Luxury accommodation for all seasons

Glass from Pilkington UK was recently used on The Jade, a new mixed-use development in downtown Nova Scotia, Canada, where engineers had to balance an extreme climate with a steady interior temperature.

On its first two floors, the building maintains a 1920s art deco facade, behind which commercial shopping units will be housed. Above this is a fully glazed 11-storey tower that rises to take its place in the Halifax skyline.

While winters in Halifax drop well below freezing – the lowest temperature ever recorded was -25°C, and winter temperatures often reach -8°C – its summers often reach 30°C, so the glass on the building had its work cut out regulating the internal temperature.

The architect turned to the Pilkington product portfolio and chose to deploy Pilkington Suncool 50/25, a solar-control glass that helps prevent excessive heating during the warmer months.

The multi-layered coating lets in just 25% of the heat energy in the sunlight, while still permitting 50% of the visible light to enter the building, with no change to its natural colour balance. Furthermore, the glazing’s low-emissivity performance reflects heat back into the building.

Therefore, money is saved on both air conditioning and heating.

Being clad in 1,400 insulating glass units each 1.2m by 2m in size, The Jade stands out among the buildings of down-town Halifax, in which wholly glazed buildings are very unusual.

Michael Carew, north American sales director at CareyGlass, said: “While the climate in Halifax is by no means extreme by Canadian standards, it certainly experiences cold winters and warm summers, and the technology in the glass will make a big difference in limiting the cost of keeping the building comfortable for residents throughout the year.

“The project is a real head-turner thanks to the glass. There is nothing like this building downtown and the glass really sets it apart from the existing architecture. Halifax is now starting to build a distinctive skyline, and The Jade has made a significant contribution, which will be admired by locals and visitors alike long into the future.”