Source: Glass Magazine
The basics: An undulating façade of curved glass highlights the 21-story, 750,000-square-foot SickKids Research Tower in downtown Toronto. The project was built to combine science, discovery and learning programs with the organization’s clinical operations. The building, completed in 2012, is now the tallest laboratory in Canada. Diamond Schmitt Architects’ design intent was to further invigorate the workspace by natural light entry, thus necessitating more vision glass than a typical office building.
The players: Architect, Diamond Schmitt Architects; general contractor EllisDon Corp., glass fabricator, Cristacurva; glass manufacturer, Guardian Industries; glazing contractor, Sota Glazing Inc.
The glass and systems: A multidimensional combination of insulating glass units clad the tower, featuring intricate bent exterior decorative glass panels. Cristacurva fabricated the panels utilizing Guardian SunGuard NE50 low-emissivity architectural glass. The IGUs consist of glass bent in diverse radii dimensions with both convex and concave shapes and patterns, produced as clear vision, silk-screened and spandrel panels. The vision curved IG units consist of an exterior lite of ¼-inch thick clear tempered glass with SunGuard NE50 on the No. 2 surface and an interior lite of ¼-inch tempered low iron glass with a ½-inch air space. Flat polished edges finished the panels along with warm edge spacers and sealing joints in grey silicone.
The spandrel curved IG units consist of an exterior lite of ¼-inch thick clear tempered glass with Frost Silk Screening on the No. 2 surface and an interior lite of ¼-inch tempered low iron CurvaSpan Glass with a ½-inch air space.
The decorative CurvaSpan glass pieces include a custom white coating on the No. 4 surface, as specified, and are also finished with flat polished edges along with warm edge spacers and sealing joints in grey silicone.