Modular balcony glazing excels during construction and use

In Amsterdam, construction of Project Crossroads is nearing completion. The special project literally folds around the railroad near Amsterdam-Sloterdijk. An 88-meter-high residential tower with 239 rental apartments will be linked under the tracks of the 8-meter-high Hemboog to a 44-meter-high residential complex with 132 student apartments. The two worlds meet in the Secret Garden on top of the plinth building with commercial spaces, which runs under the Hemboog. Because construction is taking place right next to and under the railroad tracks, specific requirements are set for safety and sound. The new Solarlux SL Modular balcony glazing with Alara-Lukagro sound grating meets these requirements optimally and also increases the living comfort.

According to our Building Code, apartments must have an outdoor space of at least 4.5 m². However, when an apartment building is built in a noise-affected area, as in the case of Crossroads, the residents here are continuously exposed to noise from rail, road and air traffic. To overcome this, soundproofing measures are necessary, knows André Jansen, account manager at Solarlux. "If you were to screen the balcony with a standard sliding pivot or sliding system, a new problem immediately arises. After all, in this case the natural ventilation to the thermal shell behind is interrupted. To remove the polluted air on the balcony, residents may start venting, but in doing so they immediately bring the noise back inside. A vicious circle, which our SL Modular balcony system cleverly intercepts."

Ventilation, noise and daylight

Initially, a traditional solution with a glass parapet, loose hinged sliding system and loose ventilation grille was prescribed for project Crossroads, says Jansen. "In close consultation with architect MVSA and our client Boele & van Eesteren, we were able to upgrade this solution at an early project stage to our SL Modular system, which consists of an integrated fixed parapet, an integrated ventilation grille and an integrated SL25 pivot sliding system. Where the balcony glazing provides up to 25 dB of soundproofing, the integrated Alara-Lukagro grille provides guaranteed, permanent ventilation and soundproofing. Thanks to an extremely slim profile, maximum daylight penetration and transparency are also guaranteed. The balcony glazing creates a so-called "second-skin façade," allowing for substantial energy savings. Moreover, residents can enjoy their outdoor space all year round. The outer sides of the glass are easy to clean from the inside, which also allows savings on the glass-washing system."

Faster construction time, lower CO2 emissions

The integrated SL Modular balcony system responds to the precast construction desire of more and more clients, Jansen says. "All the balcony elements for Crossroads have already been built into the precast façade elements in Westo Prefab Betonsystemen's prefab factory and under the best labor and climate conditions. This resulted not only in a faster construction time, but also in fewer transport movements to and on the construction site and thus lower CO2 emissions. With this, SL Modular excels not only in the use phase, but also during construction."