STRUCTURAL GLASS FACADES - USC School of Architecture

Willis Faber & Dumas Building
Ipswich, England; Foster Architects, designed 1971-2, completed 1975.
See Figure 1.13 and Figure 1.14 above.
This project, discussed earlier and mentioned throughout this thesis is significant in many
respects. It is one of the very early examples of a frameless, suspended glass fin supported
façade system. It represents the productive partnership between industry and architecture
with the first application of a new product technology provided by Pilkington, a leading glass
producer. It popularized this façade type leading to a proliferation of applications. It
represents a viable candidate for defining the birth-point of structural glass façade
technology as articulated in this thesis. Wigginton (1996, pp.110-115) provides a good case
study of this project.
Garden Grove Community Church
Garden Grove, California;
Johnson/Burgee Architects, designed
1977-8. constructed 1978-80.
Figure 1.16 Garden Grove Church; Johnson/Burgee
architects (Nardella 2007).
Popularly known as the Crystal
Cathedral, this building obviously finds
its roots in the great iron and glass
conservatory structures of mid 19 th century Europe. Predating the development of the lighter
tensile structures to emerge over the next decade in façade applications, the design here
makes use of a space frame structural system. The structure is clad entirely in reflective
glass using a panel system where the single-glazing was silicone-sealed into and aluminum
frame under factory-controlled conditions. Panel systems are discussed in the following
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