Global Trend: Structural Glazing Facades Ulli Müller, Head of Corporate Marketfield Engineering, and Manuel Friedel, Head of Research and Development of Sika’s Silicone adhesives and sealants, are giving insights into the world of Sika high-strength solutions for facades.
Facades made of glass are gaining ground in all big cities throughout the world. Glass today covers all applications areas from flooring to roofing, from office towers to residential buildings. In cold as well as in hot climates.
In the last 10 to 15 years Sika gained a lot of knowledge about glass under high loads. And, thus, glass bonding became more and more important. Today structural glazing facades are state of the art in architecture. Only in 2016 190 million of square meters of structural glazing facades were installed worldwide Silicone adhesives are the only approved choice for structural glazing applications in architecture due to their high UV resistance and stability under extreme temperatures. Sika silicone solutions already are the answer to requirements of owners and architects. They expect freedom of design, energy efficiency and solutions for extreme loads such as earthquake and bomb blast.
New generation of silicone adhesives: Sikasil® SG-550 and Sikasil® IG-25 HM Plus
Silicones are knows as rather soft and low modules materials. And it’s indeed a challenge to increase these properties. With the development of Sikasil® SG-550 and Sikasil® IG-25 HM Sika has brought the mechanics of Silicone adhesives to a new level.
Extra high mechanical strength enables smaller joints in facades
With its high-strength solutions Sika offers customers increased architectural freedom of design and reduced material consumption. Further, Sika enables the use of argon-filled insulating glass units in all climates. Sika support starts already with the planning of a building. By means of the Sika Joint Calculator, the company supports engineers and specifiers in their calculations. The tool is self-explanatory and guides through the calculation process. Thorough project related testing is the next step and ensures feasibility under real life conditions. For the success of structural glazing projects the knowledge and skills of the applicator are essential. Therefore Sika offers comprehensive trainings in one of Sika’s Technology Centers or at the customer’s site.
Evalution Tower and Lakhta Tower: Examples of challenging modern architecture
The Evolution Tower in Moscow is an example for challenging modern architecture. It has been the first cold bent glazing project in Russia. Sikasil® IG-25 HM Plus enabled the construction with each floor twisted against the preceeding one. A perfect example for highest architectural freedom of design. The Sikasil® IG-25 HM Plus solution was chosen for the glass facade of the 462 Meters tall Lakhta Tower in St.Petersburg. The major reason for its use is the high degree of energy efficiency achievable with our Sika solution.