Solution

160 East Elgin Street

Ottawa, ON

Service: Building Enclosure Design, Structural Design
Market: Office
Keywords: Adaptive Reuse, Curtain Wall, Fasteners and Connections, Glass and Glazing, Office, Renovation, Structural Glass

Completion

2018
160 East Elgin Street
160 East Elgin Street
160 East Elgin Street

The owner of 160 East Elgin Street wanted to revitalize the streetscape at their twenty-eight-story tower by creating a striking front entryway. The renovation includes a curved and insulated structural glass wall, which is approximately 35 ft tall and cantilevers up an additional 10 ft as a guardrail for a terrace above. SGH served as the specialty glass consultant to the structural engineer for the curved glass wall design. 

Scope | Solutions

Highlights of SGH’s work for this project include the following:

  • Evaluated manufacturing options, including cold bending, laminate bending, and warm bending, for the curved insulated glass

  • Consulted on low-e coatings, acid etching, and frit applications

  • Reviewed concepts for gravity and lateral supports, including spider point connections, sill plates within the horizontal sealant joints, and lateral toggle connections

  • Performed finite element analyses of a full-height glass wall to determine the glass wall thickness

  • Designed the curved glass panels, sill plate and lateral toggle connections, and the structural glass fins

  • Analyzed the gradient temperature effects on the glass wall and connections

  • Developed a physical testing program to evaluate strength, serviceability, and water tightness of mockups comprising curved, insulated glass panels and their connections