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lgn1711

Bringing all the advantages back home

Florida Vero Beach house glazed in laminated glass for security, UV protection, sound control and clear, distortion-free optics

The Scheer House in Vero Beach, Windsor, Florida won an honorable mention in the 2000 Benedictus Awards. Architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen told LGN: "Inside, the house escapes from the English/colonial/Caribbean local guidelines of the exterior to a design that is much more minimalist. I suggested to the client: "You have a beautiful walled garden – let's take maximum advantage of it!"

The four walls of the drawing room pavilion and the entry corridor are fully glazed from floor to 3.3m high ceiling. Jacobsen said that laminated glass was selected for security, UV protection, sound control and distortion-free optics for the large expanses of glass employed throughout the pavilion. He added: "We also love the clear color of laminated glass compared to tempered glass, which tends to be turquoise."

The DuPont Benedictus judges said: "Jacobsen's use of laminated glass is so appropriate here. It gives you complete transparency and visual access to the environment, all 360 degrees around. It's as if you are completely outside. It brings to mind the symmetry and geometry that is one of the beauties of Arab architecture, even to its walled gardens, always with the same procession." The laminator was Arch Aluminum of Tamarac, Florida.