Nykredit façade The use of glass in the 1 m zone

Francesca Madeo, Buro Happold Consulting Engineering, UK

In the history of architecture, the façade of the building has undergone significant changes not just in terms of form but especially in terms of construction: innovation and new technologies have seemingly worked in one specific direction: reducing the mass and thickness, making the façade lighter and more transparent.This development today is manifest in slim facades possessing a multitude of layered properties – responding to the need for good day lighting, for solar control, for good insulation, for strength and safety and so on. Key to this development is the multifunctional use of glass as well as innovative high performance glass products in combination with other innovative composite materials.
It could therefore be said that it is in this area that the discipline of façade engineering operates, and it is the reason for the involvement of the façade engineer in the design process: making the façade efficient, performative, integrating it with the rest of the building. Above all, it is about making the most of the one material, glass, that epitmises the architect’s ambitions for a dematerialized, crystalline object.
A case study is presented in this paper relating to the design of the façade for the Nykredit building in Copenhagen, Denmark. Through this project example, the paper will illustrate that there is a zone of influence which is addressed specifically in the design process - we have termed this the “1m zone”. In this zone, glass has a particular importance, partly as a result of its key role in achieving the architectural aspirations for the building, and partly because the performance of the building itself depends on the efficient performance of the glass in acting as a filter between inside and outside.

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