Glass façade, Potsdamer Platz B4/B6, Berlin

The atriums of the twin buildings are covered by large domes made of steel and glass and the entrance to each has a 24-metre-high glass façade facing the street, constructed as a multipoint façade with single glazing. The weight of the steel structure and the glazing is suspended from continuous steel tubes that are fixed to the top ceiling slab by means of specially manufactured inserts. Wind-resistance bracing is provided every 3.6 metres by lenticular girders, laid horizontally, whose span decreases towards the bottom of the façade. Specially developed stainless-steel bolts were used for the connections. The large-format panes made of tempered safety glass are 15 millimetres thick and measure up to 2.4 x 1.8 metres. The panes are attached to the steel supporting structure via stainless steel cast elements to four articulated point-fixings in plane with the glass.