A new office building in downtown Seattle creates a colorful aesthetic, using Trosifol® Diamond White.
There is a growing trend in innovative architecture, where architects and other designers have appreciated products and systems that allow functional requirements such as safety and strength to be combined with the consideration of human experience within the space and its aesthetics. The solution to these design concepts is solved with interlayers. Kuraray's PVB and ionoplast portfolio from Trosifol™ are designed for these specific applications, offering functional and aesthetic properties that are superior in its field.
In this specific application, Trosifol® Diamond White PVB has been combined with frits of various shades to create a striking two-color effect on glass fins that is part of the exterior facade of the building. The thin vertical fins impart and display variations of the same company-brand color on one side and brilliant white on the other, with no bleed-through.
Design concept
The initial concept for the building was wanting to create a facade that was more dynamic, creating an interactive experience for people moving past the building. Glass fins were chosen for this as it opened up the possibility to add color, and create dimensional relief but still control light the way they wanted to within the building. The fin pattern was configured with computer modeling, to create the right design intention while optimizing and preserving views from the inside of the building for its occupants.
Design challenge
The challenge faced was to achieve the design intention; to create a two-colored fin that had a strong, vibrant color on one side and pure white on the other side. Vitrum Glass Group worked out the solution which included combining a high-opacity white PVB with a ceramic frit. The Vitrum team created mock-ups and ran trials to find the best product for the solution, which is where Trosifol® Diamond White from Kuraray was chosen as the most ideal PVB.
Finished facade
The finished facade comprises of 1,000 fins that were produced in four different sizes. Each fin is made with two 6 mm (0.23 inch) heat-strengthened Starphire Velour Etch glass panes externally, with an internal laminate in between that comprises of 0.030 inch (0.76 mm) Trosifol® UltraClear PVB, 0.030 inch Trosifol® Diamond White PVB, and a ceramic frit that had one of the four colors chosen to match the brand identity.
