SCHOOL PLANE.

Here is an example of the ideal Modern building, with its roof plane hovering in space. Only now can technology realize the dream.

The technical school for glass at Rheinbach has suddenly been jolted onto the world stage by a remarkable addition to its campus. Rheinbach is noted for its glass studies, and the architects, Jorg Hieber and Jurgen Marquardt were determined to show the material's paces in a new pavilion for exhibitions and seminars.

A flat plane roof, a deck on steel beams, is supported by very stiff glass boxes which act as columns. The plane seems to hover, yet is not at all threatening. The boxes are display cabinets, and are made of three layers of laminated glass: two sheets of partially toughened safety glass sandwich an inner leaf of the toughened material. Standard pane sizes, 1.25 x 3.7m were used, but they have specially-made head and foot stainless-steel sections which direct the loads of the 28 tonne roof to the ground, where they are resisted by concrete.

The roof projects 2.5m beyond the transparent walls of the main enclosure, which is used as a seminar and exhibition room. The space is of course shaded and protected by the roof in summer, and in winter it derives some degree of thermal protection from the plane. But its main point is to demonstrate the tectonic potential of glass. It does so admirably. P.V.

504 SKYSPAN

Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners has designed a 38m-high tower to house the Blue Streak and Thor Abel rockets, the principal exhibits at the National Space Centre in Leicester. England. The tower is clad with double-layered inflated cushions of EFTE membrane; they are translucent, allowing the great rockets to be glimpsed through the cladding.

505 FIRMAN GLASS

Firman Glass has been involved in the fabrication and installation of a number of innovative glass projects including the glass columns and beams at Broadfield House glass museum, Dudley, England, and the cantilevered glass canopy in Tokyo, Japan. The company will design, supply and install glass structures and offers a wide range of glass processes including toughening, bending, clear and coloured laminating, silicone jointing and bonding. A water-jet cutting service for glass, stone, steel and rubber is also available. To supplement their glass services, Firman Glass have recently established an architectural metalwork department with pressing, rolling and welding facilities.

506 GLAVERBEL

Sunergy is a new range of glasses which offers solar control and thermal insulation, combined with low levels of reflection. The glass is processed online by chemical vapour deposition to acquire a hard, pyrolytic coating. It is available in three colours; clear, green and a blue tint. Azur.

507 SAINT-GOBAIN OBERLAND

Solaris translucent glass blocks are available in a wide range of colours and textures, and shapes include a curved block which allows tight corners and sinuous walls to be created. A new range of fireproof glass blocks offers fire protection to DIN 4102 category F with a minimum fire-resistance of 30, 60 or 90 minutes.

508 SAINT-GOBAIN SOLAGLAS

Stadip Silence is a sound reducing glass with an acoustic PVB interlayer. It was used as part of the curtain wall facade of Terminal Two, Heathrow Airport, England. to reduce the constant noise of aircraft taking off and landing, improving the environment of staff working in offices on the second floor. The double-glazed units also incorporate solar control and blast resistance.

509 PILKINGTON

Activ, an innovative new glass which is self-cleaning, has been developed by Pilkington and is now available in Ireland, Austria and the US (it will be available in the UK and other countries early in 2002). The glass is designed for use as external glazing and virtually eliminates the need for window cleaning; it will be particularly useful on buildings where access for maintenance is difficult.

The self-cleaning properties are incorporated in a microscopically thin transparent coating which is permanently bonded to the glass. The coating is hydrophilic and photocatalytic; ie it causes rainwater to sheet on the surface and it oxidizes dirt and organic deposits, breaking their adherence to the glass.