'Grass becomes glass' over underground extension

The museum's underground extension to Paleis Het Loo needed structural glass at ground level to provide daylighting. With KAAN Architects, Interior Glassolutions devised a solution for a fountain surrounded by rideable glass of 7 centimeters in thickness, with a total surface area of 300 m¹.

"Of course, such a solution is not only functionally and constructionally challenging, but also a work of art in itself," says Geurt Roelofsen of supplier Interior Glassolutions about this. "You try to unite with each other the technically and financially feasible and the utopian of the design; that's exactly when it becomes interesting for us."

The ground-level glass needed to be rideable, in part because of a vintage car event that periodically takes place on the palace grounds. "Grass becomes glass. Ultimately, a mock-up was made to test the design to be implemented. The final result, executed with 3.80-meter glass floors from manufacturer Saint-Gobain, will positively surprise everyone. The light, combined with the glass solution and the water from the fountain, creates a special effect on the walls of the underground extension. The end result is somewhat similar to our solution for the City Room of Hoog Catharijne. The passage above Catharijnesingel there is executed in walkable glass. Specialists such as Fonteintechniek Gruppen are involved in both projects." Interior Glassolutions also made a full-glass elevator shaft for the palace extension, following the design of an earlier renovation project.