ARCHITECT:  Ceccato Hall & Associates
BUILDER: Hutchinson Builders

The Anthony John Group engaged JH Glass Innovation to undertake (2) glazing components that would represent a first of its kind in Australia. The components whilst inspired by glass concepts that the owner had seen overseas, had not been constructed in Australia before and that made it difficult to find a supplier.

Director of JH Glass Innovation, John Hyde undertook the challenge and delivered some amazing works of art whilst also creating new design concepts that will continue to facilitate the development of unique glass concepts in Australia.

Design:

The Red Shard Wall project was a bespoke centrepiece consisting of 450 individual glass shards with polished edges that would form a two-level 3D glass wall effect positioned between 4 lift wells.  The key to finalizing the design was the link that the Director John Hyde was able to provide between the Architectural drawings and the custom fixtures and applications that would be required to complete.

The vibrant red colour was the discerning factor as this shard wall was located in the main lobby and Level 1 of the Emporium Hotel in Brisbane and was to be the centrepiece of the Hotel.

Achieving the vibrant red colour would be achieved via number of products and applications including,

• Red Glass Shards which would be individually cut, polished and manually applied with a custom red film
• Individually hand cut mirrors to accentuate the red coloured wall
• Red silicone which was custom made

Prototype:

Unlike standard commercial glazing projects, the unique nature of the design meant that the Architectural drawings alone could not be sufficiently tested to ensure that the design could be achieved.

The project relied heavily on accurate data and laser setouts to enable the draftsman to produce millimetre accurate CAD drawings as the accuracy of the glass shards needed to be perfect due to their triangular shape and due to the design having one glass shard laid on top of another layer.

To test the design, fixtures and applications a 2.5mx1m prototype was built.  The prototype revealed certain limitations with the existing design and subsequently the design was revisited.

Installation:

During installation the team at JH Glass Innovation faced additional challenges that were unforeseen in the design process having to incorporate the 4 lift core doors as well as returning both of these walls 90 degrees down each side.

It also included the design and fabrication of custom brackets which would retain the shards whilst ensuring they were naked to the eye so as not to ruin the visual design elements.

A specialized lifting apparatus was built to assist in the installation of the shards which would secure them to the wall whilst the next pair of shards were installed.

Installation of the LED lighting provided its own challenges as the design needed to ensure easy access for the replacement should any of the lighting fail.  To do this the JH Glass Innovation team successfully amended the original design to provide maintenance access without disrupting the visual design.

Incorporating the LED lighting behind this wall proved challenging as we wanted to achieve different grades of shading with the lighting thus the reason we used downlights and the LED flex to achieve the desired red hue that distinguishes the Hotel from others.

The additions and incorporation of mirrors, polished stainless steel and the use of the red and black sealants to provide a striking edge to each individual shard further enhanced the visual impact we were trying to achieve.

Outcomes:

The final outcome of this project far exceeded the owner and JH Glass Innovations expectations in terms of design, construct and visual impact and the ongoing reviews and accolades that this bespoke lobby centrepiece has attracted demonstrates the skill and craftmanship of what can be achieved with glass and innovative thinking.