Realizing Bespoke Structural Glass Facades

In the very earliest stages of a design, an architect imagines a unique glazed facade form and wonders, “Is this possible?” and “What will it cost?” The design team is faced with the challenge of how best to answer these questions and achieve the design vision.

The traditional design approach is to engage a facade consultant to join the design team to assist in developing, engineering, detailing, and specifying the system which is then procured in a competitive bid process. While this approach has yielded many successful projects it has pitfalls, not the least of which is cost-certainty. There is another, more efficient way to approach bespoke design, that is, to engage a design-assist glazing contractor as early as possible in development of the design and establish a collaborative design environment. As a design partner, the right glazing contractor brings to the team unique and current procurement, logistical, design, fabrication, material sourcing, and cost expertise that supports innovation, optimization, and cost control.

At the Denver Art Museum Welcome Center, a design-assist contractor was engaged through a value-based selection process. They then collaborated with the architectural, structural and mechanical engineering design team, as well as with the owner and construction manager-at-risk (CMAR) to explore design options, solve structural and thermal engineering challenges, and assist in developing a one-of-a-kind, iconic design which will serve as the unifying focal point of the Denver Art Museum campus.

This is an account of the best practice processes used by the interdisciplinary design and construction team in approaching the development, design, testing, and execution of this unique structural glass facade. Using design examples and descriptive analysis, we illustrate how the team managed differing stakeholders' preferences while steering the design towards the owner’s vision; how we took full advantage of state-of-the-art facade technology while controlling the overarching project cost projections, and ultimately, how this approach can lead to achieving the design vision while streamlining project schedules and budgets.