If you’ve been following our blogs and other social media outlets, you may recognize the product name “HYBRID-WALL®.” In fact, you may have heard it quite a bit. Sotawall® HYBRID-WALL® unitized curtain walls are a common product that W&W Glass utilizes on many of our projects in New York City and the surrounding boroughs.
As a refresher, a unitized curtain wall is a system that is composed of large pre-manufactured insulating glass units/infill panels that are glazed within a pre-assembled aluminum frame in a factory and then sent via truck to the construction site for installation. It is a great way to produce very high quality, repetitious panels for mid to high-rise projects that require fast building enclosure with extremely limited site layout space for erection. You may recognize some of our projects that utilize Sota’s unitized curtain walls such as 100 Park Avenue and 2628 Broadway in New York City.
Our exclusive partnership for the New York City area with Sotawall® allows us to design truly unique structures that meet the strictest requirements and specifications. Opening in 1989, Sotawall Inc. has over 25 years of experience in the pre-glazed, unitized curtain wall fabrication business. Their systems provide enclosure solutions to some of the most high-profile architectural designs in the market today.
Their proprietary HYBRID-WALL® systems can be utilized on new construction projects and building reclads. These curtain walls span slab to slab (connected at top or bottom) with a built-in slab edge cover panel, but are fully gasketed more like traditional unitized curtain wall in order to have a continuous air and water barrier. These perform much better than window wall system alternatives that only span in between floors and drain out at each floor level with a separate slab edge cover panel requiring critical seal areas at the head and sill without the same levels of redundancy. Many building consultants would agree that a system like HYBRID-WALL®, that has integrated vision and spandrel materials combined inside a single unitized panel, is a preferred choice over window wall and slab edge cover systems.
This alternative to window wall systems allows for more unique applications, thanks to its flexibility in design that allows larger expanses of glazing and flush external appearances. Each system meets high performance requirements for high-rise buildings, including meeting specifications for static air and water infiltration, dynamic water resistance, structural performance, and thermal performance. Additionally, Sota unitized HYBRID-WALL® systems can accommodate various infills such as terracotta, limestone, travertine or aluminum ranging in thickness from ⅛ inch to 1 ¾ inch.
Sotawall® recently launched a new website that directly showcases their fabrication and assembly plants, as well as highlights their strategic partners, including: W&W Glass, LLC, Karas & Karas Glass Company Inc., Haley-Greer, Inc., Union County Plate Glass, Architectural Wall Systems, and Alberta Glass. We are also proud to be prominently featured in some of their recent literature, including the work we’ve done for MiMA Tower at 440 West 42nd Street and The Lucida at 1269 Lexington Avenue. Make sure to check out their new website and keep an eye out for our projects!
