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NBC's interactive retail store in New York's Rockefeller Plaza uses laminated glass for floors, staircases and catwalks

NBC's interactive retail store, situated in New York's Rockefeller Plaza, opened in 1999.

When New York-based architects and interior designers Janson Design Group undertook to transform a banking building situated in New York's Rockefeller Plaza into a state-of-the-art, 'Interactive retail store' for media giant NBC, they had two major design goals.

The first was to create an exciting and stimulating, three-dimensional environment for NBC to showcase its past, present and future and to market its retail merchandise. The second was to develop a large volume of space, consisting of two floors, into a three-floor space (including a new mezzanine) that was visually exciting to walk through and experience.

GLASS FLOORS "AS EXCITING AS THE FUTURE OF TV"

Principal Architect, Dennis Janson, found that laminated glass empowered his firm to meet both of these design objectives. He says: "In developing the mezzanine, which was a new construction, we designed the entire 200 m² of flooring out of laminated glass to produce a space that was as exciting as the future of television."

The entire mezzanine level is made of an open steel frame structure using triple laminated, acid-etched glass incorporating DuPont^™ Butacite^® PVB.

The Janson Design Group used laminated glass for floors, staircases and catwalks within the store, giving it a contemporary, open, yet translucent look and feel.

Janson told LGN: "Using laminated glass pavers supplied by Depp Glass Inc. of Long Island City, New York, we were able to provide a non-skid floor that is easy to clean. The pavers were pre-fabricated off-site, making them easy to install. They are back-lit from underneath with small trace lights, creating an appealing glow over the entire floor."

Depp Glass Chairman, Wesley Depp, told LGN: "Laminated glass was selected because it is the only glass solution to meet New York safety codes for the 28 mm thick, glass floors; in the case of breakage, the material holds together and does not fall down onto the floor below."

Architect Janson added: "The three staircases and several catwalks are also made of laminated glass, giving the entire floor system above the first floor and below the second floor a very translucent feel."

DESIGN FREEDOM

Depp concluded: "Glass floors and catwalks are becoming increasingly popular in 21^st century architecture. DuPont is helping the glass industry with a family of glass laminating products – including new SentryGlas^® Plus ionoplast interlayer – which permits architects to design as freely as their imagination allows, while assuring maximum safety. Structural strength, beauty, lightness and translucency in buildings can all be achieved thanks to today's glass laminating products."