IGLOO l iulie - august 2013

When Armin Fuchs and Franz Janz designed the impressive Sky tower, they facedthe typical architect's dilemma: How to create a modern glass-covered landmarkwithout turning it into an unbearable sauna during summer. Together with theRomanian team that supported the project, the solution was found in the latestgeneration of SunGuard solar protective products from Guardian Glass.

PROJECT AUTHORS: arh. Armin FUCHS, arh. Franz JANZ I CO-AUTHORS: arh. Mihai Sorin Eugen EFTENIE,

arh. Mihaela MUSCALIUC, arh. Ioana BARBANTAN, arh. Vlad EFTENIE

TEXT BY: Reka Tugui I PHOTOS BY: Andrei Creanga

The recently completed Sky Tower office building, cur-rently the tallest construction in Bucharest, is more thana new landmark of the Capital's urban landscape. It alsoestablishes new standards for the representation of com-panies who aim to build a solid public image. The build-ing's 37 floors have managed to redefine the city's sky-line, at the same time offering a modern view on theworld of comfort and energy saving. Located in the Northern part of Bucharest, more specifi-

cally, in the Floreasca area, in a multifunctional complexthat has already become an important spot on theCapital's business map, the building presents itself as aspectacular urban element and a focal point for severalof the city's major trajectories. Austrian architects Armin Fuchs and Franz Janz, togeth-er with Baumarc architecture team, succeeded in creat-ing a simple yet dramatic architectural silhouette, a proj-ect that corresponds to the highest technological stan-

dards. The elliptical building has a vertical structure madeup of transparent, translucent and opaque elements thatcreate a dramatic visual effect, at the same time markinga certain functional zonation and a set of sustainability-related requirements. The Sky Tower's glass façade meets complex technicalrequirements in order to obtain improved comfort for theusers with lower energy consumption. The metallic ele-ments blend harmoniously with the different SunGuardglass elements that are all state-of-the-art in reflecting amajor part of the sun's heat. Unlike traditional productsthis innovative glass helps to keep the building cooler,making it more pleasant to work there, while significant-ly saving on air-conditioning installation and runningcosts. The Architects have combined different colors andreflection grades of SunGuard glass in a creative way.Slightly reflective SunGuard HP Bright Green 40/29 thatthanks to its color rendering index of over 95% has aneutral color from the inside out; neutral-bluishSunGuard SuperNeutral 51/28 glass, with a high level oftransparency; the whole design of the Sky Tower isimpressively combined with white matte glass, whichallows the light to enter as if through a curtain (serigra-phy on clear float glass with an over 60% coverage per-centage). This game of vertical elements ends in a neutral, slightlygrey-tinted area, which elegantly connects the buildingto the infinity of the sky. For this area, where the SkyTower is exposed to excessive solar heating, SunGuardSuperNeutral 40/23 was chosen This product combinesa powerful solar heat reflection with a high level of lighttransmission, which makes it an ideal solution for officebuildings.

SKY TOWER