STRUCTURAL GLASS FACADES - USC School of Architecture

their lack of familiarity with it. Many of these architects do not have access to the resources
characteristic of the early adopter group.
The early adopters often employ the services of a specialty consultant, one of a handful of
firms specializing in structural glass façade technology. These firms are most frequently
called on to provide conceptual and schematic design services, and some level of design
development. The cost of these consultants, however, represents a barrier to the diffusion of
the technology; projects budgets tend to be tighter with the potential secondary adopters and
the cost of the specialty consultant can be prohibitive.
1.4.6 The Opportunity for Growth
The potential for growth is apparent from the previous discussion. The opportunity lies in the
convergence of growing demand and a mature technology capable of delivery of
increasingly competitive products to a growing marketplace.
The opportunity for catalyzing this growth lies in enabling a tier of secondary adopters. The
key to accomplishing this is to first establish an appropriate project delivery method that
minimizes the requirements laid upon the architect; a strategy that the architect can
embrace. Any delivery strategy however, will require some level of expertise on the part of
the architect. Once the strategy is understood and accepted by the architect, they must then
be provided with the information, tools and resources necessary to implement the strategy; a
form of technology transfer.
It is likely that the designs produced from such a strategy will be simpler, less costly, and
more widely appropriate both functionally and economically to a diversity of commercial
building types, but this is exactly what is needed to diffuse the technology into the building
marketplace.
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