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Medieval castle in the Alps restored through the imaginative use of laminated glass

This medieval European castle was restored through the imaginative use of laminated glass.

March 1997 saw the inauguration in the Italian Alps of a dream come true for Reinhold Messner. The world-famous mountain climber unveiled a medieval castle dating from 1278, perched like a Tibetan cloister on a mountain top at an altitude of almost 1000 m. Its restoration was made possible through the imaginative use of laminated glass into a summer home for his family and a museum for his priceless collection of Eastern art.

Messner explained: "I wanted the castle to be open to the sky, to the clouds during the daytime and the stars at night; I wanted the opportunity to perhaps stage some theatre, or a musical concert here. And I wanted to be able to appreciate the wonderful views of this incredible mountain location to the full."

The North section of the castle, which houses the museum, is now covered by a 200 m² roof construction of laminated safety glass and steel clamps and rods, engineered and patented by Architect Robert Danz of Schonaich, Germany. The roof protects the ancient stonework and priceless artifacts from hostile weather and damaging UV rays while letting in maximum daylight and giving visitors breathtaking views of the alpine panorama.

Protection and structural strength

Architect Danz told LGN: "The main design goal of the corrosion-resistant, laminated glass roof was to provide the maximum possible protection for the castle ruins at Schloss Juval – and the priceless artifacts in the museum – against the high winds and heavy snow experienced at this altitude. Laminated glass was the only possible choice of material for the roof for safety reasons; in the event of both panels breaking, the PVB prevents the glass from falling in dangerous shards to the room beneath.

"Our choice of the product was also the deciding factor for the historical restoration and public museum authorities in allowing Mr. Messner's dream to be realized."

The laminated glass roof in construction

Engineering challenge

Managing Director of laminators Bischoff Glastechnik of Bretten in Germany, Gerd K. E. Bischoff, explained: "The challenge was that the glass panels were all individually shaped. Because of the panel dimensions, we had to work to a high degree of precision; we had to make sure of an extremely accurate fit in the drill holes and a minimum setting from panel to panel." The design data was transferred direct to Bischoff''s glass cutting and drilling system to eliminate human error.

A quantum leap forward with glass

Architect Danz concluded: "As architects and engineers, our job is to constantly re-invent the way glass is used. I believe that, just as we took a quantum leap forward from wood to reinforced concrete at the turn of the last century, we are today seeing another quantum leap forward at the turn of the millennium, thanks to the properties of laminated glass."