12 March 2015
Product used:
Allowing for modern, dynamic apartment living, the architects needed to ensure that Appartamento Il Casino’s residents could create an indoor or outdoor living space in any kind of weather.
The building’s signature feature is its exterior sliding glass panels, which allows residents to control their own individual environments by sliding the glass panels open or closed.
Specialist glass manufacturer, Euroglass, was contracted to supply the building’s exterior glass panels. Euroglass needed a sliding system that would easily cope with both the environmental conditions that the building would face, as well as the weight of the double-glazed glass panels.
They found the exact solution with the Brio Single Run 350 system.
Wild weather
The architect wanted to create an outdoor living environment for Appartamento Il Casino’s residents which could be used all year round in central Wellington - taking into account the extreme variances and blustery conditions Wellington is famous for.
Euroglass calculated the glass panels would be subject to wind loads of up to 3.04kPa (approximately 300kg per square metre of glass); therefore they needed to find a sliding system that wouldn’t flex under the extreme wind conditions.
Plus, with each double-glazed panel weighing around 133kg, the system had to be able to handle the heavy panel weight, ensuring the panels remain stable and held in place under any wind buffeting.
The system also needed to be suitable for a marine environment, as well as hardwearing and stain-resistant.
Specialised sliding system
Designed specifically for the unique Australasian weather conditions, Brio’s sliding systems and hardware was the perfect solution for this architectural requirement.
Made from 316 grade stainless steel and marine-grade anodised aluminium, the Brio Single Run 350 easily matched both the environmental and wind load capacity requirements.
Extensively tested in an industry standard salt-spray chamber, Brio’s sliding system has been designed to be used in marine environments, with each element constructed from the highest quality corrosion resistant materials and specialised stain-resistant coatings.
Already engineered to handle panels up to 350kg, the Brio 350 Single Run system’s side wall was thick enough to ensure no flexing would occur under wind load. More importantly, this also meant that the glass panels would remain in their tracks and not be blown out under pressure.
Manufactured to industry-wide standards, Brio’s sliding system and hardware was easily compatible with the customised fittings Euroglass supplied to secure the glass panels in place.
Tested to 50,000 opening cycles, the Brio system ensures the residents of Appartamento Il Casino will be able to easily create their own indoor or outdoor environment for years to come.
