LIPA: Structural glazing

The prestigious Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) instructed Aztec to create a new performance space and enclose the existing outdoor courtyard.

The rooflight was created using the Pilkington Planar™ structural glazing system, employing a series of four toughened and laminated glass fins to transfer the weight of the glass to the surrounding structures. This system has unobtrusive countersunk flush stainless steel fixing points to the structural glass fins, which allowed us to achieve our aims with minimal aesthetic impact on the much-loved character of the existing building.

This avoided the need to use any steel elements in order to deliver maximum light transmission and clarity, and also to complement the aesthetics of the wider building.

To inform the decisions made in this project, we worked closely with the client to establish a design code, based on a detailed understanding of the many complex layers of the building, that would allow our intervention to coalesce and unite its existing features.The effect of the rooflight is to transform what was previously a linking courtyard into a flexible, beautiful space that the institute will be able to use for a host of different purposes for years to come.