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"Cool" daylight inside Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – thanks to laminated glass

I.M. Pei designed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's signature laminated glass tent.

The recently constructed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio houses a priceless collection of Rock and Roll memorabilia and presents a fascinating and compelling history of one of the twentieth century's most popular forms of music. Equally compelling for the architectural community is the insulating laminated glass structure housing the museum, which keeps the interior atmosphere cool and naturally light.

The signature "laminated glass tent" that towers impressively over the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was designed by the renowned New York-based architect, I. M. Pei and houses most of the museum's priceless rock and roll artifacts. The laminated glass tent uses 2,369 m² of laminated glass bearing a factory-applied coating from US glass fabricator Viracon called "Solarscreen 2000" to dramatically reduce solar heat gain while maintaining high visible light transmission.

The spectacular "glass tent" illustrates how, in addition to offering low heat gain and high light transmission benefits, coated laminated glass is a practical and impressive alternative for both large and small projects.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame houses a fascinating collection of memorabilia.

Cool Daylight

The insulated laminated glass for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame consists of one lite of laminated and one lite of monolithic glass incorporating a special thin metal coating applied using Magnetron Sputtered Vacuum Deposition Technology. The coating can be applied to the interior glass surfaces of the laminate; the insulated glass construction thereby protects the coating from wear and other damage.

This construction transmits up to 70 percent of sunlight and, compared to coated glass, provides important protection against solar heat gain – and therefore is a better solution than reflective tinted glass. The 'cool daylight' that results, combined with low exterior and interior visible reflectance, makes this laminated glass product ideal for applications like museums, hospitals, other institutional facilities and skylights.

Trend to maximum daylight

According to Viracon President, Brad Austin, laminated glass incorporating special coatings will be used increasingly as architects worldwide strive to maximize the amount of daylight in commercial buildings. The Netherlands' government has already decreed that 37% of the light in new buildings must originate from outdoors and other European countries are also starting to legislate in this area. In the USA, a recent report by the Rocky Mountain Institute said that increased daylighting results in fewer days lost to absenteeism and fewer errors and defects. In November 1996, the Wall Street Journal reported that early adapters to the daylighting trend, including Wal-Mart and Lockheed Corp. in the US and Nederlandsche Middenstandsbank in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, have cited increased productivity, energy savings, and in some cases, sales.