Saint-Gobain's glass specialists developed a unique combination of SageGlass switchable solar control glass and Contraflam fire-resistant glass from Vetrotech for the facade glass of the Alto Pont-Rouge commercial and office building in Geneva.
The Alto Pont-Rouge is a complex of four buildings of different heights with shops, services and administrative and office units. A total of 28,000 square metres of office and retail space is available on up to 15 floors.
Plenty of daylight for the building users
In order to maintain a high proportion of daylight even in direct sunlight, Alto was to be fitted with 7500 square metres of SageGlass Harmony dynamic solar control glass, which creates a balance between daylight entry and glare protection thanks to its automatically controlled, gradual tinting. With its dynamic g value of up to 0.03, SageGlass also makes it possible to block up to 97% of the solar heat gain.
Hazardous materials with a high fire risk are also transported on the nearby railway line. In order to fulfil the increased fire protection requirements, the prefabricated SageGlass glass elements were combined with Contraflam fire-resistant safety glass from Vetrotech to create triple IGU.
High demands on facade glass - focus on sustainability
In Geneva, the Alto Pont-Rouge is one of the first buildings to receive the SNBS (Swiss Sustainable Building Standard) 2.0 Gold certification. The certification recognises the building complex as one of the most modern and efficient buildings in the canton of Geneva.
Located directly on the railway tracks, the Alto Pont-Rouge is subject to special protection requirements. As dangerous goods are also transported on the tracks, the facade facing the railway tracks had to meet the highest safety requirements in terms of fire protection.
At the same time, the facade glazing had to be fitted with dynamic solar control glass to allow as much daylight as possible into the building and block heat.
SageGlass and Vetrotech developed this unique product solution consisting of fire-resistant glass and switchable glass. This took more than two years from the determination of requirements to realisation on the project, including the development of internal and external tests and implementation in production.
The Triple insulating glass SageGlass Contraflam has been tested by ift Rosenheim and certified by TÜV Rheinland Nederland BV.
