Sometimes the most challenging metalwork we fabricate for our architectural systems is never seen.
The 151 North Franklin building in downtown Chicago is clad inside and out with a continuous feature wall of decorative, laminated glass. There’s no visible metal anywhere, and the sheer face of glass is spectacular!
However, getting there required Glass + Metal Craft to venture out onto another proverbial limb, knowing in advance we would find a solution. Which is why glazier Crown Coor, of Gary, Indiana, selected us to begin with: our proven history of providing highly engineered, custom mounting solutions.
The architect provided drawings of what they wanted, and we came up with a two concealed support structures – one for the interior wall and one for the exterior – all within the targeted budget.
For the outside, our Fulcrum Architectural Design Assist Division came up with a design based on aluminum L-angle frames glazed with silicone to the exterior glass panels, which we mocked–up and tested on-site early in the project.
We engineered the building brackets holding the frames to be modular, providing options for fastening points, each designed for the specific mounting surface: steel, CMU, or pre-cast.
We then glazed the brackets onto the glass in-house, kitted them complete with detailed mounting instructions, and then sequenced their delivery so that the right bracket and panel was delivered to the right location at the right time.
For the inside panels, Fulcrum designed custom extruded clips that were glazed four to a panel using a highly engineered approach to type, size, and placement of silicone. Finally, custom wall and ceiling brackets were designed and manufactured in-house by Cuda, with the four-cornered ceiling brackets requiring extensive in-house welding. All of it again kitted and sequenced.
In the end we delivered over 500 panels, up to four feet wide and 12 feet tall. Needless to say, this was a heavily engineered project and took a substantial amount of communication and planning. There was nothing “stock” about it. Everything was custom engineered. Custom designed. Custom made. Custom kitted and delivered.
We can do that.
