seele realises free-floating glass walkway for Bründl Sports
In addition to the panorama walkway, the new flagship store of Bründl Sports offers a glass-enclosed ski service and a lounge with roof terrace. blocher partners, a German architecture and design firm, which was also responsible for the first design of the award-winning flagship store, has now been commissioned again for the extension. With its monolithic shape the flagship store is a real ee-catcher. The entire construction management and detailed planning will be carried out by Austrian MAB Kaprun.
Cantilevered glass walkway
se-austria, a company of the seele Group, was awarded the contract for the detailed planning, production and erection of the 10m cantilevered glass walkway. The static specifications, as well as the planning, are carried out by Austrian office Baucon. For the construction, seele plans 11m long lateral glass stringers for transparent fall protection and the static support of the glass walkway. The glass supports are attached by means of stainless steel tension fasteners in the upper area and by means of supports in the lower area. This solution gives the viewing platform maximum transparency. The floor consists of three glass panes. Standing on them, one can look down 15 metres onto the crystal blue mountain river.
The installation site above the river is a logistical challenge. The pre-assembled glass footbridge, weighing approx. 9t, has to be lifted from the street side over the existing building to the installation site on the fourth floor. In addition, the glass walkway has to withstand enormous forces such as its own weight, payload, wind and snow. In order to ensure the withstanding, the laminated safety glass is subjected to a tensile test before installation. Calculated forces are applied to the test specimen several times and increased until the specimen breaks due to the loads.
Engineering know-how
seele has gained experience in platforms construction recently with the tallest building in Thailand's capital Bangkok. On top of "MahaNakhon" tower seele has realised a 60sqm glazed floor which cantilevers from the building in 314m height. Those spectacular constructions are realised thanks to seele's in-house all-glass expertise and engineering know-how. In an all-glass construction, the glass itself must support significant loads by means of shear-resistant films. This opens up completely new possibilities for glass roofs, façades and interior constructions, such as glass balustrades, glass stairs and glass bridges. Minimal metal connections, so-called fittings, for example, are laminated or fixed selectively by means of grouting holes.
Two companies creating the outstanding
Thomas Spitzer, Managing Director of se-austria, and Christoph Bründl, Managing Director of the Pinzgau-based company Bründl Sports, are looking forward to the joint cooperation. "Through our cooperation we create something outstanding. We are delighted that two such innovative partners are working together for such a spectacular high-end project in Austria," say the managing directors.
© blocher partners
