For the newly refurbished Elmhurst Library in Queens, New York glass curtain walls play a key in the aesthetic design of the building while allowing maximum natural light in. Two structurally glazed 'jewel boxes' now dominate the street-facing part of the building, enticing visitors to enter the space.

Engineers from Pilkington Architectural and Pilkington Planar™ partner installer W&W Glass worked closely with the architect on this historic building to ensure that the system would deliver ultimate transparency as well as high levels of structural strength.

The boxes are made with heavy-duty Pilkington Optiwhite™ insulating glass unites with a low-e coating to reduce heat loss. White silk-screened vertical lines of frit were added to help reduce heat loss and glare from the sun. 

For the roof, Pilkington Optiwhite™ toughened and heat-strengthened laminated glass was used to deliver the required mechanical strength. The glass walls are supported by cantilevered Pilkington Optiwhite™ SentryGlas^® laminated glass fins to ensure high levels of structural support without significantly reducing the transparency of the system.

The Elmhurst Library houses more than 75,000 books and multimedia for adults and children in English and 36,000 books and multimedia in nine different languages, along with a wide range of IT resources.

Photo credit: Marpillero Pollak