Structural glazed roofs, Felix Meritis
On March 20, 2020, the imposing neoclassical building in which the Felix Meritis society was housed has reopened. The building consists of a square-shaped volume at the street side and an oval-shaped volume at the rear connected by a monumental stairwell. These two volumes housed the main halls of Felix Meritis over several floors. The spaces in between these volumes originally remained open and functioned as patios. Over time, the original patios have been covered and closed, so that the building structure was no longer experienced.
In the current transformation, they have been made again recognizable as an outdoor space, while at the same time they can be used as an indoor space. In order to achieve this outdoor experience, MATH architects designed three glazed roofs which are made entirely of clear glass. The beams -made of glass as well-, guarantee a maximum view towards the sky. Low-iron glass has been used to minimize discoloration of the daylight.
All glazed roofs are enclosed by at least three walls, one of which is always curved. The geometry of the glazed roofs is set up in such a way that the connection to the masonry is level. This guarantees that the glass plates are aligned with the brickwork mortar joints. From that point the glass plates are sloping towards the gutter. The glazed roof in each of the light courts variates in layout due to the different adjacent constructions. In light court 1, for example, the glass beams are mounted on a vertical insulated glass pane. IFS has developed a connection detail for this, whereby the cavity of the insulating glass remains intact. As a result, an additional supporting construction is not necessary. By the other two glazed roofs, the beams are laid on newly made steel structures on the boundary of the plot.
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