Glass facade of ENM

The building of the Estonian National Museum was designed with a point-fixed double-skin facade with a volume of 6,500 m². For this, a point-fixed facade solution with a suitable price and design was required.

Standard swivel point fittings could not be used as they did not fit into the project budget and were of an unsuitable shape and size for the architect.

First, we made strength calculations for the glass according to the wind load. Based on the result, the optimal glass thickness is 8 +10 mm hardened-laminated.

By simulating glass deflection in the condition of maximum wind load, we found out that rigid point fixings can also be used with the type of the fastening method foreseen in the design, making it possible to reduce the diameter of point fixings to 50 mm as requested by the architect.

M12 bolts were sufficient to support the weight of the glass. Given the external environment, we selected stainless steel 1.4401 (AISI316) as the material.

As the weight of the facade glass panes did not exceed 300 kg, it was necessary to fill the space left in the glass apertures with epoxy resin in order to prevent possible glass deflection.

To date, the glass of the ENM double-skin facade have remained in place for many years and they suit the architecture of the building perfectly.