Glass a clear winner
Glass has proven itself as an award-winning building material with the recent announcement of the HIA Australian housing awards 2002. The award for renovation/addition of the year was won by Rick Nixon of RJ Nixon Builders who used made extensive use of glass to enhance a heritage-protected former church that now is a South Melbourne home.
Originally built in 1878, the church had been used as offices and then a photographic studio with a concrete block extension added. In the new scheme, the architect, Simon Swaney from Swaney Draper Architects decided to cut open the concrete and nestle a new “glass box” inside, designed to admit light, provide outlook and expose the original building. Laminated safety glass was used, designed to minimise any potential risk arising from impact.
While maintaining a level of privacy, the ‘glass box’ creates an illusion of openness and brings natural light into the home, allowing the interior to be blended with the exterior. “We were keen to establish a clear delineation between the components from each era and to preserve all the historic elements in an untouched state,” says Swaney. “What the glass enabled us to do was to achieve high levels of natural light and strong connection to the outside which is normally not available in this type of residential conversion.”
Chris Barker, national marketing manager of award sponsors Pilkington Glass commented on the changing role of glass: “Traditionally, glass was only used in windows. But changes in the environment and in the expectations of customers have seen it transform into an extremely versatile building product, as seen in the award-winning renovation.”
Barker notes that laminated glass eliminates 99 percent of harmful ultraviolet radiation while providing reduced noise benefits. “Versatility, strength and uniqueness are now being recognised by architects and designers, resulting in some extremely creative and innovative use of gases,” he says.
Source: Building Products News.
26-Jun-2002