Probuild Melbourne’s shopping centre, Chadstone, has undergone almost constant redevelopment and has won many prestigious awards along the way.
Chadstone Shopping Centre is Jointly-owned by Colonial First State and the Gandel Group and is nearing completion of redevelopment Stage 33. This includes many new and prestige international brand shops, some of which are not available anywhere else in Australia.
Chadstone Shopping Centre’s latest development has put Australian glass manufacturer Viridian (formerly Pilkington and DMS Glass) at the forefront of the shopping centre, although it would go unrecognised by most visitors. The glass specifications provided by Viridian met the aesthetic and performance criteria of the new development.
All new works, including barrel vault ceilings, created from ThermoTech insulated glass units, and large exterior shop front glass panels, were required to conform to strict energy efficiency and safety requirements as well as meeting the design plans of the architects and engineers.
Gerard McCluskey, Commercial Sales Manager at Viridian commented: “We’ve supplied the original barrel vault monolithic type laminated glass ever since the first redevelopment through the Gandel Group many years ago, so we knew the specifications of the original work which allowed us to maintain the shape and necessary reflective coatings needed to retain the aesthetics of the shopping centre.
“This resulted in us supplying high performance reflective Viridian ThermoTech insulated glass units (IGUs) with a clear laminated glass to the internal face.”
Gerard commented that ThermoTech insulated glass units used in the glass ceiling has various dimensions with different barrel vaults running into each other and changing directions. There are numerous gutters and troughs that make this a complex task, forming various angles to meet the odd shapes.
Gerard continued to say that for a long time grade A safety glass was required for overhead applications like this, but engineering developments now demand laminated glass to be thickened and heat strengthened. Viridian’s investment in state-of-the-art equipment and manufacturing plant ensures that they can deliver what the engineers require.
He explains that there are other additional performance requirements that have to be complied with in the Building Codes other than AS1288 requirements for safety glass in construction, such as reflecting more heat.
“This is especially important and where IGUs can assist is in reducing running costs of large floor plans, caused by heat loss and gain,” he added.
Viridian supplied the large glass panels used in the new shop fronts on the building’s exterior as well as the shop fronts and skylights. ThermoTech insulated glass units were chosen for this task because of their superior energy efficiency performance built into Grade A safety glass.