Apple's Glass Lantern Store Wins Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence

The Institution of Structural Engineers has awarded the Apple's 'Glass Lantern' Zorlu Store with its Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence. The award is granted at the Judges' discretion to recognize the finest example of structural engineering in a given year.

This latest iteration of structural glass design provides the purest form possible within the limits of current material fabrication. Clear glazed single panel walls with no connections to distract the eye, 10m long by 3m high on four sides, provide an efficient structural form capable of resisting seismic loads, while providing total transparency and architectural purity. The lightweight ultra-thin roof made of CFRP panels (carbon fibre reinforced plastic) seamlessly joined on site, provides a completely smooth uniform soffit while also improving the seismic performance of the whole structure. In such a minimalist project the detailing required particular attention, the result being a total absence of fixings, with the five panels being held together by structural silicone.

"The judges found this to be a supreme example of collaboration between engineer and fabricator to achieve an outstanding, architecturally minimalist structure. The use of single panes of toughened laminated glass to support a lightweight ultra-thin CFRP roof without connections other than structural silicone, takes structural glass technology into a new dimension. A project where only engineering excellence and attention to detail can produce a result of such simplicity and purity of expression."


We posted on the impressive Apple Store when it first opened in April. The store is located at the new Zorlu Center in Instanbul, Turkey. It features a glass rectangle that sits above the ground while the two-level store itself is below the surface. The rectangle is topped by a huge white roof featuring the Apple logo. The roof is visible from the heights of surrounding apartment buildings.

Take a look at some photos below...

Read More [via Andy]