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Rockwell Centre in downtown Manila uses windows of Butacite^® PVB for solar control

The Rockwell Centre, Manila. All the windows incorporate Butacite® PVB for optimal solar control.

The Rockwell Centre in Manila is a luxury, downtown 'city-within-a-city' consisting of offices, shopping malls and a five-tower apartment complex designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill (S.O.M.) of Chicago. The project's apartments sell at prices on a par with London or New York. They have fabulous views and benefit from vast amounts of natural daylight although the temperature in Manila is on average 25 degrees C all year round - even at night - with high humidity.

All 18,933 m2 of the project's windows incorporate 9.38 mm thick laminated glass (6mm Solargreen + 0.38 mm clear PVB + 3 mm Sungate 500) with Butacite^® PVB interlayer for optimal solar control. The joint design development team cited acoustic control, security and safety as added benefits brought by the laminated glass solution.

One further benefit was cost-efficiency. Ralph Walker, an architect with main contractor DMCI-John Laing Construction (DLCI) in Manila told LGN: "The performance specification for the project (thermal and UV values) issued by the architects suggested insulating glass units. However, the client decided on laminated safety glass as a cost effective alternative for the floor-to-ceiling windows in four of the five towers, bringing a 20% cost saving while meeting all of the architect's specifications in terms of solar control."

G. James of Australia produced the glass for the Rockwell Centre in its new laminating facility in Malaysia. Les Leggett, who is the firm's Sales & Marketing Manager for South-East Asia, said: "The solar load on the building is lessened considerably due to the laminated glass - very important in such a hot, humid climate. The development is located in downtown Manila so the ability of the PVB to keep noise out was a definitive advantage. And for the added convenience of residents, if the glass should be broken for any reason, the PVB laminate keeps it in place until repair can be effected."