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| Night view of the Gas Natural Tower |
One of most wonderful modern buildings in Barcelona city is the Gas Natural Tower located in the Barceloneta. This project was designed by the Catalan architect Enric Miralles and the Italian architect Benedetta Tagliabue.
The building is clearly divided in the three areas: tower, aircraft carrier and the waterfall.
The singularity of the project is the enhanced external reflection of the glass, which appears to be studied in detail by the architects. The aim seems to achieve a certain grade of distortion on the external tempered glass. Distorsion is commonly reduced as much as possible because it is perceived as an inadequate quality, even there is a standard regulating the level of distortion on tempered glass. It appears the project is not in accordance with the standards, but it is done in purpose.
The waterfall is an interesting facade for two reasons, envelope's geommetry and facade structural system. The point supported glass system is formed by the following components:
•Steel sub structure fixed onto the slabs .
•Stainless steel component providing allowances to align the facade.
•Spider glass bracket.
•Stainless steel bolt suited for structural glass.
•Tempered Solar control glass with drills to be supported on the bolt.
Wood patterns were employed to get precisely the glass panes dimensions due to the complexity of the design.
The building can be admired from the costline as one of the landmarks in the district.
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| Wood model of the structure |
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| Waterfall facade view during its construction. The wood patterns can be seen within the sub structure. |
