc)

and if you're just making a model of it...zapagap...don't sweat the details

Apr 22, 06 2:50 pm  · 
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snooker

you could just use thin strips of plastic, like the ones found in airlocks... They weigh alot less than glass and well they are flexible.

Apr 22, 06 4:00 pm  · 
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