The ideal climate: Greenhouse domes made from PERSPEX®
We are celebrating 90 years of PERSPEX®. Each month of the anniversary year, we are presenting an example of an application of this versatile material. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
It looks as if three UFOs have landed in the University of Zurich's Botanical Garden. However, despite their futuristic appearance, the domed greenhouses, which were built in the 1970s, were showing their age and needed to be renovated.
Haerle Hubacher Architekten BSA GmbH, commissioned to refurbish these prestigious greenhouses, designed a ventilated double glazed construction to produce the correct levels of condensation (with a high level of energy efficiency) for optimal plant growth. This required a high-performance glazing material for the revolutionary greenhouse technology.
PERSPEX® CC Clear, continuous cast acrylic in 6mm thickness, was selected for the project. It met the critical requirements for the glazing material in this demanding application; maximum light transmission with UV stability and excellent weatherability, offering outstanding lighting conditions for the plants along with durability for the self-cleaning greenhouses.
The insulation elements, manufactured by k-tec GmbH, were attached to the substructure using the ‘direct glazing’ method, completely without screws.The glazing material had to be easily thermoformable and possess exceptional thickness tolerance to slot into the structure. Properties that PERSPEX® CC Clear combines perfectly.
The greenhouses in the Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich.
The transparent domes enable optimum light transmission.
Details: Screwless fixing of the elements to the substructure.
Project: Greenhouse domes made from PERSPEX®
Client: The Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich
Material: PERSPEX® CC Clear
Year: 2011-2013
Location: Schweiz
© Design: Haerle Hubacher Architekten BSA GmbH | www.haerlehubacher.ch
© Processing: k-tec GmbH | www.ktec.at as well as Tuchschmid Constructa AG
© Pictures: Roger Frei, Zürich
