As we welcome in the New Year, we can’t help but reflect on an exciting and fruitful 2015! Let’s take a look back at some of the projects W&W Glass worked on over the last year…
21 West End Avenue (Riverside Center Building Two) located at Riverside South – Riverside Center. The facade on this 43-story condominium went up very quickly over 2015. Once completed, the property will be used for a mix of market-rate luxury rental apartments, affordable housing units, retail space, and a public school. The Hybrid-Wall® unitized curtain wall system with integrated operable windows that we installed was fabricated by Sotawall®. The podium curtain wall and punched windows were designed and supplied by Erie Architectural Products, Inc. The 1-⅜-inch insulating glass units for all systems were manufactured by Viracon. Working with architect SLCE and Dermot Company, Inc. (client), the project broke ground in early 2014 with an expected completion date during the summer of 2016, so things are right on track.
Reflecting on the cutting-edge, innovative designs W&W Glass worked on in 2015, the Flagship Microsoft Store – located on 677 Fifth Avenue – is a project we won’t soon forget. Working closely with architect Gensler and construction manager J.T. Magen & Company Inc., the facade uses high-tension, high-strength horizontal stainless steel rods to support the jumbo sized laminated glass that is structurally silicone-glazed to custom stainless steel flat profile t-shaped mullions. These large glass lites pushed the scale of what we’ve previously accomplished with other cable tension facades, with glass sizes of 20-foot wide by 10-foot tall! All of our fabricators required a refinement of their manufacturing processes to get the components exactly per the project specifications. Our experience in working with these systems allowed us to rise to the challenge of designing and installing a system this complex in a tight time frame for the October grand opening.
The unveiling of the Microsoft Store was held on October 26th, 2015. This coincided with the launch of Microsoft’s new line of tablets and entertainment devices, which drew a large crowd that lined Fifth Avenue. People filtered into the store throughout the day, drawn in by the 20-by-40-foot electronic screen prominently displaying digital art through the glass facade. The new Microsoft Store facade was even featured in a holiday TV commercial!
2015 was a year of assorted media publication for many of W&W Glass’ new projects as well. A Pilkington Planar™ project was recently featured in the The Journal Times for the renovation of the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Natural and Social Sciences at Carthage College. This overall project features glass-walled classrooms and laboratories, as well as a two-story, structural glass-enclosed atrium for exhibits, planetarium shows, and presentations. Architect Magazine also covered the Prism Tower, located at 400 Park Avenue South in New York City, while Denver publication The Front Porch reported on our conical, sloped structural glass Pilkington Planar™ cable wall at DIA’s Westin Hotel.
Last but definitely not least, one of our biggest and most exciting works of 2015 has been the Hudson Yards project. The progress here has been nothing short of tremendous and the final product will be incredible!
Dubbed the largest construction project of its kind, the Hudson Yards project master plan will include over 16 skyscrapers and 17,4400,000 sq. ft. of office, residential and retail space stretched across twenty-eight acres on the Far West Side. We’re proud to be a part of this project and are excited to bring you more updates as the project moves forward!
We can only hope that 2016 is as prosperous and exciting as last year! From our camp to yours, we wish you and yours the very best in 2016!
W&W Glass LLC is a family owned business with a 70-year history in the metal and glass industry, one of the largest metal and glass companies in the New York metropolitan area and the largest supplier of structural glass systems in the country. We have over two decades of experience in the design and installation of various building enclosure systems, including stick-built curtain walls, pre-glazed unitized curtain walls, Pilkington Planar™ structural glass facades, and custom metal and glass enclosure systems. We install all of our work with our own dedicated union labor force. W&W is consistently the largest employer of glaziers in the NY metropolitan area.
