Building with glass, aluminum, and ideas.
TECHNICAL BINDER: AGT Signature Design
AGT Signature Design Solutions:
As Flexible as You Need Us to Be
Sometimes unique extrusions or construction methods are needed to accommodate strict environmental, aesthetic, or engineering requirements.
AGT regularly creates new ways of doing things for our customers. We always consider not only the best manufacturing process, but also the installation and maintenance opportunities that may be possible with the new approach.
Examples of our signature design solutions include:
1. Unitized Skylights
Very large skylight installations can be simplified and strengthened by unitizing panels, and then assembling and glazing them in a factory-controlled environment.
When we built the barrel vault on the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia - 4th largest barrel vault in the world — we had only four months for production and installation. At over 130,000 square feet of glass and aluminum, the job would have taken well over a year to construct using a traditional stick-built process. Unitized panel construction allowed us to meet the production schedule and deliver a product with greater structural stability.
In addition to unitizing each glass panel, AGT created a custom system
for installers to transport and position panels, saving a tremendous amount
of time. In fact, this system was later sold back to the building
for building maintenance.
Other unitized projects by AGT include:
- The Cleveland Museum
- Jacobi Medical Center in New York
- Boston MBTA Station
2. Pressure Equalized Skylights
While pressure equalized curtain wall is fairly common, pressure equalized skylights are typically only used in demanding environments, such as museums, where natural light must be balanced with the ability to carefully control temperature and moisture levels. The design and construction of pressure equalized skylights is uniquely challenging, as they require a baffled equalization chamber to completely isolate outside air from inside air.
AGT has developed a pressure-equalization skylight system which has been used successfully in prominent installations, such as:
- The New York Museum of Modern Art's atrium skylight
- Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
- MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences building
3. Edge-Supported Glass
Edge-supported glass structures are a specialty that requires a strong engineering component to assure the structural integrity and thermal performance.
Perhaps our most impressive edge-supported glass structure is the Gunyard Center for International Studies. This entire structure, including the structural members spanning openings, was constructed of glass. No bolts or mechanical fasteners were used in securing the glass to the structure.
Other notable edge-supported work by AGT includes:
- The Telfair Museum
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute — Janelia Farm Research Campus
4. Custom Dies
Your project doesn't have to be huge in size to justify the use of custom dies and extrusions.
A well-designed system should have the flexibility to accommodate custom extrusions cost-effectively. Whether these extrusions are required for aesthetic or performance reasons, AGT's basic construction system can accommodate changes where other manufacturers cannot.
The difference is in our manufacturing process, where we use computer controlled milling equipment.
that accommodates unique profiles without the setup time and costs related to manual “chop shop” manufacturing environments.
A few of the most prominent examples of projects where we have incorporated custom extrusions are:
- The Kimmel Center (Extrusion 1, Extrusion 2)
- The Stata Center at MIT (Extrusion 1, Extrusion 2)
- Como Park Visitor's Center (Extrusion 1)
Please contact us or call us at 800-345-7899 to discuss these details, or your requirements for custom details.