The significant thing is that the new GRP facade system enables architects to achieve an unbroken surface in which the edges of the glass sections meet when viewed from the outside.

Glasfacaden til Birkerød Idrætscenter

Seen from the inside, the system achieves an airy, delicate expression and a view unbroken by heavy frames or columns. Because the narrow frame profiles are translucent, they appear to be even narrower than they actually are.

The new facade technology has been tested for several years by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Knippers at Universität Stuttgart where the combination of glass and GRPs is a major field of research.

"The concept is that thermal glass and a GRP frame combine forces. Thermal glass is glued directly into a GRP frame, making it one combined unit of strength. This makes it possible to design large windows with very narrow frames," Dr. Knippers explains.

"GRPs conduct far less heat than aluminium, for example, which also means that the GRP frames do not form thermal bridges and condensation like heat-conducting materials do," says Dr. Knippers.

The new facade system achieves an airy, delicate expression, with a view unbroken by heavy frames or columns. The system has been awarded a prestigious German prize for architecture.