Transparent glass structure above Strasbourg's Railway Station provides a view of the illuminated, historic existing building with the city in the background and the empty street with two buses and many trees in the foreground

glass structure forms cocoon for historic building

glass embrace for strasbourg railway station

As part of its modernisation, a 120 m long and 25 m wide glass structure was placed over the Strasbourg Railway Station. This transparent canopy expands and protects the historic building without obscuring views of it. The building envelope, completed in 2007, is widely regarded as a milestone in structural glass construction. For the first time, cold-bent laminated safety glass (LSG) was used, providing a much smoother surface than conventional hot-bent glass panes.

Façade type
Steel-and-glass design
Client
SNCF Direction du développment de Gares (DDG), Paris
Engineer
RFR Ingénieurs, Paris
Architect
AREP – Aménagement Recherche Poles d’Echanges
Prestressed construction of the glass structure above Strasbourg Railway Station with connecting element of the steel cables and rectangular panes
Strasbourg Railway Station at night between the historic existing building on the left and the new glass structure with its construction of rectangular glass panes and pre-stressed steel cables on the right
Reflection of the sun on the outside of the panes of the glass structure of Strasbourg Railway Station
Frog's-eye view of the glass structure of Strasbourg Railway Station with cable-tensioned construction and the historic railway station on the left

pioneering work for maximum transparency of the glass hall

The self-supporting steel-and-glass structure spans an elliptical area of nearly 6,000 sqm over the station. To eliminate unwanted anisotropies, unevenness, and reflections in the glass roof, seele used cold-bent LSG panels for the first time. The LSG glass panels consist of 6 mm tempered ultra-clear glass with dual white and black screen printing, a polymer interlayer with integrated solar control, and an additional layer of 6 mm tempered low-E coated glass.

steel support for glass structure

The primary steel support frame consists of 16 main arches and horizontal secondary braces (so-called fink trusses). These support T-shaped steel sections with aluminium support plates for the glass panels, which are held in place by pressure plates running vertically. The use of sealant for the horizontal joints gives vertical emphasis to the roof.

#madebyseele

Glass structure made of approx. 6,000 sqm of cold-bent LSG glass (10 m long, 25 m high, 20 m wide) with a steel support structure of 16 main arches spaced 9 m apart and lattice Fink beams at radial intervals of 4.5 m

6,000 sqm
façade area of LSG glass
120 x 25 m
length and height of glass hall
16
main arches
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