Challenge
The Equity Trust Company had outgrown its previous offices and decided to consolidate its operations by completely renovating a five-story former medical office space in Westlake, Ohio.
The major challenge was to open up the five-story atrium and bathe the office spaces with as much natural daylight as possible, which had been blocked for many years by the yellowing of the existing dark and dingy skylight system. They also hoped to maximize the clear glass area as much as possible by minimizing the structural profile.
To further add to the challenge, a large-scale glass sculpture by internationally famous artist Shan Shan Sheng was to be suspended from the skylight’s structural members. Each individual piece of glass artwork weighed up to 30 pounds, so it was necessary to avoid overloading any individual structural member or any one side of the skylight. Given the height of the suspended sculpture, safety was a major concern, and maximizing the available natural light was necessary since no artificial lights were to be used to illuminate the glass sculpture.
Solution
Wasco by VELUX’s Pinnacle System was chosen for its narrow profiles, clean lines and variable-pitch hinge design, which can support spans up to 40 feet wide. The glass consisted of 3' × 8' panels with a 4.37:12 pitch. The glazing is a solar blue tint with a high-performance lowE coating, which was meant to be similar to the exterior of the building and, even on a really bright day, look like blue sky.
The artwork installation was commissioned after the original construction documents were produced, which required quick and efficient design and engineering modifications in order to complete the project on time.
“Carroll Glass did an outstanding job on installing the glass,” said Kristi Gerard of Vocon. “And Wasco by VELUX’s sales representative John Aiello and the entire Wasco by VELUX engineering department were extremely good at helping us work out all the new details in the revised layout plan. It was a great working partnership all around!” Safety was paramount and the Carroll Glass/Wasco by VELUX team was on-site when needed to answer any questions about space considerations, maximizing panel size, hanging the artwork, whatever was needed.
It was necessary for the skylight installation to be coordinated with the artwork installation. Cables were pre-hung from Wasco by VELUX’s Pinnacle System and later the artist used a 45-foot boom to hang each of the glass panels from the skylight.
“Installation went very smooth and very fast. To provide for the client’s needs, preserve the aesthetics of the artist’s vision and deal with manufacturing considerations required a great team. I wouldn’t hesitate to use Wasco by VELUX or Carroll Glass again on any future project” Gerard said.
