Design spotlight

Hospital's design puts children first

Children's Hospital of San Antonio brightens its community with vibrant façade
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Photo by Matthew Chase, courtesy of the children’s hospital of San Antonio

Facility

The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio


Location

San Antonio


Architect

Overland Partners of San Antonio

The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio recently finished a major retrofit that dramatically embodies current attitudes and research into enhanced healing through sensitive clinical architecture and design. These bright, vibrant façade units, made of ceramic-fritted translucent glass, are bringing children and families comfort and a sense of playfulness through color.

Architectural firm Overland Partners Inc. of San Antonio developed a range of criteria for the new glass façade elements: durability, custom colors to match the large mosaic mural, structural capacity and ease of installation, among others.

They selected the new Lamberts channel glass — a three-dimensional, U-shaped architectural glass — by Bendheim Wall Systems Inc. The unique geometry of the channel glass allowed it to achieve continuous vertical spans of 10 to 16 feet in relatively lightweight ¼-inch glass thickness — weighing only 4.5 pounds per square foot — a feat unachievable through conventional flat glass. The translucent ceramic frits, custom-matched to the colors of the mural, are fused into the glass under high temperatures to deliver durable, weather- and scratch-resistant hues that can stand up to the elements for years of healing to come.

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