Not only for horse lovers is Ascot world famous. For the renovation of the 450 m long Grand Stand at the racecourse, Austrian know-how played a significant role. To bring the building a new shine, complex project management was necessary.

The most interesting area as far as construction technology is concerned is the South facade with its entrance area. On the ground floor stands a full height glass wall of LITE-WALL MONO laminated safety glass in sizes of 1,800 x 5,250 mm with weights of about 600 kg each. For this point-fixed facade the fitting system LW 3030/21 was used. To minimise deflection, the front glass was stabilised with suspended glass fins. The transfer of the imposed loads was carried through articulated connections in the glass fins back to the slab above. This also allowed the diffeential deflections in the slab to be accomodated.

All glass in the standard floors fulfills the high structural guarding requirements of 3 kN/m for mass human congregation and also resists soft-body impact. All 2,130 m² of LITE-WALL Insulated glass units have a thermal insulation low-e. About 120 m² also had PARSOL grey to provide solar control.

Significantly more know-how was necessary in the sixth and seventh floors (roof glazing) where the facade interfaces with the membrane roof. The glass fins act as the only structural support for the façade. Between these up to 10,800 mm high beams, LITE-WALL MONO laminated safety glass has been installed connected with points which act as stiffening plates to the facade which is supported at the roof. The glass fins are connected at the base and at the roof with articulated brackets, allowing the complete facade to act like a pendulum in accomodating the roof movements.

The short installation periods, high quality requirements and „typical British weather conditions“ necessitated a high level of pre-fabrication at GIG.

The total of 72 pre-fabricated elliptical glass fins were made of triple-laminated STADIP - comprising 2 x 10 mm thick SECURIT-H glass and one 12 mm thick PLANIDUR sheet bonded with 2 x 1.52 mm PvB interlayer.

(Photos: GIG)