Latest glass innovations of ABT at Glasstec 2016

ABT will be showcasing the latest glass innovations at “Glass Technology Live” during Glasstec 2016, the glass world’s biggest trade fair. Glasstec 2016 is being organised from 20th to 23rd September 2016 at the Messe in Düsseldorf.

Mock-ups
Impressive mock-ups of three unique projects are being shown to the public at Glasstec. The Crystal Houses glass bricks are a first. Several trial pieces that were tested at Delft Technical University are being shown, including a large ‘brickwork’ architrave above the windows. Solid glass window frame profiles and ‘masonry’ glass wall elements are included in the exhibit.

Also on show at Glasstec: the mock-up (as tested) of ABT’s slender surrealist staircase of concrete and glass. The load-bearing balustrade glass is bonded at the ends by an adhesive to ultra-slim UHSC steps. The mock-up being shown successfully withstood the pendulum test with a fifty-kilogram bag of glass beads.

The biggest mock-up is a five-metre glass arch that demonstrates the technical possibilities for roofs made entirely of glass, for example for shopping malls and stations. The photo below gives an artist’s impression of how this principle could be used for replacing a steel arch structure using virtually nothing but glass and very thin steel cables.